Phantom of the Opera (1925): the 100th Anniversary

The Blind Eternities forum

Posted on Aug. 22, 2025, 8:56 p.m. by DemonDragonJ

This year is the 100th anniversary of the 1925 film adaptation of Phantom of the Opera, one of the most famous and influential horror movies of all time.

Universal Pictures had already produced several horror films before this one, but PotO film is the one that truly established them as the premiere studio for horror movies, and, similarly, Lon Chaney was already an established actor, at that time, but this movie was the one that elevated him to superstar status and remains perhaps his best-known role, to this day.

Being made in 1925, the movie is silent, with no synchronized audio, but that element helps to contribute to the atmosphere of suspense and dread, for both the characters and the audience. The posters and promotional material for the film wisely did not show the phantom's face, keeping that as a surprise for the viewers, who likely had never before seen such a hideous visage. Lon Chaney was known as "the man of a thousand faces," for his ability to alter his appearance with makeup, notably demonstrated in The Hunchback of Notre Dame, two years earlier, and he certainly used that talent to its fullest effect in this film; supposedly, several members of the audience screamed, or even fainted, when Christine removed the phantom's mask, and, while it is very likely that such reports have been greatly exaggerated, over the decades, there can be little doubt that audiences in the 1920's were not as accustomed to horror as are today’s audiences, so Lon Chaney's ghastly appearance, while relatively tame by today's standards, was a source of pure shock and terror when it was first revealed to the world.

Phantom of the Opera helped to begin the trend of Universal monsters, which is now a major brand, and also influenced countless films that followed, with its focus on dark and creepy atmosphere and spine-tingling terror, so there is no doubt that it was and remains one of the most influential horror film of all time, and, for that reason, I do hope that Universal pictures shall do something to commemorate this absolutely momentous milestone, although it does not seem likely that they shall do that, since they have largely ignored this film, in recent years, not even including the phantom in their monsters legacy brand, which is especially weird when they included the 1943 film adaption of the book in that brand, so I am making this post, because I cannot allow this anniversary to pass without at least mentioning it, in some way.

What does everyone else say, about this subject? How do you feel about this year being the 100th anniversary of the 1925 adaptation of Phantom of the Opera? I certainly am interested to hear your thoughts, on this subject.

TheoryCrafter says... #2

I've only seen it once. It was years ago but that last scene really stood out for me. It's a good thing you can find the movie in YouTube.

August 28, 2025 8:43 p.m.