The Phantom Of The Opera (1925)

"Lon Chaney, or it can't be done!" exclaimed Rupert Julian, the director of this landmark film in the Universal monsters legacy.

                                         By 1925, Chaney was a hot commodity; he had become known as the Man of A Thousand Faces. This nickname referred to his ability to transform his appearance to the point of not being recognizable. Chaney, who started out as an extra, gained attention via his abilities with make-up and prosthetics. Soon he was a star, competing with Charles Chaplin for movie-goer's bucks. With such a reputation, Rupert Julian's reaction to the question of casting the Phantom is understandable.

 Mary Philbin plays Christine, a young chorus singer who has suddenly become the understudy of the Paris Opera House's major star. This is because of her secret vocal training with a mysterious admirer, who is actually Eric (or The Phantom). Eric has escaped from a mental institution and is hiding deep below the Opera House. He pines for the beautiful Christine, who is engaged to be married. As the film progresses, The Phantom makes his presence known to all through a series of frightening events which conclude in the kidnapping of Christine. Can The Phantom be stopped and will Christine be saved?

 The Phantom Of The Opera is perhaps best known as the musical version from the late 1980s (and the 2004 film). But from a historical perspective, the 1925 version of the classic tale is by far the most important, and best. In an era of CGI robots and inter-galactic shootouts, the scale of this film is still impressive (if not more so). The size of the sets are mind-blowing, as well as the number of extras needed to make the film possible. It is speculated to be around 5000 people.

That being said, Lon Chaney makes the movie. His breath-taking make-up for the Phantom has yet to be matched. It is the most frightening image in cinema history, and continues to scare the shit out of those watching it for the first time. Chaney's performance is truly remarkable here; he knows how far to go with this larger than life character. Long before Johnny Depp and Gary Oldman were changing their entire demeanor along with their looks, Chaney was doing it to an astonishing level.

This is the big one; the one that led to "Dracula" and "Frankenstein" (1931), "The Wolfman" (1941), and every other major horror film of the era. Karloff and Lugosi are the poster boys for horror, but Chaney is the master.