If it wasn’t quite the match of the fright fests that were being made over in Europe during this decade (Nosferatu, Haxan), it was certainly one of the most epic American undertakings this side of D.W. Griffith and Cecil B. DeMille.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Feb 13, 2023

[Phantom] is not nearly so magnificent in scale, nor so stirring in theme, as The Hunchback -- but as represented on the screen it is a more consistently thrilling story. It is spook melodrama at its wildest and weirdest, and it is beautifully done.

| Oct 7, 2021

The audience was always interested in Lon Cheney's mysterious character. [Full Review in Spanish]

| Oct 2, 2020

I see it and I am temporarily bored, I feel that it lacks dramatic expressiveness, although I recognize that it has aesthetic virtues that are undeniable when portraying gothic horror through atmospheres. [Full review in Spanish]

| Original Score: 6/10 | Aug 2, 2020

Morbid imagery, strangulations, threats of bodily harm, abductions, curses, murder, and the signature masquerade ball populate this Grand Guignol archetype.

| Original Score: 7/10 | Jul 30, 2020

This is high-camp Hollywood hokum to be sure, but hokum dressed up to the nines. And arguably the sheer gorgeousness of the film, as well as Chaney's chill portrayal of the spectre, lend the entire endeavour an unexpected gravitas.

| Mar 26, 2020

However, again the standout piece of the film remains to be Chaney. He appears maniacal from the word go, even as we're introduced to him as a silhouette.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Oct 12, 2018

Still pretty darn creepy after almost an entire century.

| Original Score: 7/10 | Oct 29, 2015

The best of the small population of pure horror films made in the United States during the silent era.

| Original Score: 10/10 | Jun 4, 2015

An eerie mixture of poetry, gothic melodrama and a surreal Feuillade-style serial.

| Jan 5, 2014

The atmosphere matches Chaney's performance perfectly. His grotesque appearance is achieved with wires, cotton balls, and eye-dilating chemicals, but his character, as usual, is animated from within.

| Aug 16, 2013

Lon Chaney's performance as the hideous organist prowling the sewers beneath the Paris Opera is still a cornerstone of gothic horror.

| Aug 16, 2013

Despite outdated acting techniques and staging, this is a must-see for all cinema buffs, as make-up genius Lon Chaney's Phantom is a Hall of Horror landmark.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 16, 2013

It succeeds in spite of itself and it's all thanks to Chaney. The man of a thousand faces imbues this character with bravado and menace.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Oct 8, 2012

Lon Chaney delivers an awesome performance in this fine adaptation of the original Gaston Leroux novel.

| Original Score: 8/10 | Jan 29, 2012

For those genre lovers out there who may not have ever experienced this adaptation of the classic Gaston Leroux novel, it is the perfect introduction.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Jan 4, 2012

A grand, pulpy potboiler of a suspense melodrama.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Nov 24, 2011

Though Mr. Chaney wears a more grotesque make-up than ever, the film play seems only pretty good.

| Oct 19, 2008

The main inducement to watch remains Chaney's tragic, ineffably sad figure.

| Original Score: A | Aug 12, 2008

Kerry is a colorless hero, Philbin contents herself with being pretty and becoming terrorized at the Phantom, and Chaney is either behind a mask or grimacing through his fiendish makeup.

| Aug 12, 2008