Erik (The Phantom of the Opera)

Monsieurs Richard and Moncharmin have recently bought the Paris Opera House, where the retiring manager warns them that they may hear stores about an Opera Ghost who always sits in Box 5. The new owners laugh at such childishness, but soon strange incidents begin to occur. Joseph Buquet, a stagehand, has seen the Phantom, and describes him as a faceless man with no nose. A man suspected of being the Phantom is a mysterious Persian, who is frequently seen wandering through the opera house. Carlotta, the prima donna of the opera, is furious because she receives many notes threatening her if she does not yield her role to the young ingenue, Christine Daae. One evening, Carlotta is mysteriously taken ill and her role is played by Christine. In the audience that evening is her handsome suitor, Raoul de Chagny, and his brother Phillippe. Christine is a tremendous success, singing the role of Marguerite in the company's production of Faust. After the show, Christine hears a strange voice, like that of an angel, coming from her dressing room wall, telling her that he has made her a star at last. Carlotta continues to ignore the threatening letters and, although the owners are warned that a disaster will occur if she goes on, Carlotta performs in Faust that evening. The lights begin to flicker, and the great chandelier falls on the crowd. During the panic, Christine goes to her room, and the voice from the wall beckons her to walk through her mirror. The mirror swings open and Christine enters where she sees the Phantom, a figure cloaked in black and wearing a featureless mask. He leads her by horse through the catacombs, and eventually by boat across an underground lake to his lair. Realizing that he is the Phantom, she faints, later awakening in a room that has been prepared as if for a queen. Hearing music, she returns to the main room, where the Phantom is playing the organ. While playing, she sneaks up behind him and rips off his mask. He turns, revealing his horribly disfigured face and she cringes in horror. Telling Christine that he loves her, the Phantom agrees to let her return to the surface one last time before she comes away with him. At the Bal Masque, Christine and Raoul secretly meet while the citizens of Paris engage in their annual revelry. A mysterious figure cloaked in red and with a skull head, marches into the proceedings and denounces the partygoers. On the rooftop of the opera house, Raoul and Christine reaffirm their love, and Christine tells Raoul everything about the Phantom. As they plot their escape, the Phantom hears them and realizes that Christine has betrayed him. Meanwhile, the mysterious Persian has revealed himself to be Ledoux of the Secret Police, and he is now convinced that the Phantom is Erik, a madman he has been tracking for years. That night, Raoul plans to take Christine out of the country after her performance, but Erik has learned of their plans, and when the curtain rises, he blacks out the lights and abducts Christine. Ledoux tells Raoul that he can lead him to Christine, and the two enter the mirror in Christine's dressing room. The two wind their way through the catacombs, where Erik again has taken Christine. Simon Buquet discovers that his brother Joseph has been murdered, and having discovered Erik's hiding place, he plans to lead a mob to destroy the Phantom. Phillippe de Chagny has also discovered the entrance to the catacombs, and goes in search of Raoul. He sets off an alarm, Erik slips through the black lake and overturns the man's boat. Raoul and Ledoux fall into a trap, and when Erik discovers his victims, throws a switch that fills the room with searing heat. As the men suffocate from the heat, they discover a trap door, but their escape route is, in reality, just another trap, a room filled with explosives. Erik takes Christine to a cabinet where she has two levers to choose from, one that will free her lover, and another that will blow the entire Opera House to bits. She chooses to go away with Erik in order to save Raoul, and water begins to rush into the room full of explosives. As the men are drowning, Christine begs Erik to save them. He fishes the men out of the water, and as the mob draws near, Erik abducts Christine, throws her into a coach and drives madly through the streets of Paris. The coach overturns, and Christine escapes, leaving Erik to run madly for his life. He is finally cornered by the crowd at the banks of the Seine. Pretending to hold a grenade, he holds the crowd at bay, then in a final hideous moment of triumphant laughter, reveals that his hand is empty and the crowd then beats him to death.
Category:Classic Horror Monsters
Category:Silent Movie Monsters
Category:Universal Classic Monsters