Director: Brian De Palma
A really wacky, silly, over-the-top movie that you can't help but like because its so fun to watch. This is a movie that mixes the genres of comedy, horror, and the musical, while also acting as a tragedy. It references an insane amount of prior work, from Psycho to The Phantom of the Opera to Faust. This movie is the definition of campy fun, I'm not sure if I learned much from the movie or if the movie represents any great artistic filmmaking, but it does represent a wild time.
The themes it has have been done to death, especially the main theme of artistic integrity. And there are scenes that are not campy fun, but just campy dumb. So it's not completely successful, but the unique visuals, musical dances, and costumes do give the movie an other-worldly feel that set it apart from any other movie you've ever seen. The highly expressionistic style is definitely De Palma at his most fun. It doesn't work all the time, but no one can deny that this is one unique film.
Grade: B-
