EL FANTASMA DE LA OPERETA (1955)
aka The Phantom of the Operetta
Article 3704 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 9-20-2011
Posting Date: 10-5-2011
Directed by Enrique Carreras
Featuring Alfredo Barbieri, Amelia Vargas, Tono Andreu
Country: Argentina
What it is: Horror comedy

A phantom (as well as several other monsters) haunt an operetta.

According to the plot description on IMDB, this movie is supposed to be about a serial killer slashing the throats of chorus girls, which makes it sound somewhat bloodier and more horrific than THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. This description seemed odd to me even before I saw the movie; my instincts tell me that, with the movie’s English title being what it is, it would be a comic take on the tale. Having seen the movie now, I can only say that I should trust my instincts; there’s not a single throat slashed, but there are two phantoms, a Frankenstein monster, Dracula, the Wolf Man, a mad scientist, and an invisible man in the mix. My copy is also in unsubtitled Spanish, so if there’s any real plot here, I can’t follow it. Under these circumstances, I found the most amusing sequences to be the ones where the various monsters cross the stage during an elaborate dance number, much to the delight and applause of the audience. Otherwise, this looks like a pretty silly movie.