Using gothic elements from The Phantom of the Opera, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and The Picture of Dorian Gray to satirize the music industry, this midnight movie staple features Bill Finley as geeky musician Winslow Leach, whose pop cantana set to the tale of Faust is stolen by Swan, an impresario of modern rock, played by the diminutive songwriter/producer Paul Williams.

As Rod Serling explains to us over the credits, Swan’s label – Death Records – plays tastemaker for the industry, and now he’s fixated on opening a concert hall, the Paradise. He wants “Faust” to play the Paradise, but doesn’t want Winslow involved. Swan frames him and sends him to prison, where Winslow’s teeth are pulled and replaced with metal. (At this point the movie no longer follows any reality as we know it).

Winslow breaks out and goes apeshit on the recording studio, getting stuck in a record press. Now deformed, he lurks the Paradise, decked out in a costume he stole from wardrobe. He allows Swan to use his music for “Faust” under the proviso that chorus girl Phoenix (Jessica Harper) be the only one to sing it.

But Swan double crosses poor Phantom/Winslow again, leading to dire consequences for Swan’s new band, the Undead. Once Phantom/Winslow realizes that Swan has him locked in a contract signed in blood, he must sacrifice himself or allow Phoenix to sign her voice away to the devil.

Phantom of the Paradise became the bottom half of the bill with The Rocky Horror Picture Show – also released by Fox, but a year later – when it road showed in Canada. It ran for months and has developed a cult status there equal to or greater than Tim Curry and “The Time Warp.”

Written and directed by Brian DePalma, this was his last film before devoting the middle of his career exclusively to interpretations of the Alfred Hitchcock thriller with flicks like Carrie, Dressed To Kill and Scarface.. I questioned whether Canadians had even more bizarre notions of taste than the French as I sat down to watch this, but fears it would be total ’70s kitsch like KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park quickly subside.

This movie is hilarious, obscenely imaginative, frenetically paced and a must for fans of both rock music and film. While making what is essentially a comedy musical, DePalma anticipated numerous trends in rock for the decade.

Swan parades three different bands in front of his adoring audience. The first are The Juicy Fruits, a retro-’50s act that seems to prophesize the coming popularity of Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley and Sha Na Na on TV. Winslow goes insane with rage when Swan’s hatchet man (George Memmoli) suggests that these greaser posers might sing his music.

Next up are The Beach Bums, a Beach Boys act. The Phantom annihilates them onstage in a great split screen sequence. Finally, The Undead, who are a splitting image for KISS in their black and white makeup and sound, though their onstage antics seems modeled after Alice Cooper. The Phantom saves his best work for their lead singer, Beef (Gerrit Graham).

Paul Williams wrote the songs and much like the movie, the tunes start off annoying you, but quickly win you over. As for his acting, well, he gets to do more with Swan than with Little Enos in Smokey and the Bandit and is actually pretty funny. Harper and Finley are terrific as Beauty and the Beast, never taking themselves or the movie seriously.

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DePalma suggests that rock music was getting bigger and more theatrical in the mid-70s and that talent was selling their soul – and rock ‘n roll – to Death Records to get big with it. This was my interpretation anyway as we move from one dizzying camera move or editing trick or weird sight gag to the next.

In one sequence, Williams sits in the middle of a giant gold record, shot from overhead, like Al Pacino sitting in his oversized bubble bath in Scarface. Here, Williams is surrounded by darkness and as the camera tracks in a circle, different styles of musician appear as Williams tries to select the sound he wants to perform Faust.

I doubt I could watch this over and over again, but Phantom of the Paradise is a minor masterpiece just waiting for someone to turn into a Broadway or Vegas musical. DePalma actually considered directing a stage version for Broadway in the late ’80s, but plans fell through. This is definitely worth a rental if you’re in the mood for something totally out there.