A comedic horror-inspired rock opera with glitzy musical numbers, an effeminate Frankenstein monster in hot pants, and a damsel in distress. The Rocky Horror Picture Show may have perfected the midnight movie in 1975 but Brian DePalma’s Phantom of the Paradise set the groundwork a year earlier. While Rocky is expertly paced and choreographed, Phantom is a wild mess of styles, set pieces and split screens. The overloaded story doesn’t make a lot of sense – casting Paul Williams as an irresistible sex idol is the among the least of its leaps – smashing together bits of Faust, The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Phantom of the Opera and Psycho (with a toilet plunger replacing the infamous knife in the shower).

The plot pits Williams as evil record executive “Swan” against struggling songwriter Winslow Leach (William Finley). Leach just doesn’t take the hint when Swan steals his masterpiece and has him repeatedly tossed out of the building. Getting sent to prison and having his teeth pulled out also can’t keep the obsessive artist away, and a disfiguring accident only inspires him to haunt the venue where Swan prepares an extravagant show. Eventually a lunatic Leach confronts the diminutive Swan, who manages to turn the tables and enslave the mad menace willingly. Of course it’s through the use of a girl they both have their eye on who suffers from both their attentions.

Most characters fight for the title of most outrageous. Each has a signature affectation to be explored in their own episodic scenes. Leach wallows in misery as a musical monster. The Rock God Beef has a sissy breakdown backstage. Swan reveals the depths of his shallowness in a bubble bath. Chameleon pop group The Juicy Fruits subsumes a different gawdy novelty theme for every appearance. The villains and violence are simultaneously horrifying and hysterical. The frequent diversions and tonal shifts are somewhat schizophrenic, but each segment provides its own dramatic climax. These build to a riotous end that damns both the music industry and its fans in an orgy of destruction. Through it all DePalma crams in as many crazy colors and camera effects that he can find. It may make you increasingly aghast, but I guarantee you’ll be entertained.