#the phantom lover

[phantoonsoftheopera]

Sometimes my random visits to ebay pay off. Like finding this region-free blu-ray copy of "The Phantom Lover" - with bonus lyric cards and a dvd that wasn't mentioned in the description so I'm curious to see what that's about.

[cinematicjourney]

The Phantom Lover (1995) | dir. Ronny Yu

[phantom-retrospective]

Footage from the sequel to the original Song at Midnight has turned up! Also in this video is an interview with Leslie Cheung, who portrayed Song Danping in Phantom Lover (1995), the third remake of Song at Midnight. Footage found on Archive.org from the documentary Yang Yin: Gender in Chinese Cinema.

[darklordazalin]

Azalin Reviews: The Darklord Phantom Lover

Domain: Leederik’s Tower Domain Formation: 565 BC Power Level: 💀💀⚫⚫⚫ Sources: Darklords (2e), Van Richten’s Monster Hunter’s Compendium II (2e) The story of how Leederik became known as “The Phantom Lover” and a Darklord in his own right has been obscured by the Mists. Given his name and aptitude for abducting beautiful maidens overcome by grief, one may theorize that he was once the ‘ghost’ of an certain opera house on Gothic Earth…

The Phantom Lover’s Domain, Leederik’s Tower, is unique and perhaps the only interesting thing about this zestless phantom. The Tower is tall, dark, and brooding and surrounded by a labyrinth of mysterious shadows. The tower itself can travel amongst the Domains in the mists and can travel to other planes of existence. Despite this, Leederik is just as trapped as the rest of us. Even if he could freely leave his tower behind, he chooses not to as he is far too focused on his own desires to realize his own torment.

Leederik targets individuals that are grieving for a loved one. He often favors grieving women and continually visits them whenever they are to feed on their grief and the pain that comes with it. He appears to his victims as the one they are grieving for. The only difference is his left foot always appears black, scaled, and reptilian. Not an easy appendage to hide, but his victims are often so absorbed in their own grief that they easily overlook it. Although, one must consider the fact that these individuals also believe their loved ones returned from the dead without any apparent divine intervention, so they are likely not the most intelligent.

Night after night Leederik slowly drains the life force from his victims. He exhibits a number of vampire-like abilities such as shifting into a mist form and shape changing. Though, instead of a bat or a wolf favored by most vampires, Leederik turns into a serpent. Van Richten seems to think he is a ghost, but I am not convinced. Perhaps this ‘famed’ monster hunter should have done a bit more research on the matter.

Eventually the victim will be given the choice to go to Leederik’s Tower and stay with him forever or leave him behind. Most end up at his tower and die slowly until he drains them completely.

Without a history to go on or any sort of personality, I’m reduced to reviewing this “Darklord” by his abilities alone. His Tower is unique, but he is essentially just another type of vampire. For that, I will reluctantly give him 2 skulls.

[don-dake]

玖月拾貳日：紀念 「哥哥」…

[daysofleslie]

The Phantom Lover (1995), dir Ronny Yu

[ancientphantom]

It’s time for the May roundup!  Some old, some new, and a wide range of genre and style!

Taken by the Phantom by Isabella King is the first in the Phantom of the Academy trilogy, a new series released all at once in a chunk this month! A modern-day paranormal fantasy featuring a Christine character who is whisked away from Juilliard to a parallel world and the Cantus School, where she meets a number of familiar characters in a supernatural romance.

Bargain in Blood by Isabella King is the second book in the series, in which our main character has begun to learn how to use magic through the power of her singing and has also begun to feel torn between her love for Raul and her attraction to the mysterious Phantom.

Fall of the Fae by Isabella King is the final book in the trilogy, in which things have gotten magically out of control, dangerous prophecies loom on the horizon, and things are definitely getting steamy on the romance front.

The Phantom of the Music Room by Janet Gardner is a musical for children about a mysterious figure playing music (and pranks?) in a school’s music room. It looks like it’s available both as a script/score and as a recorded CD, although I’m not sure if the CD is an actual performance or just includes backing tracks.

Sonata by Skye Warren is the last book in yet another trilogy, following up on the previous modern-day age-difference romances Overture and Concerto. It’s still in pre-release, so no details yet!

And some oldies/rereleases:

Jessi and the Dance School Phantom by Ann M. Martin is an old-school Babysitter’s Club mystery, revolving around a Phantom harassing Jessi as she tries to take the lead role in a ballet. Is it for sure a Phantom book? Who can say, but the answer to “am I for sure going to read it like I’m 10″ is definitely “yes”.

The Phantom Lover, directed by Ronny Yu is now available on Amazon Prime for free streaming, complete with subtitles!  It’s a gorgeous update to the old 1930s Song at Midnight movie and subsequent franchise and has some beautiful cinematography and acting.

And that’s May!  Off we go to the summer to see what new hot releases await!

[mistressofthelair]

About Chinese Phantom Adaptations

I've watched and read most of them（I think...）.If you have any question about Song At Midnight,The Phantom Lover or other Chinese adaptations,please feel free to ask me!We have some really entertaining phantom-related movies,novels and comics here in China:)

One amazing fact:Tian Han,lyricist of the 1937 film's title song,actually wrote the lyrics for Chinese national anthem.