Erik: Portrait of a Living Corpse

A Mini Monster Feature

Obsession, passion, tragedy and triumph have made French author Gaston Leroux's The Phantom of the Opera a gothic masterpiece for the ages. This story of a horribly disfigured genius, who dwells beneath the Paris Opera House, has captured the imaginations of filmmakers, writers and musicians for years, yet few have taken advantage of Leroux's rich text and atmosphere.

In 2010, I sought to use Leroux's novel as the basis of a no-budget short film, told from Erik, The Phantom's, point-of-view. My friends and I would use this as an experiment in making the best "film" we could with what we had.

The end result ended up being over an hour long, but a work I'm still proud of, and an experience that shaped the way I work.

- Ryan