SYNTHETIC FLESH! – THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (1925) with live score by Maxim Melton at Genesis Cinema (Weds 19 November 2025)
THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA: 100TH ANNIVERSARY (1925) with live score by Maxim Melton
- Director: Rupert Julian
- Featured special makeup effects: Lon Chaney
- Cast: Lon Chaney, Mary Philbin, Norman Kerry
- Film: 78mins | USA | Silent + Intertitles + Live Score | Intermission
- Event: 20:45 – 23:15 [18+]
A disfigured composer becomes infatuated with a young opera singer.
“WITH LON CHANEY, NORMAN KERRRY, MARY PHILBIN, AND A CAST OF 5000 OTHERS.”
Cult film night BAR TRASH continues with its 11th sensational season — SYNTHETIC FLESH! — a tribute to more than 100 years of monster makeup FX.
The centre-piece of this season, we celebrate the 100th Anniversary of THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (1925) with a new live improvised score by queer cabaret performer and promoter, Maxim Melton. Maxim returns to BAR TRASH after blowing us away with their haunting live score for another Lon Chaney masterpiece THE UNKNOWN (1927) on the occasion of our third birthday with Loose Willis.
Lon Chaney (1883-1930) was not just an accomplished vaudeville performer and silent screen actor, he had the ability to totally transform himself through stage makeup and physical distortion, earning him the nickname, ‘The Man of a Thousand Faces’. As Quasimodo, the bell ringer of Notre Dame Cathedral, and Erik, the “phantom” of the Paris Opera House, Lon Chaney created two of the most memorably ‘monstrous’ characters in film history.
“There is not a screen performer who so illustrates the fascination for audiences of the promise and threat of metamorphosis. Why do we go to the cinema, sit in the dark before overwhelming fantasies that appear real? To share in these plastic movements, to change our own lives, and to encourage the profound spiritual notion of our flexible identity.”
David Thomson
Polite notice: We are projecting the original 1925/78minute release of THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA from the best available digital source.
/// BAR TRASH is a celebration of cult and curious cinema, hosted by queer film fanatic Token Homo and friends. Films are served with themed drinks, introductions, intermissions, prize giveaways, and subtitles / captions where possible. Tickets from £3.50+. Adults 18+ only. Follow @tokenhomo on IG & Letterboxd or visit tokenhomo.com for all the gory details ///
Programme supported by Film Hub London, managed by Film London. Proud to be a partner of the BFI Film Audience Network, funded by the National Lottery. www.filmlondon.org.uk/film-hub-london
