Dundead: The Phantom of the Opera (1925) with live score by Andrew Wasylyk and Tommy Perman + Q&A

We are delighted to welcome Scottish musicians Andrew Wasylyk and Tommy Perman back to DCA for a very special launch event for their new album.

Director Rupert Julian’s 1925 film version of The Phantom of the Opera starring Lon Chaney ranks among the greatest horror films of the silent era. Last year, to celebrate the milestone 100th anniversary of this iconic film, Dundead commissioned the creation of a brand-new score by Scottish musicians Andrew Wasylyk and Tommy Perman. A year on, and the duo are releasing an album of the score titled House With A Curse and we’re thrilled to welcome them (and the Phantom!) back to DCA for a screening of the film with live accompaniment, followed by a post-film Q&A with Dundead programmer Michael Coull. Copies of House With A Curse will also be available to buy at the event.

This film from Universal Studios was the first film adaptation of Gaston Leroux’s 1910 novel, and one of the first in the iconic series of Universal horror films. Julian’s film is suitably operatic in scope, replete with Hollywood extravagance, opulent costumes and hundreds of extras. Lon Chaney, ‘the Man of a Thousand faces’, plays Erik, the Phantom, in one of his most celebrated performances. Chaney designed the make-up for this (and many of his other roles), and the Phantom’s appearance, and particularly his unmasking scene, is nothing short of iconic. 

While it is important to acknowledge that there are problematic elements in the film’s depiction of Erik’s physical otherness, it is our belief that allowing contemporary audiences access to historical cinematic works like The Phantom of the Opera through a modern framework is an important and valuable part of cinema culture. 

The original 1925 release of the film utilised a variety of colour processes, including tinting and a dazzling early use of Technicolour, and there have been numerous reissues of the original film in the intervening years, including a 1929 version with sound. The version that we will be screening is as close to the original, vibrantly coloured silent version as possible. 

The 2025 tour of Dundead presents The Phantom of the Opera with live score was supported by Film Hub Scotland, part of the BFI’s Film Audience Network, awarding funding on behalf of Screen Scotland and the BFI National Lottery. Read more about the project here.