The other phans may joke and call him "Acid Face", but this Phantom of the Opera is perhaps the most complex and well-developed yet. His story begins during a time he was not deformed, when he was Erique Claudin, an aging violinist in the Paris Opera. A master of music, Erique quickly recognized the lifting, angelic voice of young Christine DuBois, a young orphan girl serving as understudy to the Prima Donna. Sacrificing his own well-being, Erique (who in this version is not himself a singer) pays his salary to a famous singing coach so Christine can have proper lessons. His love for her is not a romantic love, but a paternal love. Unfortunately, his aging hands can no longer play the violin as they should, and he is forced to retire, losing his home and his salary. He can no longer afford to pay for Christine's lessons. His only hope: a piano concerto, which he hopes to have published. The publishing company's chairman is a vicious trickster who steals Claudin's work. Claudin's one hope has been taken, and in rage, he takes the publisher's life. The publisher's girlfriend throws a tray of acid onto his face--marring him for eternity. He runs away, convicted and driven insane by humanity, into the tunnels beneath the opera. He dons a mask and a fedora, and now masquerades as the most elusive tragic hero in horror yet: The PHANTOM of the OPERA. Using his cunning (and skills with everyone's favorite murder weapon, the Punjab lasso), he lands Christine a chance on stage, and the applause she recieves is phenomenal. But his plans are foiled by the managers, who intend to cast another girl as the lead. In anguish, he drops the chandelier and kidnaps Christine, blind with insanity, bound to the Phantom he has become. Christine feels a sort of pity and compassion for him as she sees him return almost to the man he was before through the haunting melody of his piano concerto. As he reaches the finale, she vocalizes with the notes, until she finally lifts off his mask just in time for her two suitors, the Baritone Anitole and the police inspector Raoul, to enter. She sees the acid's horrid work: One side of his face is that of a benevolent man, the other of a hideously-disfigured beast. Christine stares, not wanting to leave him, as she is dragged away by her suitors before the walls, shaken by the concerto, begin to crash around Erique's lair. We are left this one words of advice by the inspector: His insanity and murderous crimes will be forgotten, but his music will live forever. This phantom is not an angel, a magician, or a genius: He's a man.

This film, in addition to creating one of the first technicolor films of all time (and at least of the horror genre), won awards for it's lavish set and costume design. It is remembered as one of the most famous horror films of all time.