Released in the mid-1920s, the Phantom of the Opera, starring Lon Chaney, is a classic film from the golden age of cinema that the NMU French Club brought to life at 7:30 on Wednesday.

The 11th annual silent
film showing with grand piano accompaniment electrified the overcrowded audience. Excited
students and Marquette community members quickly filled the University Center’s Ontario Room. The entire event spanned close to two hours and the softly dimmed lights set the mood for a truly chilling night of classical horror.

With only a single sheet of music at his disposal, Robert Buchkoe brought the film to life as
he played. The music flowed out of his fingertips like a pen to paper with flawless motion and technical precision. This annual event is the
largest put on by the French Club this semester and shows the organizational skills of student
organizations on campus. The film came from the idea of a cruelly mistreated man going mad in self-imposed exile, said Hollywood’s Robert Eger. He was evidently disfigured in the cellars, dungeons and torture chambers, Eger said.