Other reviewers have told you that the movie itself is a cult classic, entertaining and brilliantly funny in its own way. That you don't need to be told. What you need to be told is that the DVD itself is not very good. The transfer of the picture is muddy and the soundtrack, especially Paul Williams' inspired and entertaining music, is equally disappointing.

Furthermore, the "extras" are pathetic. The trailer isn't even a trailer - - it's a mishmash of clips from several scenes, with little coherent thought put to their selection or their order. The name of the movie is never displayed or mentioned. There are no actor or director bios, missing scenes, or even production notes. The disc does include trailers for other films from the distributor, including Phantom's more famous rival, "The Rocky Horror Picture Show".

This movie has a larger following than many realize, and calls out desperately for a special edition DVD with interviews or commentary of director Brian DePalma (it's his first feature length film), Williams and Jessica Harper (the heroine Phoenix) at the very least. A stage version, which nearly came to life in 1988, would also be welcome. Tragically, we'll likely never see either come to pass.