the most well-known interpretation of the novel, it is considered the most popular cinematic interpretation by film critics in the Chinese speaking world. Moreover, Song at Midnight reveals an uneasy dialectic between revolutionary message and horror imagery, as it was released in February 1937, on the eve of the Japanese invasion and during a heated drive for clear social messages in literature. According to Christopher Rea, in his book Chinese Film Classics 1922–1949, the film expresses a sense of dread about a country on the edge of war, as the film's mood of horror and trepidation combines with its political message. Western influence Song at Midnight is not a typical Chinese horror story; it does not feature any of the iconographic characters from traditional Chinese horror fiction such as fox-spirits, ghostly maidens, Taoist priests, or itinerant scholars. Rather, many elements in Song at Midnight are considered to have been inspired by Western horror. For instance, the detailed expressionistic settings indicate that Ma-Xu has taken inspiration from American films such as Frankenstein. There is also a few similarities to the 1922 German Expressionist film Nosferatu. Furthermore, elements of popular Western and traditional Chinese opera were mixed by composer Nian Zinghair. The ending of Song at Midnight is very similar to that of Frankenstein, wherein both movies, the "monster" is chased by the fiery mob into a structure and killed after the structure is set on fire. The Phantom in Song at Midnight also borrows the pathos in Frankenstein as a sympathetic monstrous figure. Similarly, according to David Robinson, Song at Midnight is deemed to be the Chinese version of The Phantom of the Opera (1925). He deems the film as a creative and fascinating interpretation of Leroux's tale. In both films, the phantom provides vocal tutoring to young actors preparing for a play. Both phantoms are also driven by passion. In The Phantom of the Opera, the phantom wants his protégée to be his eternal wife, and in Song at Midnight, Danping wants to use his protégé to get closer to his long lost love. Writing for Paste Magazine, critic Jim Vorel notes that Song at Midnight "presages creative decisions" later present in the Universal Pictures' Phantom of the Opera (1943). The example he provides is the Phantom's disfigurement via acid attack. Home media As part of their Chinese film retrospective, Cinema Epoch released Song at Midnight on Region 0 DVD