Robert Fuest's ultra-stylish 1971 horror masterpiece The Abominable Dr. Phibes remains one of Vincent Price's most beloved films and roles. As the enigmatic, robe-donned title character, Price relishes his bizarre role and makes the film a treasure to behold on the basis of his presence alone. He won a Best Actor award from the Sitges - Catalonian International Film Festival in its very first year of operation. Featuring opulent cinematography by Norman Warwick and colorfully elaborate art deco set design by Brian Eatwell -- not to mention an exciting and memorable organ score by Basic Kirchin -- the film is a fascinating feast for the eyes and ears that should please all horror fans, particular Vincent Price followers and lovers of British fright films of the '70s. The film was a large success both critically and financially, particularly in England, for American International Pictures and was popular enough to rush its equally impressive 1972 sequel Dr. Phibes Rises Again into production and spawn a novel tie-in by William Goldstein titled simply Dr. Phibes.
The fiendish plot was inspired by the Bible's mythical 10 Egyptian curses of the pharoahs found in the Old Testament, and features our vengeful titular anti-hero and organist Dr. Anton Phibes (Price) exacting revenge on the team of surgeons who he believes killed his lovely young wife Victoria (uncredited Caroline Munro, who is only seen in a photograph) with the help of his otherworldly assistant Vulnavia (Virginia North) in bizarre ways that mimmick each of the deadly curses. The murder scenes are prolongued, inventive and surprisingly brutal, and has Phibes executing the medical practitioners one by one with bees, bats, hail, rats, locusts, brass unicorns and even a booby-trapped, tightening frog mask in one memorable scene at a costume party. After each murder, the twisted zombie doctor (who cannot move his lips but speaks through an electronic voice box disguised as a phonograph) melts down a waxen image of the dead doctor with a blow torch and plans his next attack -- a sly homage to Price's trademark 1953 horror classic House of Wax. As the doctors who unsuccessfully performed Mrs. Phibes's operation are eliminated, head surgeon Dr. Versalius (Joseph Cotton) does some detective work and finds that Phibes was killed in a car accident upon learning of his wife's hospital death. But when he trespasses the Phibes crypt and finds the stone caskets empty, he realizes that Phibes has literally risen from the grave... and it may take supernatural strength to defeat him.
English horror films are well-known throughout the world for their quality acting, and The Abominable Dr. Phibes is certainly no exception. Aside from Price's brilliant interpretation of Phibes and Hollywood veteran Cotten's as the world-weary Versalius, there's a collection of awesome cameos by some of Britain's brightest talent that includes Peter Jeffrey as befuddled Inspector Trout, who is assigned to investigate the series of surreal murders by Scotland Yard; Terry-Thomas as horny Dr. Longstreet, who has his entire blood supply drained from his body by Phibes and filled neatly into jars stacked beside his bone-dry corpse; and Academy Award winner Hugh Griffith (Ben-Hur, Tom Jones) as a rabbi who gives Inspector Trout an interesting lesson in theology. Former actor Sean Bury of Friends fame has a brief role as Versalius's teenage son Lem, who villainous Phibes kidnaps and straps to an operating table beneath a tube of acid aimed at his face in the film's grand climax.
A period horror film set in the flapper era of 1925, The Abominable Dr. Phibes invokes the time period effectively through brilliant costume and set design and music and stands above most of AIP's '70s productions as a true work of art. The digs Phibes occupies and operates from in the film are awesome: An abandoned but lavishly decorated music hall filled with creepy clockwork musicians that accompany Phibes during his organ jam sessions. The film has inspired many filmmakers throughout the years with its off-key style and originality, including James Wan who references the film thematically in his ultra-popular Saw series, which also features elaborate booby-trap deaths.
The Abominable Dr. Phibes is not your typical Hammer-style horror entry in British cinema. A rare cross-breed of a surreal revenge film and a thinking person's horror film, it is laced with the blackest of humor that is still effective today, supercharged with a lightning pace that moves quickly from murder to murder, and tinged with religious symbolism and imagery that gives it a brave edge. I rate it a 9 of 10 and recommend it (along with its follow-up Dr. Phibes Rises Again) to all horror and Vincent Price fans, young and old.
The fiendish plot was inspired by the Bible's mythical 10 Egyptian curses of the pharoahs found in the Old Testament, and features our vengeful titular anti-hero and organist Dr. Anton Phibes (Price) exacting revenge on the team of surgeons who he believes killed his lovely young wife Victoria (uncredited Caroline Munro, who is only seen in a photograph) with the help of his otherworldly assistant Vulnavia (Virginia North) in bizarre ways that mimmick each of the deadly curses. The murder scenes are prolongued, inventive and surprisingly brutal, and has Phibes executing the medical practitioners one by one with bees, bats, hail, rats, locusts, brass unicorns and even a booby-trapped, tightening frog mask in one memorable scene at a costume party. After each murder, the twisted zombie doctor (who cannot move his lips but speaks through an electronic voice box disguised as a phonograph) melts down a waxen image of the dead doctor with a blow torch and plans his next attack -- a sly homage to Price's trademark 1953 horror classic House of Wax. As the doctors who unsuccessfully performed Mrs. Phibes's operation are eliminated, head surgeon Dr. Versalius (Joseph Cotton) does some detective work and finds that Phibes was killed in a car accident upon learning of his wife's hospital death. But when he trespasses the Phibes crypt and finds the stone caskets empty, he realizes that Phibes has literally risen from the grave... and it may take supernatural strength to defeat him.
English horror films are well-known throughout the world for their quality acting, and The Abominable Dr. Phibes is certainly no exception. Aside from Price's brilliant interpretation of Phibes and Hollywood veteran Cotten's as the world-weary Versalius, there's a collection of awesome cameos by some of Britain's brightest talent that includes Peter Jeffrey as befuddled Inspector Trout, who is assigned to investigate the series of surreal murders by Scotland Yard; Terry-Thomas as horny Dr. Longstreet, who has his entire blood supply drained from his body by Phibes and filled neatly into jars stacked beside his bone-dry corpse; and Academy Award winner Hugh Griffith (Ben-Hur, Tom Jones) as a rabbi who gives Inspector Trout an interesting lesson in theology. Former actor Sean Bury of Friends fame has a brief role as Versalius's teenage son Lem, who villainous Phibes kidnaps and straps to an operating table beneath a tube of acid aimed at his face in the film's grand climax.
A period horror film set in the flapper era of 1925, The Abominable Dr. Phibes invokes the time period effectively through brilliant costume and set design and music and stands above most of AIP's '70s productions as a true work of art. The digs Phibes occupies and operates from in the film are awesome: An abandoned but lavishly decorated music hall filled with creepy clockwork musicians that accompany Phibes during his organ jam sessions. The film has inspired many filmmakers throughout the years with its off-key style and originality, including James Wan who references the film thematically in his ultra-popular Saw series, which also features elaborate booby-trap deaths.
The Abominable Dr. Phibes is not your typical Hammer-style horror entry in British cinema. A rare cross-breed of a surreal revenge film and a thinking person's horror film, it is laced with the blackest of humor that is still effective today, supercharged with a lightning pace that moves quickly from murder to murder, and tinged with religious symbolism and imagery that gives it a brave edge. I rate it a 9 of 10 and recommend it (along with its follow-up Dr. Phibes Rises Again) to all horror and Vincent Price fans, young and old.