Dr. Phibes Rises Again!
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Movie Reviews of Dr. Phibes Rises Again!
Movie Review: great!!!
Summary: 4 Stars
the sequel to "phibes"!!! kitsch, great movie !!!!the sets are amazing, and the deaths memorable!!! a lot of british humor!!! for everyone!!!!Movie Review: Not bad, but where are the witty corpse-making methods from Dr. Phibes' abominable past?
Summary: 3 Stars
Melt a package of Velveeta, add a can of jalapeno slices and you'll have a good dip for corn chips. The problem with this sequel to The Abominable Dr. Phibes is that this time Phibes ain't got no jalapenos. With Dr. Phibes Rises Again we have Phibes (Vincent Price) in Egypt, along with his preserved wife, Victoria, his silent assistant, the well-built Vulnavia, and his swinging automaton band. Can he find the headwaters of the River of Life, hidden under an ancient mountain within a lavish underground temple built by the now-vanished Egyptian pharaohs, before an obsessive and wealthy dilettante explorer, Darius Biederbeck (Robert Quarry), does? Will Dr. Phibes invent some intricate and painful deaths for those who get is his way...as in deaths by telephone receiver, giant gin bottle, claw, stinger, Henry James and sand particle (lots of them)? Will the bumbling police duo of Inspector Trout and Sir Wayne Waring show up to perform a vaudeville act of silly misunderstandings and pompous posturing? Will there be a number of good actors who seem to have wandered into the movie for a moment or two of cameo immortality, never to be seen again in the movie once they say their sentence or two, such as Peter Cushing, Beryl Reid, Hugh Griffin and Terry-Thomas? Even John Thaw shows up with curly brown hair 15 years before he became Inspector Morse. Is Dr. Phibes clunky and, for long stretches, simply dull? Warning: Spoilers. Yes to all the above.
The Abominable Dr. Phibes was great cheese, and witty in its Bible-based, corpse-producing methods. It also offered us one first-rate, sympathetic actor in a leading role, Joseph Cotten as Dr. Vesalius. If the first Dr. Phibes film was an unctuous slice of liverwurst, this one is simply an under-cooked blood-pudding, stuffed with bits of edible body organs but under-seasoned. Even Vincent Price's hamminess is held in check. He's constrained by the make-believe that he has to use an artificial speaking device (because of an encounter with acid). All his lines have been recorded separately, probably after filming, leaving him on camera to twitch a bit when we hear his voice.
To watch Price in all his hammy glory in witty vehicles of camp, comedy and corpses, try Theater of Blood and The Abominable Dr. Phibes. As for this film, well, it does no real damage except to Harold Arlen and E. Y. Harburg; the last thing we hear is Vincent Price singing "Over the Rainbow."
Movie Review: The good doctor is back.
Summary: 3 Stars
This fun follow-up to the first Phibes film tries hard and is entertaining, but doesn't measure up to the wit of the original. What made the first so compelling was its atmospheric cinematography, set-dressing, costumes, clever wit, and overall mood, ranging from the creepy to the hilarious to the exotic. Nevertheless this sequel is a fun outing, with some memorable moments. These were made by the same director who did the original Avengers series.Movie Review: The Camp is High
Summary: 2 Stars
Despite the return of the director Robert Fuest and star Vincent Price, plus a handful of supporting players from "The Abominable Dr. Phibes" (including Hugh Griffith and Terry-Thomas in different roles), this Phibes go-around threatens to spin out of control at every turn. In the first one, the camp had a kind of magnificence to it -- Phibes' graceful dance with Vulnavia, for instance -- while here it comes perilously close to descending to the level of a "Carry On" film. That is not to say it isn't fun to watch, you just have to overlook the indulgences, not to mention a fair amount of absurdity.
Price, in modified makeup and wig, actually cuts a rather handsome, dashing figure here, though his character is weakened somewhat by his murdering people in ghastly ways chiefly for the sake of killing them, and not out of revenge, as in the first film. Some of the death traps are wonderful (Hugh Griffith washing ashore in an enormous bottle, for instance), while others are so ridiculous as to make the cliffhangers in "Batman" look subtle by comparison. Granted, in this sort of movie it is usually best not to worry about logic, but even so, some of the bits are so over-the-top that they negate the effect. Another problem is that Price's voice over narration (Phibes can only speak artifically)tends to be repetitious and banal exposition, as though nobody could think of anything for him to say except constant recaps of the plot.
Robert Quarry, then enjoying a brief starring career as a road-company Christopher Lee, is effective as the antagonist and appears to be the only one taking things seriously, the down side of which is that he comes off as the only one not in on the joke. Fiona Lewis is decorative as the nondescript heroine, and the bungling policemen played by Peter Jeffrey and John Cater are amusing. John Thaw -- later TV's "Morse" -- shows up mid-way through for the sole purpose of meeting a particularly nasty end. However, Valli Kemp as Vulnavia looks like a plump young deer caught in the headlights. Her only stab at expression comes in trying desperately not to laugh out loud at Price, who is playing in broad comedy mode. Meanwhile, Peter Cushing has never been more wasted.
All in all, it's amusing, but it can't touch the first "Phibes." And for the record, Price's rendition of "Over the Rainbow" at the end WAS in the original theatrical version, but removed from the film when it went to video.
Movie Review: Lacks the sparkle of its predecessor
Summary: 2 Stars
The Abominable Dr Phibes, for all its gruesomeness and unpleasantness, was witty and sharp, but the sequel is just pedestrian and flat. As the doctor, Vincent Price doesn't seem to enjoy himself as much, and the film is absent the irony that made the original so memorable. Brian Eatwell's sets aren't half as impressive as his earlier creations, and Basil Kirchin's musical direction is sorely missed.
Only the ending manages to capture something of the same spirit, but it is hardly worth waiting an hour and twenty minutes for.