The Abominable Dr. Phibes
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Movie Reviews of The Abominable Dr. Phibes
Movie Review: One of Price's best baddies!!
Summary: 5 Stars
I remember "discovering" this movie as a teenager; I came across it one night on Channel 7 in NYC, at around 3 in the morning.It was love at first sight.
Vincent Price plays Dr. Anton Phibes, an organ-playing Super-Genius, who seeks revenge on the 9 people he holds responsible for the death of his Wife: The 8 Doctors and the Nurse who failed to save her after an accident. Phibes and his lovely assistant, Vulnavia, operate out of a secret lair, complete with a ballroom and clockwork orchestra of Phibes' own creation, and as the film begins, their plan is already well underway: they will kill the "responsible" parties using the 10 Biblical plagues of The Pharoes- Boils, Bats, Blood, Frogs, Beasts, The Death of the First-Born, Locusts, Rats, Hail, and Darkness.....Let the fun begin....
What is so great about this movie is that, in my opinion, there ARE no other movies like this one. It's a surreal period-piece (The film takes place in the 1920's), that deals with grusome murders, has a wicked sense of humor, and a villain straight out of a comic-book (Comic readers will find Phibes to be a cross between Doctor Doom and The Joker). The sets and locations are great, and Vincent Price is superb, as usual. You can tell he had a great time playing the good Doctor. The ending is weirdly satisfying, and again, is one-of-a-kind. The cast is superb, and Joseph Cotten is a great foil for Price. Their scene in the operating theater is phenomenal.
The DVD is short on extras, just a Theatrical trailer, which is a hoot. And anyone who has had to suffer through awful-looking Television airings will love the crisp look of the film in Widescreen.
Anyone who is a fan of either Horror movies or Vincent Price MUST add this film to their collection. As the Policeman says early in the film, "There are a lot of strange people practicing medicine these days!"
Movie Review: Price is Princeless
Summary: 5 Stars
For Vincent Price's whole career, he was accused of hamming it up in his performances. So when handed a lemon...Price made "lemonade" with this film, going to the wall in high camp that is a gruesome delight. The tag-line for the film was "revenge is the best medicine", and that could apply to Price's outlook as well as to the plot of the film.
Scotland Yard is tossed a riddler when a rash of murders keeps happening. Obviously, they have a serial killer on their hands, but one with specific victims targeted rather than randomly selected. The audience is treated to an inside look into the killer's bizarre world, and learns the motive for the crimes. Dr. Phibes and his gorgeous wife were in a car accident. It left him speechless and only able to used an external voice box to speak to his helper. However, it's his wife's death Phibes is out to avenge. He blames the surgical team for his loss, and is very devilishly setting about to eliminate then staff one at a time, using the plagues of ancient Egypt to stage each murder. The demented doctor Phibes saves the chief surgeon, Joseph Cotton, for last, using the plague of the first-born son, making Cotton operate on his own son in a race to save him from descending acid.
It's high camp done in high style. So crank up the clockwork band and have a delightful time with Price at his most "Priceless". Followed a year later by the
sequel Dr. Phibes Rides Again.
Movie Review: Finally! Hooray for MGM Home Video
Summary: 5 Stars
It only took 18 years, but they finally got right the homevideo release of this horror camp classic. In 1983, Vestron Videoreleased THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES on VHS. ...it featured differentorgan music and a too-clean video transfer. (The music change was NOTindicated on the box.) This RUINED the movie for me. In themid-'90s, this same version began popping up on The Movie Channel andAmerican Movie Classics. (The music was STILL WRONG.) Now, with thiswonderful new DVD edition, you can enjoy DR. PHIBES the way it wasmeant to be enjoyed -- with the ORIGINAL music (every single note isin intact and sounds great) and a beautiful video transfer. At thisprice ... order 2 copies -- one for a friend who enjoys clever horrormovies with a little kitsch. By the way, I also bought the new DVDrelease of the sequel -- DR. PHIBES RISES AGAIN -- and the picture andsound quality is also uniformly excellent. And it's fun to see bothof the original trailers too. Sorry to gush so much, but I'mabsolutely ecstatic that these 2 movies are finally given the homevideo treatment they deserve. Thank you, MGM Home Video. Now, ifthey'd just release THEATER OF BLOOD in similar fashion .... (maybethey will, given that that movie is also an MGM title).Movie Review: a plague on them all
Summary: 5 Stars
Dr Anton Phibes (the late great Vincent Price) is out for revenge on those who's incompetence killed his wife Victoria (Caroline Monroe) with the help of his beautiful but mute assistant Vulnavia (VIrginia North).
In the firing line are the likes of Terry Thomas who plays Dr Longstreet a porn mad surgeon who suffers the curse of blood. Joseph Cotton plays Dr Vesalius, a part that was originally meant for Peter Cushing, but Mr Cushing's wife was very ill at the time and he had to withdraw from the filming.
All the deaths follow the plagues of Egypt: curse of boils, bats, frogs, the curse of blood, the curse of rats, hail, of beasts, the locust, of course, the death of the first-born, and then, finally, of darkness.
It is one of those films where you want the bad guy to win, and played to the campest level possible. Inspector Trout (Peter Jeffrey) and Sgt Schenley (Norman Jones) add extra comic relief to the film.
A great piece of escapism, that I remember from my childhood along with the Friday night Hammer Horror movies. Absolutely wonderful regardless of the fact that there are no extras
Movie Review: Malpractice Insurance...
Summary: 5 Stars
Vincent Price is devilishly cool as Dr. Phibes, a brilliant man driven to insanity by the death of his wife, Victoria. You see, she died on the operating table under the collective knife of a nine person surgical team. Her grieving, enraged husband soon "died" in a fiery auto accident. Now, years later, the very same doctors and nurse are turning up dead in odd yet ingenius ways. Who could be responsible for this? Who else?! With the aid of his beautiful, mute, and mysterious assistant, Vulnavia, Phibes has set out to exact his vengeance through biblical means. Using the ten plagues of ancient Egypt, he knocks off his victims with bats, rats, locusts, a strangulating frog mask, and other gleefully ghoulish methods. Scotland Yard is on the case, with a befuddled inspector Trout doing the leg-work and getting the grief whenever a new body pops up. The head doctor, and main target of Phibes' twisted medicine is played by none other than Joseph Cotten (Gaslight). TADP is a macabre masterpiece of horrific humor and spooky surprises. One of Price's best characters. Highly recommended...