The Abominable Dr. Phibes
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Movie Reviews of The Abominable Dr. Phibes
Movie Review: Love means never having to say you're ugly.
Summary: 5 Stars
Fighting the trauma of his wife's death, Dr. Phibes uses his imagination and psychotic ways to enact his revenge on the medical community of London. Instead of just going the normal judicial system route, Phibes takes a page from the Bible and uses the ten plagues to ease his sadness. Hail, boils, and bats are just a few of the methods that he uses to bring justice upon the eight doctors and one nurse that couldn't save his wife. When the police begin to get suspicious, they begin putting the puzzle pieces together. Oddly, what they discover is that they may be dealing with an element not of this world. The infamous Dr. Phibes holds secrets and it will be left up to one cunning detective to uncover the truth. He will need to work fast before the insatiable Dr. Phibes strikes again.
This "cult" classic was film well before its time. Set in the 1920s and released in 1971, there are elements to this picture that can be felt in the heart of our horror/thriller genre today. Price gives us one of his most memorable roles as the daunting Dr. Phibes bent on revenging the death of his wife. Coupled with moments of Se7en, the Abominable Dr. Phibes chills and entertains better than some recent films of a similar genre.
I would like to comment on one of the themes of this film, which is "love". Phibes commits these acts due to a love that cannot be stopped or snuffed. This is a powerful message to be sending to a generation where divorce is at an ultimate high and idea of soul mates is slowly diminishing. Dr. Phibes, beyond the fact that he murders, is actually promoting devotion and love. He could be a spokesperson for the power of emotion. Just a random thought as I watched this film.
What sets this film apart from others made during this time is the imagination of the script and the powerful sets. The powerful set design and Technicolor-esque photography are so bright, beautiful, and distinctive that it only aided in creating the creative world in which Dr. Phibes resided. The set design reminded me of a splash of Kubrick tossed together with a few shreds of Jim Henson's darker eye. Add to this mix some fancy and modern camera work, enjoyable humor, and grotesque murders and you have built only a larger platform for Price to do what he does best. This was one of those films that just seemed to "click" at every level. Director Robert Fuest did all of his homework while creating this masterpiece that will remain in my eyes a pivotal film in the history of horror.
Grade: **** out of ****
Movie Review: Sick, Warped, Hideous, Grotesque...And A Lot Of Fun!
Summary: 5 Stars
Warning: you pretty much have to have a really dark sense of humor to enjoy this flick to the fullest. With as much a body count as it bears, the violence is almost cartoonish, yet that's part of the enjoyment to be had in this slick, campy shocker carried on the shoulders of one of the genre's undisputed master thespians.
Between 'House of Wax' , this flick and 'Theatre Of Blood', Vincent Price seemed to be at home playing nice guys who REALLY hold a grudge when they're wronged. Anton Phibes is Snidely Whiplash reincarnated for the post-counterculture, a wickedly determined antihero who constantly teeters between bloodthirsty showman and aching widower, and even with his character's face destroyed, Price manages to glean the sincerest of emotions through his 'reconstructed' voice.
His motivations are simple: he blames the doctors who were charged with saving his beloved wife for her untimely death, not to mention his own deformity and presumed death in his initial efforts to reach her in time. His mission is straightforward: to wreak horrible, bloody vengeance upon those who he feels took his beloved Victoria from him. His methods are maniacal: derived from the gatakh - ten ancient curses meant to bring darkness upon the land, among them bees, bats, frogs, blood, hail - Phibes crafts an insanely-elaborate and horrific demise for each of the targeted medics - even the poor young nurse who aided in the operation earns no mercy from Phibes' wrath.
From the first shot to the last, 'The Abominable Dr. Phibes' is a glorious visual tapestry. From its opening credits, as Phibes rises like Hades from the bowels of his subterranean domain on the roar of a hellish pipe organ, the movie feels like a wonderfully-creepy EC comic come to life. While some of the actual death scenes are not quite as imaginative as they could have been, others are simply jaw-dropping.
And the movie is loaded with dark humor, most of it stemming from the two police officers attempting vainly to rout Phibes' next murderous operation. Their efforts fluster their superior, as well as the surgeon Dr. Vesalius - portrayed with much sincerity and humanity by Joseph Cotten - for whom it becomes clear Phibes is saving the best for last. In one of the film's most macabre comedic developments, even the officers' attempts to provide an escort for one of the targets from his own office fails quite miserably - and their attempt to mask it from the doctor's clientele so as to avoid a panic will probably make you gasp.
There is, of course, the obligatory mute servant: Vulnavia, a lovely gypsy woman portayed effectively by Virginia North. It's never determined what her precise relationship is with Phibes, or why she seems so quietly loyal to him, but she makes for an exotic element to the proceedings, and in some cases, a quite capable distraction with which Phibes pulls off another elaborate killing.
'The Abominable Dr. Phibes' is wonderfully demented, dazzingly constructed and a feast for the eyes that will give you chills. It's definitely worth checking out.
Movie Review: DON'T BOTHER WITH THIS DVD
Summary: 1 Stars
MGM Midnite Movies, not to put too fine a point on it, stink! I bought this DVD at Best Buy and it didn't play. I returned it and got another one - and it didn't play. I tried a third time - and it didn't play. They actually had to give me my money back. So, then I see it at Amazon.Com. I bought it. It didn't play. I exchanged it, it didn't play. I finally had to send it back to get a refund. Is anyone awake at the quality control at MGM?I have not problems with the movie - I think they are great (incidentally, the Dr. Phibes Rises Again has the same problem), it's the DVD's that are bad.
I thought it might be my DVD player - nope - nothing wrong with it. None of them played on any DVD player (we even tried ones at Best Buy).
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...Movie Review: love means never having to say you're ugly
Summary: 5 Stars
i love this movie,the whole killing in the name of love thing is kind of romantic and vincent price's monologues are cool. sometimes the murders aren't as great as you would expect like death by rats, but the locusts and frogs are fun and ridiculous. i'm keepin this short cause im 17 and don't like to write a lot,but this is a great movie if you're a sucker for old horror movies like i am and you want something that moves a little faster than most 1970s cinema.Listen to the cureand if you're ever in virginia check out sequoia.