Abominable Dr Phibes [DVD] [1971] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

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Engrossing all the way through, "The Abominable Dr. Phibes" is must viewing for Price fans and diehard horror fans who enjoy a good revenge tale. On a lower floor, Trout supposes Phibes will eventually be stopped by simple human error. Vesalius disagrees. Phibes has had years to hide and plot. If they can throw off his maniacal precision, they might have a chance of stopping him by his own inflexible standards. Lampley, Jonathan Malcolm (2010). Women in the Horror Films of Vincent Price. McFarland & Company. p.155. ISBN 9780786457496. Lampley quotes Vincent Price Unmasked (1974) by James Robert Parish and Steven Whitney for this figure. Death Seeker: Phibes himself. He wants to murder the entire surgical team first, but his ultimate plan is to die himself, since even having had revenge, it still won't be enough. Well, there are lots of questions here, just don't let them get in the way of the fun because the outrageous impossibility of Phibes succeeding and the passivity of his victims, some of whom just sit and stare at him while he kills them in odd ways when just running away would thwart his plans, are part of the reason that this is a comedy. Then there is poor inspector Trout whose assistants are named Bass, Carp, and Bream. So this is being played as a farce right down to the names of the cops out to solve the murder.

Misplaced Retribution: Once again, the film gives no indication that Dr. Vesalius and his team are actually responsible for Victoria Phibes's death in any way. Trout, Vesalius and Lem race around trying to find Doctor Phibes. He has retreated to a secret room where the preserved remains of his wife Victoria are kept. He gets inside a custom made sarcophagus. Then he inserts a catheter into his wrist. This causes him to exchange his blood for embalming fluid. This allows him to seemingly die next to his wife (thus fulfilling the plague of darkness). The Abominable Dr. Phibes is a 1971 British dark comedy horror film, produced by Ronald S. Dunas and Louis M. Heyward, directed by Robert Fuest, written by William Goldstein and James Whiton, [3] and starring Vincent Price and Joseph Cotten. [4] Its art deco sets, dark humour, and performance by Price have made the film and its sequel Dr. Phibes Rises Again cult classics. [3] The film also features Terry-Thomas and Hugh Griffith, with an uncredited Caroline Munro appearing as Phibes' wife. Director Robert Fuest, production designer Brian Eatwell (creator of the film's noted art deco settings), and composer John Gale all remained from The Abominable Dr. Phibes team. [6] Price, Peter Jeffrey, and John Cater reprised their roles from The Abominable Dr. Phibes. Hugh Griffith and Terry-Thomas also appeared in both films, but played different characters. Caroline Munro appeared in both films as Victoria, Phibes' late wife, but in both films her role was limited to lying silently in a glass coffin. [6] It was originally planned for Phibes to have a new assistant in the sequel, but the studio insisted that Vulnavia be retained, despite the fact that the character dies in the first Phibes film, and despite the unavailability of original Vulnavia actress Virginia North, who was pregnant at the time. [6] Valli Kemp was cast as a replacement. There's nothing quite like this movie. I encourage you to take the rest of the day off and savor it.Pirie, David (September 1971). "The Abominable Dr. Phibes". The Monthly Film Bulletin. 38 (452): 179. In 2002 Critic Christopher Null called the film "Vincent Price at his campy best ... A crazy script and an awesome score make this a true classic." [15]

Cold Ham: A rare example from Price, who usually served his ham fresh and hot. Somehow even with a mask-like Frozen Face he's still a Large Ham. In the early 2010s, Time Out conducted a poll with several authors, directors, actors, and critics who have worked within the horror genre to vote for their top horror films. [16] The Abominable Dr. Phibes placed at number 83 on their top 100 list. [17] THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES (1971)". rottentomatoes.com. Archived from the original on 23 May 2019 . Retrieved 2 July 2019. Klemensen, Richard; publisher. "The Definitive Dr. Phibes". Little Shoppe of Horrors. Des Moines, Iowa, October 2012: Number 29. Vesalius looks up to see the acid beginning to fill a transparent lower dish above his son's head. Vulnavia continues to chop. Phibes and organ begin their descent.The 2002 film adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’ novel The Rules of Attraction features an ER doctor called Phibes, played by Paul Williams (who was originally cast to appear in Phibes Resurrectus). Director Robert Fuest started by designing sets. While working on the TV show The Avengers, he got excited about directing and ended up working on seven episodes of the original series and two of The New Avengers. Soon, he'd be working in film more and more, starting with 1967's Just Like a Woman. Between the two Phibes films, And Soon the Darkness, The Final Programme and The Devil's Rain!, he became known for dark-humored fantasy and inventive sets, several of which he designed himself. This film would have probably been horrible had they taken themselves seriously. Fortunately, they didn't and, consequently, created a fascinating and entertaining festival of murder, revenge, and Art Deco set design. Vincent Price is Phibes, a brilliant organist and acoustic expert who's wife dies during an operation. He seeks to avenge her death by killing all 9 members of the operating team in creative and extravagant ways. You know the murders will take place, but you're fascinated at how they are done. It's like watching a master at work and all of the murders are works of art. By the end of the movie you'll find yourself rooting for Phibes. Another physician is introduced, and this bizarre plot begins to flesh itself out a bit more. Inspector Trout visits the home of Doctor Vesalius. There is one thing that links all of the deceased together. All of the physicians, including Vesalius, operated on a woman named Victoria Phibes who had been dying from an undisclosed illness. While the team had been operating, Victoria's husband, Anton Phibes, had been returning from a concert in Switzerland. On his way to the hospital, his car flipped over and exploded. Phibes was burned to "death" and there was nothing left but ashes (or so the story goes). Trout suspects that Phibes may have faked his death and has vowed to kill all of the doctors who failed to save his wife.

Vincent Price has always been a personal favorite of mine and he gets to go full monty here on a host of victims in this stylized, colorful thriller. For those of you wondering how to pronounce the title, I would have been at a disadvantage myself if I hadn't seen a brief intro to the picture last night on Turner Classics. The host pronounced 'Phibes' like the word 'fives' but with a 'b'. So I thought that was pretty helpful or I'd still be wondering about it. The following is a list of the ten plagues of Egypt and how they correspond to Doctor Phibes' victims. I must say, I feel rather like a head of state!" Cue the unicorn head impaling him through the chest. A Running Gag is that people keep getting Trout's name wrong and calling him after other types of fish.

a b c d Weaver, Tom (2000). Return of the B Science Fiction and Horror Heroes. McFarland & Company. pp.182–183. ISBN 9780786407552. American International Pictures (AIP) was grooming Robert Quarry as Vincent Price's replacement. [5] It was rumoured that the two actors did not get on well, [6] but Heyward said he did not notice any rift between them on the set. [5] Quarry subsequently said that the studio had told him privately that he would replace Price when Price's contract ran out. According to Quarry, AIP had become disenchanted with Price, whose salary continued to rise despite his films' disappointing box office performance. In addition, Price was not particularly interested in working with the studio. AIP's plans were revealed to Price at a publicity event in England, when a publicist asked him how he felt about being replaced by Quarry. Quarry went on to say that while there was tension between him and Price on the set, it did not affect the production of the film. On the contrary, Quarry characterized the experience as "extremely pleasant. Our sense of humor was the one bond that made working with him a pleasure." [7] Dr. Philbes doesn't thrive on Shakespeare here. He lives through the science of the ancient Egyptians and the tribulations brought to them when pharaoh didn't let Moses and his people go free. It's ironically another reference to "The Ten Commandments" for the over-the-top Price who played Baka, the chief master builder in that classic Cecil B. de Mille epic and later his appearance in "The Story of Mankind" where his satanistic attorney utilized references to the ancient Egyptians and Moses himself. Then, there's his campy performance in "Queen of the Nile" where he looked like a female impersonator playing Jeanne Crain's high priest father. "Dr. Philbes" is obviously meant to be camp, and I ain't referring to Camp Snoopy. Four years ago, in 1921, Victoria Phibes died after only six minutes on the operating table. While rushing to her side, her husband Anton Phibes, a brilliant organist with expertise in theology, medicine and automation, crashed his car, and was thought to have been killed. In truth, the horrifically burned man had survived, only to learn of the death of his wife. In despair, Phibes went into seclusion, swearing vengeance upon those he perceived responsible for the death of his only love. In a desperate attempt to reach his ill wife, organist Anton Phibes (Vincent Price) is horrifically disfigured in a car accident and presumed dead. When he learns that his wife died during an operation, Phibes blames her surgeons and plots an elaborate revenge to punish them for their incompetence. With the help of a mute assistant (Virginia North), Phibes creates a mask resembling his own face and murders the surgeons one by one using bizarre methods inspired by the biblical plagues.