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The
Abominable Dr. Phibes
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U.K.
/ 1971
Directed by Robert Fuest
Starring
Vincent Price
Joesph Cotton
Peter Jeffrey
Color / 90 Minutes / PG-13
Format: DVD (R1 - NTSC)
MGM Home Entertainment
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"Nine
killed you... Nine shall die.
Nine eternities in doom. "
Dr.
Phibes plots his revenge
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While
the U.K.'s Hammer Studios was dying a slow death
in the early 1970s, American International Pictures
provided the reigning king of U.S. horror, Vincent
Price, with an indelible role in two British-produced
features. Before the The
Exorcist and Halloween's
Michael Myers, the murderous Dr. Phibes was the
fright film icon of the decade. (At least the
good doctor performed his nefarious deeds with
a great sense of style.) MGM now brings the two
Phibes flicks, both beloved cult favorites, to
DVD as part of the company's "Midnite Movies"
line. Each disc presents the film in anamorphic
widescreen format with only the theatrical trailer
as an extra. Picture and sound quality (Dolby
Mono) are generally quite good. As for Phibes
flick # 1...
It is the 1920s. Someone is murdering London-area
doctors using the most outlandishly diabolical
methods imaginable. One doctor's skull is crushed
at a masquerade party by a frog mask that gradually
tightens around the wearer's head. Another is
completely drained of blood with a pumping device.
Ravenous rats placed in the cockpit of a plane
cause the fatal crash of a physician who was an
amateur pilot. A prominent medical man is found
frozen solid in the backseat of his automobile...
As the earnest but fumbling Scotland Yard investigator
Sgt. Trout (Peter Jeffrey) tries to get to the
bottom of the mystery, more bodies keep turning
up. His superior, pompous martinet Superintendent
Waverly (John Cater), grows impatient for answers.
What could be the motive behind these heinous
crimes? What sort of madman could plan and execute
such elaborate murder schemes? Dr. Anton Phibes,
that's who a madman to be sure, but also a genius.
A world-renowned musician, Phibes (Vincent Price)
is also a wizard in the fields of acoustics, engineering
and science. But why knock off doctors? Revenge
revenge for the death of Phibes' young wife
Victoria on the operating table. All the murder
victims were members of the medical team that
performed Mrs. Phibes' surgery. Her husband believes
them criminally negligent. See what happens when
you can't sue your HMO?
Phibes is able to dispatch his victims with
virtual impunity, for he has a terrific alibi:
he's dead. At least that's what everybody thinks.
Phibes' car went off a cliff as he frantically
raced back to his wife's side when she took ill.
Horribly burned, Phibes nonetheless survived the
crash but let the world believe he perished. Now,
years later, assisted by his beautiful and mysterious
cohort in crime, Vulnavia (Virginia North), Phibes
brings the full measure of his wrath down upon
the "guilty" using the Biblical plagues of Egypt
as his inspiration. He's saving the final act
of this murderous passion play for one Dr. Vesalius
(Baron Blood's Joseph
Cotton), chief surgeon of the ill-fated medical
team. Phibes has arranged a most insidious test
of the physician's skills with a scalpel...
The
Abominable Dr. Phibes is a clever, campy,
thoroughly enjoyable horror thriller leavened
with dark humor and droll British wit. Vincent
Price is superb in a very difficult role here,
one of the best and most unusual of his long career.
As all his dialog is spoken in voice-over fashion
Phibes' speech ability was lost when he was
burned, so he "talks" through an electrical amplifier
that plugs into his neck Price uses his eyes
and body language to terrific effect. (He could
have been a stellar silent film actor.) To compliment
Price's star turn the rest of the cast are kept
perfectly in tune with the film's sensibilities
by director Robert Fuest. Whether serious (Cotton)
or comic (Jeffrey and Cator), the right tone is
maintained dependant on the needs of an individual
scene. The production design, too, is first-rate,
especially in light of the film's modest budget.
(The art deco sets are fabulous, and can now be
more completely appreciated in widescreen format.)
This is one of the best fusions of horror and
black comedy ever made, starring America's greatest
native-born genre icon in a signature role. Well
worth your time! 4/16/01
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