The Abominable Dr. Phibes [VHS]
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VHS Movie Reviews of The Abominable Dr. Phibes [VHS]
Movie Review: The Man behind The Mask
Summary: 5 Stars
A tortured dark soul grieves his lost love who perished at the hands of nine physicians who could not save his beloved wife, so he becomes determined to avenge her death in this perceived wrong-doing. "Dr. Anton Phibes", a genius in theology and an expert organ player, formulates just punishments to deal with incompetence, using the Old Testament's theme of the plagues, and engineers their consecutive deaths in kind, inclusive of employing talismans bearing hebraic symbols representing each plague. In quite a ritualistic manner, using a torch, he melts the faces of their various waxen effigies to seal the deed done. With the precision of a veritable master Ninja, and with the aid of the silently succulent Vulnavia, a graceful creature who provides the charmingly seductive misdirection of a Satanic Witch to render victims agog, Phibes moves in for the kill. A wonderfully complimentary relationship. Also of remarkable note, she plays the violin as the doomed meet their demise; and at one point, Phibes applaudes the spectacle of a plane swirling down towards destruction after the pilot is attacked by a legion of rats in the cockpit. Personally, I found the rats, as well as the bats in an earlier scene, to be absolutely adorable, actually.
Phibes is a man haunted by his past, which he lives as the present, presiding in his total ball-room environment with automatons to create a wonderfully eerie atmosphere reminiscient of Dr. LaVey's Den of Iniquity. His throne is seated before a beautifully ornate crimson-phosphorescent organ, which he plays with diabolical fluorish into the night, channeling his pain through his music. He vows to avenge her death as well as join her by her side when the task is completed, and so it comes to pass in a glorious ending scene wherein he traverses the living realm, and is reunited with his beautiful wife in eternal darkness. For Phibes, a romantic in his black heart, this last noble gesture was indeed worth the world, who remained the god of his existence, and lived completely on his own terms. He himself fulfills the final element, whose death became just as mysterious as his life.
This is an aesthetically-beautious film, repleat with Satanic architecture as well as ideology. Those who know will recognize these subtle, and sometimes rather blatant displays {also note that this film is directed by Robert Fuest, who also directed The Devil's Rain}. Obviously, to those familiar with the life of our Founder, there are several parallels between the Dr. Anton Phibes character and that of Dr. Anton LaVey - they even share the same first name, and certain propensities. It is no wonder this film is recomended on The Church of Satan Video List. Take a perusal - these films are becoming incrementally more available.
Movie Review: Come, Vulnavia! We have work to do.
Summary: 5 Stars
Wow is all I have to say. Well not really but its a start, I loved this film. And belive it or not the sequal is just as good if not better. This film is really creepy and falls into the Grand Guignol (geen-yol) catagory of horror films. While gore is kept to a minimium it is shown. A film called Theatre of blood was made after this also starring Price and it had the same revenge principal.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: 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.