Vincent Price was an actor who never seemed to receive the credit that he so richly deserved. A leading man in numerous films he never really hit his stride until he began taking the lead in horror films. The early sixties saw him rise to stardom in a series of film made with director Roger Corman based on the tales of Edgar Allan Poe. While those films are some of his best his roles waned again until he portrayed Dr. Anton Phibes in 1971. Kino Lorber is releasing both of the Phibes films together for the first time on Blu-ray and they’ve done a great job.
If you’ve not seen either do so immediately. THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES features Price in the lead role, an inventor/theologian/organist who supposedly died 4 years earlier has returned to seek vengeance on the team of doctors he feels are responsible for the death of his beloved wife Victoria (an uncredited Caroline Munro). With the help of the beautiful and silent servant Vulnavia he takes them out one at a time in no ordinary fashion, instead using the ten plagues that beset the Egyptians in the Bible. With each death he returns to his hidden sanctuary, placing an amulet for each plague around a bust of the victim made of wax he then melts.
Scotland Yard led by Detective Inspector Trout (Peter Jeffrey) are baffled by the deaths taking out various members of the medical field. Consulting with Dr. Vesalius (Joseph Cotton) then discover the one thing all the victims had in common was a failed surgery earlier involving Phibes’ wife Victoria. They attempt to protect each of those members but fail miserably to do so. Each death brings Phibes closer to his final victim, Vesalius.
The movie is gorgeously filmed with some of the most amazing sets and contraptions found on film. From the art deco styles of Phibes home to the mechanical musicians playing music there, the sets look like a major studio production in spite of the film being made by American International. The costumes are stunning to look at as well.
Director Robert Fuest handles the film with a skill that allows him to combine horror, drama, comedy and romance all into one film where it would seem they could never work together. And yet they do from start to finish. The horror stems from the ingenious kills which would never be matched again until the SAW series of films. The comedy from the light touches throughout the film and visual gags to match. The drama from the story of those who are victims. The romance in the deep rooted love of Phibes for his wife that drives the story forward.
Watching the movie again for perhaps the 6th time I found it to be as enjoyable as it was the first time I saw it, perhaps even more. While over the top and at times purposefully played for camp, the movie is near perfect in all the elements it took to pull it together. This film alone is one worth adding to your collection for keeps.
But, as they say, there’s more. A year later the same group came out with DR. PHIBES RISES AGAIN. It seems our villain didn’t die at the end of the first film but placed himself in suspended animation alongside the preserved body of his beloved Victoria. A pre-set system put in place to reanimate him when the moon hit a certain cycle, he rises with the intention of taking her body to Egypt where he hopes to give both of them eternal life.
But Phibes is not the only one with plans in Egypt. Wealthy archeologist and socialite Darius Biederbeck (Robert Quarry) has stolen the hidden papyrus that Phibes was in possession of. He and his own group are also headed to Egypt with only Biederbeck aware of what lies there. Now both race for the hidden tomb there with the dogged Trout once more in pursuit.
Not quite as good as the first film this one once more has that near perfect combination to make it a fun film that will keep you guessing and watching from beginning to end. When put together as a double feature it is pure fun at the movies to watch.
Kino Lorber
has given us very little here in the form of extras, mainly audio commentary
tracks by different film scholars and trailers for the films and others. It is
the movies themselves that warrant your attention though. In spite of the fact
they were made so long ago both movies hold up for today’s audiences. And if you
love Price then this will be a must have for your collection.
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