Rating: 
Summary: Vincent Price plays Vincent Price!
Review: For what it is intended to be, this is a GREAT movie. This is meant to be an over the top movie and Vincent Price pulls it off perfectly. This is not just Vincent Price playing Anton Phibes, this is Vincent Price playing Vincent Price playing Anton Phibes. He intentionally overacts and hams up the mannerisms he made famous in so many of his other classics. He must have had a world of fun doing this.Don't get all wrapped around the minute details of the plot. This is not that kind of movie. This is dark comedy par excellance. It's amazing, you take real guilty pleasure in the evil the bad guy will do next. If you've seen other Vincent Price movies (even if you haven't, but especially if you have) this, and its sequel are not to be missed.
Rating: 
Summary: slow and stupid (spoilers in review)
Review: It's one of those horror movies where you wonder why the cop and everyone else (except the villan) is so stupid. The special effects are pretty bad (e.g. locus supposedly crawling through a tube but are in fact not moving). And I couldn't help but fast forward through the many snippets showing Dr. Phibes playing his organ or talking to a photo -- they don't add to the story line. The ending is not very satisfying. What's the point of having 1 doctor surviving at the end? Why not all died or have 2 survive? Several things are not explained: (1) Trout said in the hospital if Dr. Phibes got in, he can't get out. Well, he got in and apparently he also got out. How? (2) Near the end, Trout yell to his assistance above to turn off the acid. If it can be turned off, why couldn't the doctor turn it off earlier?
(3) How did Dr. Phibes put a key inside the boy? Some of the stupid things: (1) cop failing to protect a nurse from murder (2) pilot crash because of rats in cockpit (3) doctor forced to do a surgery to retrieve a key to unlock his son to avoid acid from raining on him, etc.
Rating: 
Summary: A very scary movie.
Review: Considering when this was made, it has to be one of the scariest movies I have ever seen without using to much gore to do it. This movie will scare anyone trying to watch it. Just when you think you cannot stand being scared any longer, you cannot stop watching it, the story line keeps bring you back. As for Vincent Price he is excellent in any movie he is in.
Rating:
Summary: The Abominable Dr. Phibes
Review: One of the best Vincent Price Films ever made. Dr. Anton Phibes (Vincent Price) was once an organist and is now a murder. After a team doctors tried to save his wife, but failed, Dr. Phibes wants revenge. As Dr. Phibes races back to see his wife, his car falls of a cliff, so he has no face or voice. Joseph Cotten is one of the doctors of this film. He kills the doctors in horrifing ways bats, boils, frogs, hail, blood. If you love The Abominable Dr. Phibes make sure to watch Dr. Phibes Rises Again and Theater Of Blood.
Rating:
Summary: "Dr. Phibes" is great campy fun
Review: Vincent Price is Dr. Anton Phibes, who was disfigured in a car accident that claimed the life of his wife. She died on the operating table, and Phibes holds the nine surgeons attending her responsible. Soon each one meets a horrible death by one of the ten curses of the Old Testament. So we have bees, bats, frogs, rats, locusts, hail and beasts - and for the final curse, he kidnaps the son of the chief surgeon (Joseph Cotten) which leads to the exciting conclusion. Alternately humorous and horrific, and Price is excellent.
Rating: 
Summary: Good but not great
Review: I just bought the movie "Dr. Phibes" on DVD, I am a great fan of Price, and remembered watching the movie on the late, late, late movies. I enjoyed it but not as much as his "Theater of Blood". I only hope that this title comes out on DVD soon. The two movies are similar in that he creates wonderful ways to eliminate people who have wronged him.
Rating:
Summary: The Right Price for Phibes!
Review: This is a beautifully presented DVD. The price is very low ... on Amazon, because there are no extras but the theatrical preview. No chapter card inside the jewel case, even though there is a chapter selection on the DVD itself. It has been put out by M.G.M in their new, and in my opinion, exciting line of DVDs called Midnite Movies. So far the line-up has been so-so to grand. The so-so being such films as The Man From Planet X (which I have to admit, I still liked for it's cheesy miniature sets depicting the moors and the hokey alien invader), the grand being such films like Die Monster Die with Boris Karloff and Nick Adams and The Abominable Dr. Phibes with the immortal Vincent Price. Dr. Phibes has been rendered in its original widescreen aspect ratio, including enhancement for widescreen televisions. It does not say on the jewel case whether it had to be restored or the sound remastered, but it sounds great, even if it is only mono, and it looks fantastic. Lovely splashes of vibrant sharp color. This is a film that hardly settles comfortably in any genre. It is horror, yes, but it has a continuous line of British-style humor running through it that makes the horror seem surreal. Not one actor in this film is below par. Vincent Price created a horror icon with his portrayal of Dr. Phibes, in this film and it's follow-up, Dr. Phibes Rises Again. Both of the films have been heralded for their style, macabre humor, and intelligent plots. The Abominable Dr. Phibes is a must buy for horror fans, and especially Vincent Price fans. Dr. Phibes is a genius villian on a scale with Hannibal Lecter. He exacts revenge, using the Old Testament as his guide, on the surgical team he holds responsible for his beautiful wife's death. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the photos of his wife are none other that Hammer's beauty/horror actress Caroline Munro. And, good news for Vincent Price fans! Within the next few months several more jewels starring the Master of B-grade horror will be release on DVD, including The Pit and the Pedulum, Fall of the House of Usher, and Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine. So, reserve the DVD for late-night viewings, 'cause you've got a full schedule ahead.
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Summary: The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1972)
Review: This is really a FUN movie. Cinematography and sound both are awesome. Vincent Price is always a treat. The English detectives are entertaining as well. Crank up the surround sound and enjoy !
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Summary: Finally! Hooray for MGM Home Video
Review: It only took 18 years, but they finally got right the homevideo release of this horror camp classic. In 1983, Vestron Videoreleased THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES on VHS. ...it featured differentorgan music and a too-clean video transfer. (The music change was NOTindicated on the box.) This RUINED the movie for me. In themid-'90s, this same version began popping up on The Movie Channel andAmerican Movie Classics. (The music was STILL WRONG.) Now, with thiswonderful new DVD edition, you can enjoy DR. PHIBES the way it wasmeant to be enjoyed -- with the ORIGINAL music (every single note isin intact and sounds great) and a beautiful video transfer. At thisprice ... order 2 copies -- one for a friend who enjoys clever horrormovies with a little kitsch. By the way, I also bought the new DVDrelease of the sequel -- DR. PHIBES RISES AGAIN -- and the picture andsound quality is also uniformly excellent. And it's fun to see bothof the original trailers too. Sorry to gush so much, but I'mabsolutely ecstatic that these 2 movies are finally given the homevideo treatment they deserve. Thank you, MGM Home Video. Now, ifthey'd just release THEATER OF BLOOD in similar fashion .... (maybethey will, given that that movie is also an MGM title).
Rating:
Summary: Campy yet ghoulish fun!
Review: Vincent Price will always be remembered best for his numerable horror film roles. While many of these films may be less than stellar, occaisionaly one would come along that outshone all the others. "The Abominable Dr. Phibes" is one such little gem. Price plays Dr. Anton Phibes, a musician and all around twisted genius with a mission. Phibes is bent upon killing off the team of doctors who failed to save the life of his beloved wife after a rather nasty automobile accident. Of course, being a twisted genius, Phibes doesn't go about exacting his revenge like any other normal homicidal maniac. He's decided to take the Old Testament plagues visited upon Pharaoh and Egypt and adapt them for his own nefarious purposes. The way Phibes uses the plagues of blood, bats, boils, hail etc. I'll leave for you to see. Now, if you go into this film expecting a straightforward horror film, with lots of blood and gore, you may be disappointed. Director Robert Fuest, as one reviewer has already pointed out, had a stint on "The Avengers", and he tells this story in the same tongue in cheek style that was so typical (and endearing) of that classic TV series. Also, the lavish deco designed sets lend the film a stylish and sometimes surreal look and feel. The clockwork musician sequences are a notable example of this stylish/surreal imagery. There are also some wonderful performances here -Joseph Cotten as the senior physician for whom Phibes saves as the last of his victims, Virginia North as the ethereal and lethal Vulnavia, and Terry-Thomas turns in a nicely comic performance as one of Phibes' earliest victims. The really knockout performance here must go to Vincent Price as Dr. Phibes. Price manages to strike a fine balance between the camp and yet menacing role of Phibes without over playing either side. A wonderful little story element in the film has Phibes' vocal apparatus having been destroyed in the accident that claimed his wife. In order to speak he has constructed a device that allows him to attach a plug into the side of his neck (he also eats and drinks through this hole) while his voice emerges from something that looks like an old megaphone speaker off of a Victrola phonograph player! This meant that Price had to record his lines first and then act out through facial,eye, and body movements the emotion of his words as his famous velvety tones emerge out of the speaker. Not an easy trick for any actor. Price is also able to give Phibes a sympathetic slant as well. Phibes is certainly a murderous maniac and misguided in his quest for revenge but Price allows us to see a human side as Phibes sits and talks to a photograph of his dead wife. Phibes was obviously obsessively in love with his wife and its this same obsession that drives him to do the twisted things he does. This powerful love of Phibes' also gives the character a hint of necrophilia which becomes particularly apparent during the films finale. All in all this is a wonderfully quirky little film. Great production values, fine script and performances make this an above average horror movie. And if you've ever wondered what it means for something to be "camp" then this is a fun way to learn the meaning of the word.
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