Rating: 
Summary: Love means never having to say you're ugly.
Review: 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 ****
Rating:
Summary: Sick, Warped, Hideous, Grotesque...And A Lot Of Fun!
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: DON'T BOTHER WITH THIS DVD
Review: MGM Midnite Movies, not to put too fine a point on it, stink! I bought this DVD at Best Buy and it didn't play. I returned it and got another one - and it didn't play. I tried a third time - and it didn't play. They actually had to give me my money back. So, then I see it at Amazon.Com. I bought it. It didn't play. I exchanged it, it didn't play. I finally had to send it back to get a refund. Is anyone awake at the quality control at MGM?I have not problems with the movie - I think they are great (incidentally, the Dr. Phibes Rises Again has the same problem), it's the DVD's that are bad. I thought it might be my DVD player - nope - nothing wrong with it. None of them played on any DVD player (we even tried ones at Best Buy).
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