SnoReptilePlenty Memorable, crazy movie

Console best movie i've ever seen.

RipDelight This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

Lidia Draper Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

dougdoepke Stylish horror. Those scenes in front of the altar to the pipe organ are weirdly elegant in composition and effect. The hooded figure contorting beneath the fiery red pipes is a real eye-catcher. Lunatic genius Phibes (Price) blames doctors attending to his wife for her death. Now he's patterning their demise, one by one, after a biblical version of deadly plagues, and tidy they ain't. But isn't Phibes dead from the same accident that killed his wife. At least that's what the English cops think. Phibes certainly looks deceased, like he's been on a 6-week bender with his face stuck in a freezer. But at least actor Price doesn't have to memorize any lines. And whose great idea was high priestess Vulnavia (North). In her flowing gowns and cape, she makes it all seem high class. Then too, dig that band of mechanical musicians, perfect for the Phibes nutcase. Their selections certainly aren't expected, but then this is supposed to be the 1920's. But pity poor Cotten as the 9th intended victim. He's got to play everything straight amidst all the madness. Still, he was an alumnus of that other weird genius of movie- making, Orson Welles. Anyhow, I guess budget minded AIP had to go to England to get the bang for their buck that they needed. Happily, however, the bang shows up and in elegant Technicolor along with a highly imaginative screenplay. One of Price's best.

calvinnme ...because the comedy must be funny yet the horror must be, well, horrible! This film manages to do both. The art designer was somewhat confused because although most of the fashions and all of the autos are 1920's vintage, some of the houses are decorated in early 70s style. The story is actually taking place in the 1920s.The storyline opens with inspector Trout of Scotland Yard noticing that two surgeons have very recently died in odd ways - one killed by bats, another by bees. His boss basically tells him - poppycock! Don't waste your time on this. But then a third is killed by strangulation via a mask at a costume ball and he is sure something is up. His assistant finds the link between the three - Dr. Vasalius (Joseph Cotton). They visit him, and even while they are there a fourth doctor dies, also a former associate of Vasalius. Vasalius finds the link between the five of them in his case history files. They all worked on one case together -that of Victoria Phibes, who died on the operating table. Could it be her husband doing all of this? No, he died in a fiery auto crash in Switzerland racing to get back to England when he heard of his wife's illness. With no children and no surviving relatives, everybody is stumped.Well, the audience sees who is doing this all along. It is Vincent Price in a diabolically campy performance as Dr. Phibes, out to avenge his wife's death. He is mute throughout the film - well, that is, his lips never move. He is assisted by someone else who is completely mute. Although she is never called by name anywhere she is credited as Vulnavia and given big credits as "Introducing Virginia North". Funny thing is, this was her last credited acting role! Vulnavia's fashion sense is one reason I was confused about the time period. She looks like a model circa 1970. Well, she actually WAS a fashion model circa 1970. Vulnavia is a beautiful girl who never speaks and seems to follow Phibes' every command even without him telling her what to do, all this for a bizarre recluse obsessed with his dead wife. The question never answered is WHY?Well, there are lots of questions here, just don't let them get in the way of the fun because the outrageous impossibility of Phibes succeeding and the passivity of his victims, some of whom just sit and stare at him while he kills them in odd ways when just running away would thwart his plans, are part of the reason that this is a comedy. Then there is poor inspector Trout whose assistants are named Bass, Carp, and Bream. So this is being played as a farce right down to the names of the cops out to solve the murder.You can watch it late at night or alone. It won't actually scare you, but you might feel like a bad person for laughing just a bit. Especially at the end when you finally get to hear Vulnavia's voice - screaming. Highly recommended.

oscar-35 *Spoiler/plot- The Abomidable Mr. Phibes, 1971. A modern time (1927) Renaissance Man, Doctor Phibes loses his beloved wife during a surgical operation. He decides to get vengeance on each member of the surgical team in the most horrific biblical way.*Special Stars- Vincent Price, Joseph Cotton, Peter Jeffrey, Virginia North, Terry-Thomas, Hugh Griffith, Caroline Munro.*Theme- Vengeance is a strong emotion.*Trivia/location/goofs- There is a film sequel to this film called, "Dr. Phibes Rises Again". Enjoy the 1925 Art Deco styling of the sets. In order for Joseph Cotten to know his cues, Phibes' dialog was read aloud by a crew-member. Vincent Price said Joseph Cotten was very uncomfortable doing his scenes, so he intentionally made a lot of funny faces to make him laugh. The name "Vesalius" is a reference to Andreas Vesalius, a Flemish scientist who cut up corpses to learn about the workings of the body. The "Vampire Bats" were really flying foxes, very docile fruit-loving bats. A very young Joanna Lumley appeared as a laboratory assistant, but her scenes were cut. Virgina North appeared in a play in London called "Council of Love," in which she was silent throughout her performance. "I played the daughter of the devil," she told the Associated Press in 1971. "I'd go around and do terrible things. The people who made the movie saw me in the play and decided I was what they wanted. You might say I was ready made for the movie part." For the many scenes in which Vincent Price was required to speak without moving his mouth, he was painted with a substance called 'collodion' which literally immobilized his face. GOOFS- The film is set in 1925. The automobiles, airplane, and film projector seem to be from the 1920s, but the house interiors, including the lights around Dr. Phibes' organ, and clothing appear to be early 1970s "mod" style. At the end Dr. Phibes plays "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" which was written in 1935. You can clearly see wire attached to the flying bat. After Vulnavia dances with Phibes, he lowers the cage of bats into the cellar. Vulnavia runs up the stairs, then appears downstairs seconds later, in different clothes. It is established that Phibes is murdering the surgeons he hold responsible for the death of his wife; but at the masked party, Dr. Hargreaves introduces himself as 'a psychiatrist'.*Emotion- A visibly rich and 'campy' stylistic film with many film 'exploitation' elements added for good measure. This melodrama is enjoyable and has genuine elements of horror. Clever and memorable as one of Vincent Prices best films. It's a must see film.*Based On- Popular news articles from the horror and crime pages.

SanteeFats Vincent Price plays the macabre Doctor Phibes. He is a living corpse who is out for revenge on those he holds responsible for his wife's death on the operating table. There are nine he holds to blame, eight doctors and a nurse. One by one they die by strange and varied ways. All are curses from the ten Biblical plagues of the Old Testament. Eight are killed by those various means. The last to be alive is Joseph Cotton playing the lead surgeon Dr. Vesalius. He is called to the house of Phibes to save his son by operating on him for a key that will unlock the son's collar and the gurney before acid will drop on Vesalius's son and kill him. Vesalius conducts the operation in time and moves his son from harm. As this happens Phibes, thinking he has succeeded in his final revenge, goes to the vault where he has his wife's body, inserts needles into his arms, lays down with the body, and is drained of blood while embalming fluid enters. As the police leave they wonder about the final curse, that of darkness. Well the lights go out before they exit the building but no one further is harmed. A fairly good movie all in all.