The Abominable Dr. Phibes
(Part of the Vincent Price
Collection - MGM Region 1 NTSC DVD)
(1971)
review by Catwalk

The opening scene of The Abominable Dr. Phibes is rich with vibrant colors, depicting a black-clad figure playing a pipe organ along with a mechanical band.  His motions are overly dramatic as he plays the organ, and is then joined by a beauty in white, who dances alongside him.

The black figure then drives to the estate of an older gentleman, where he releases something between one and fifteen bats out of a covered cage.  The bats kill the older man, and so the story begins.

The title character seeks to enact revenge on the nine doctors he believes hold the responsibility for his wife’s death.  The wily Inspector Trout is soon detached to the case, where he embarks on the investigation with his own brand of police insight.  It’s the little things like having the bats checked for rabies that show his true brilliance.  (I mean, sure we should be concerned whether or not that corpse is going to get up and start nibbling on people.)  And so it continues…a mute pair of villains, a bumbling cop, and the only person with any sense is one of those in danger.

Give Dr. Phibes (Vincent Price) credit.  He’s a lot better organist than the guy at the shop in the mall who won’t stop playing tripe like “Rainy Days and Mondays”.  He also invented the skull crushing head mask and “key inside your buddy” scenario decades before Jigsaw did it in the first Saw flick.  Phibes has decided to enact the ten curses of the pharaohs in order to wipe out the doctors.  The guy even does good research.  Of course, he also knows that tried-and-true efforts work the best, like having a hot assistant to get people to stop their cars.

As an aside, Dr. Phibes’ name is pronounced as most would expect, with a long “I” as in the burger chain, Phibe Guys, or the High-Phibe-ing White Guys.

Price has a great take on the character, who is a burn victim.  His speech goes through a grammaphone, and he’s unable to move his face below his eyes. As a result, Price uses his piercing blue eyes and body language as inflection.  (Price reportedly burst into laughter many times on set, requiring the re-application of his makeup.)  While the film suffers from cheesy effects, it makes up for the shortcoming in imagination.  The deaths are comically brilliant, and Price is the perfect man to pull them off with wide-eyed mania.

Peter Jeffrey plays an adequate inspector, if only one locked into bumbling through the dark to piece together one twisted case.  Cotton’s Dr. Vesalius is shrewd and focused, providing a different angle as a more educated and intelligent chap.

This film has it all.  A deranged madman, vibrant scenes, bumbling cops, a moron police chief, Biblical plagues, a hot chick, rats in a plane, traps even The Joker couldn’t come up with, ad-hoc surgery, and Vincent Price in long, flowing capes.  What’s not to love?

Dr. Phibes was released on May 18th, 1971.  It was deep into Price’s storied career, though by no means his final work.  As Head Cheese will tell you, Price was delightful in later roles, including his appearance on The Brady Bunch Hour.  He would reprise the role in 1972’s “Dr. Phibes Rises Again”.

Both Dr. Phibes films are part of the MGM Scream Legends Vincent Price Collection.  This version includes scene selection and theatrical trailer.  The audio and subtitles available in English, French and Spanish.  For Price fans, this collection is a nice representation of his work.  It also includes Tales of Terror, Theater of Blood, Madhouse, Twice Told Tales, Witchfinder General and a piece called Vincent Price Collection – Disk of Horrors.