At the beginning of the millennium when spending money was sparse for me and movies were far more expensive, I spent a lot of time on the sites belonging to the B-Masters Cabal, a group of people who reviewed (and some who still do review) movies that were bad, weird, forgotten, or in some cases just kind of fun. Most of these films were reviewed with a certain amount of affection, though there were always one or two which were obviously despised, but every so often there’d be a movie which was a true cult classic. The Abominable Dr. Phibes, starring Vincent Price, was one of these films. I don’t remember much of the review, save that I’m sure they mentioned how darkly comic the film was, but it was more than enough to ensnare my teenage imagination and put me on the hunt for it. This, and the fact that it starred Vincent Price, who I first encountered in the context of The Thirteen Ghosts of Scooby-Doo and later found to be a positive presence in whatever he chose to do. I even remember the exact moment my hunt bore fruit: I was chatting with an ex-girlfriend in Best Buy when my eyes happened to spy, sitting right there behind her, a two-pack of The Abominable Dr. Phibes and its sequel. I may have even gently pushed her aside to get to the DVD, which turned out to be a double-sided disc but still well worth whatever I paid for it.
The movie proved to be just as advertised: a darkly comic film starring Vincent Price. In truth, it’s the tale of a super-villain taking revenge on those he believe took his wife from him, with the titular Phibes utilizing a loose interpretation of the Biblical plagues to murder the team of doctors (and one nurse) who had attempted and failed to save that wife. We know what’s going on almost immediately, at least that he’s going around murdering people in intricately planned and bizarre ways, with the protagonist only having to try to figure out why Phibes is doing this and who his next target will be, and if he can stop him. This protagonist is a Scotland Yard inspector named Trout, and his name seems only to serve to allow his superior to call him by the names of many other fish. The amazing thing about the movie, at least in the context of today’s cinema, is that Phibes gets away with all of it. He murders everyone involved with his wife’s failed surgery but one doctor, and even that can be counted as a win for Phibes due to the man’s machinations. And then, his job done, Phibes retires to the darkness of the grave to be with his departed (and incredibly well-preserved) wife.
Even though I’ve watched the movie a number of times at this point, it’s still enjoyable since everyone in the movie seems to be having a great time getting murdered, murdering, and trying to find a murderer and Price does steal the show, seeing as how Phibes is supposed to be wearing a life-like mask and so his mouth never moves with his dialogue coming from a cord hooked up to his throat and into various sound amplification apparati. There’s also several musical interludes featuring Phibes and his mysterious assistant Vulvania, whose true nature is never revealed in this movie and I can’t remember if it is in the sequel.
One of the most overtly comedic parts of the movie is when one of the doctors is murdered by a brass unicorn head launched through the air by a catapult in order to skewer him against a wall. This by itself is ridiculous enough in that it actually worked (though we don’t get to see Phibes standing on a rooftop by a catapult, unfortunatley) but then we see them unscrewing the unicorn from the wall with the impaled doctor along with it, his feet twisting along with the unicorn.
There’s honestly not a lot I can say against this movie. The plagues used do seem to be an especially liberal interpretation of them, and several of them use live animals and I can only hope that these animals emerged unscathed. In any case, I’m looking forward to the sequel, which I’ll review next, and hopefully within the next few weeks.
QUICK BITS
MOVIE: The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971)
PRIOR KNOWLEDGE: The B-Masters Cabal
OBTAINED: Best Buy
WATCHED BEFORE: Yes
WATCHED WITH: Alone
GOOD/BAD/MEH: Good
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