Sometimes when you apply thought to a movie and analyze it head-on, its own contradictory nature, lack of logic and inclination to break all known laws of reality may cause it to crumble into dust and blow away in the mental wind (ahem "Pirates 4" ahem). Other times, however, these same faults only help the movie to thrive. Case in point : "The Abominable Dr. Phibes", starring Vincent Price.
Travel back with me to the early 1990's. I was in junior high school at the time, and I would often saunter down to one of the many local video rental stores (what are those?) and pick up a couple of VHS tapes, which came in large plastic snapcases. Sometimes those snapcases wouldn't snap shut, and when you'd return the tapes by dropping them down the return slot, they would hit the bottom and pop open. Tapes would fly everywhere and the poor video store goober would be furious, shaking their fist at the sky, cursing the name of Shifty Bastard while I, riding my Shifty Huffy, would be tearing down the sidewalk, laughing maniacally. Ah, those were the days. . .
I digress. One day I rented "The Abominable Dr. Phibes". I was a big time reader of Fangoria Magazine back then, and the magazine's chief editor at the time was a major Vincent Price fan, always going on and on about what a cool dude he was, so I decided to check out one of his movies. I watched it four times before I returned it the next day. The night after I returned it, I had a dream. I still to this day remember it, and I rarely remember my dreams - it was almost exactly the same as the movie itself. Some of the scenes were slightly longer, though, almost as if I was dreaming of the director's cut or something. I've always thought this was very strange, but then I'm a strange cat.
Vincent Price plays Dr. Anton Phibes, musician, theologist, showman, engineer, spiffy dresser, and nutjob. After appearing to die in a fiery car wreck, he returns to kill the nine doctors whom he feels murdered his wife (Caroline Munro, cameoing as a dead body) while she was on the operating table. With the aid of his mute supermodel assistant Vulnavia (the super cute Virginia North), Dr. Phibes attempts to murder his targets in the style of the 10 plagues of Egypt (frogs, boils, locusts, etc). After making a small mistake at one of the crime scenes, it's not long before Scotland Yard is on his trail, led by big-nosed Inspector Trout (Peter Jeffrey).
It's a crazy movie. Phibes wears a black garbage bag robe and has a band made up of clockwork musicians with whom he conducts private concerts within his evil lair. Due to his massive injuries, he speaks through a phonograph machine he designed himself. He murders his targets in wacky and sometimes icky ways - rats on a plane, bats in a bedroom, a frog mask that crushes it's wearer's head, faces eaten by locusts, and an elaborate final death involving a doctor, a confined patient, falling acid, and a key to the patient's shackles implanted within his chest - ladies and gentlemen, we have one of the early inspirations for the "Saw" franchise. And, naturally, the movie ends with a version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow", which plays over the credits.
Actually, it's more of a twisted comedy than a horror movie. There are a couple of icky parts, but still. . .
It's a different kind of role for Vincent Price. Well known for his hammy style of overacting, here he must rely only on his eyes and his body language, due to the fact that his character's injuries prevent him from making any facial expressions. It's a fun performance from him, and my personal favorite out of all of the movies he's made.
Director Robert Fuest brings plenty of visual flair to the screen, stretching the film's meager budget to the limit. It's visually interesting to look at, and it's no surprise to me that Tim Burton was heavily influenced by this movie. It's strange, it's preposterous, it makes no logical sense and yet feels utterly natural on it's own terms - it's almost like, well, a DREAM. And there you have it. They don't call Hollywood "The Dream Factory" for nothing. Sometimes movies "click" on that intangible level of your mind that exists only during sleep. It's rare, but for me "The Abominable Dr. Phibes" lives on that level.
There was a sequel - "Dr. Phibes Rises Again" (1972). Robert Fuest and Vincent Price returned for this follow-up, which has the good doctor traveling to Egypt to perform a ritual that will revive his dead wife (Caroline Munro, again returning as a dead body). The poor man's Christopher Lee, Robert Quarry (from the "Count Yorga" films) plays Phibes' competition to find the secret revival chamber. Lots more people die in crazy and elaborately icky ways. While this movie has a larger budget, allowing for more scenes on location and bigger, more showy sets, this sequel doesn't quite have the magic that the original had. It's not nearly as funny, either. Quality-wise, it falls squarely into the "okay" category, but I suggest that you not bother watching it - the mere fact that this movie exists at all invalidates the poetic ending of the original, and that's a shame to me. So ignore it.
There was another sequel proposed, which would have had Phibes going up against a revived Adolph Hitler, but Vincent Price purportedly backed out because of a quarrel he had with the producers over "Rises Again". Huh.
Despite all that sequel nonsense, the original remains a classic. I love that crazy shit! I feel I should end this review by quoting the tagline from the poster of the original movie, because it's a great line -
"Love means never having to say you're ugly."
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