54. THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES
54. THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES
(1971)
Directed by Robert Fuest
By the time this movie was released in 1971 Vincent Price had already been long inducted into the monster hall of fame, a veteran of genre classics like "House of Wax" (1953), "The Fly" (1958), "House on Haunted Hill" (1959), the Roger Corman Poe cycle, "Witchfinder General" (1968) and many others. So folks had grown accustomed to seeing him in all types of sinister and tormented roles but his portrayal of Dr. Phibes is hands down the most wonderfully demented. Dr. Phibes has survived near death to emerge horribly scarred but intact and instead of finding some corny new appreciation for life he does what I would do by devoting himself to villainy and sadistic vengeance! Unable to speak in the conventional manner he communicates through an electronic device lodged in his neck and, as eccentric bonuses, wears ill-advised costumes and plays a mean pipe organ. Like any good mad doctor he has an assistant but instead of an unsightly hunchback we have the lovely Vulnavia (made all the more fetching by her easy compliance with the evil plans of Phibes). This was Vincent's 100th feature and was followed by an equally ludicrous sequel in 1972, "Dr. Phibes Rises Again". Sadly enough these two movies represented the last of his great work in horror and the landscape was soon to change with a dramatic shift to slasher movies that had little room for thespians with his elegance and charm. The line of consummate horror icons like Lon Chaney and Boris Karloff ended with Vincent Price and no one has risen to their stature since. That, my friends, is a goddamn shame.
(1971)
Directed by Robert Fuest
By the time this movie was released in 1971 Vincent Price had already been long inducted into the monster hall of fame, a veteran of genre classics like "House of Wax" (1953), "The Fly" (1958), "House on Haunted Hill" (1959), the Roger Corman Poe cycle, "Witchfinder General" (1968) and many others. So folks had grown accustomed to seeing him in all types of sinister and tormented roles but his portrayal of Dr. Phibes is hands down the most wonderfully demented. Dr. Phibes has survived near death to emerge horribly scarred but intact and instead of finding some corny new appreciation for life he does what I would do by devoting himself to villainy and sadistic vengeance! Unable to speak in the conventional manner he communicates through an electronic device lodged in his neck and, as eccentric bonuses, wears ill-advised costumes and plays a mean pipe organ. Like any good mad doctor he has an assistant but instead of an unsightly hunchback we have the lovely Vulnavia (made all the more fetching by her easy compliance with the evil plans of Phibes). This was Vincent's 100th feature and was followed by an equally ludicrous sequel in 1972, "Dr. Phibes Rises Again". Sadly enough these two movies represented the last of his great work in horror and the landscape was soon to change with a dramatic shift to slasher movies that had little room for thespians with his elegance and charm. The line of consummate horror icons like Lon Chaney and Boris Karloff ended with Vincent Price and no one has risen to their stature since. That, my friends, is a goddamn shame.
posted by scottra at 12:00 AM
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