The Abominable Dr. Phibes

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This article is about the film. For the band, see Dr Phibes & the House of Wax Equations.
The Abominable Dr. Phibes

Theatrical Poster
Directed by Robert Fuest
Produced by Executive Producer:
Samuel Z. Arkoff
James H. Nicholson
Producer:
Ronald S. Dunas
Louis M. Heyward
Written by James Whiton
William Goldstein
Uncredited:
Robert Fuest
Starring Vincent Price
Joseph Cotten
Terry-Thomas
Virginia North
Music by Basil Kirchin
Cinematography Norman Warwick
Editing by Tristam Cones
Distributed by United States:
American International Pictures
United Kingdom:
Anglo-EMI Film Distributors Ltd./MGM-EMI/American International England
Release date(s) Flag of the United States May 18, 1971
Running time 94 minutes
Country UK
Language English
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

The Abominable Dr. Phibes is a 1971 horror film starring Vincent Price. Its stunning art deco sets, dark humor and "over the top" performance by Vincent Price has made the film and its sequel Dr. Phibes Rises Again "camp" classics.

Contents

[edit] Plot

Anton Phibes, famous organist with doctorates in Music and Theology, was thought to have been killed in a car crash while rushing to the side of his ill wife, Victoria. He was in fact horribly disfigured in the accident, but survived only to discover his wife had died on the operating table. Phibes, convinced that his beloved wife was a victim of incompetent doctors, spends the next several years planning his vendetta against those who operated on his wife.

Inspector Trout suspects Phibes, but finds little support from Scotland Yard as Phibes is believed dead. Trout is also hindered by the incompetence of his police force. Eventually Dr. Vesalius, head of the team of doctors that operated on Phibes's wife, begins to believe inspector Trout is right and aids him in the hunt for Phibes.

Using various highly imaginative methods, Dr. Phibes kills seven doctors and a nurse with the help of his beautiful and silent female assistant Vulnavia (played by actress Virginia North). He has reserved the final punishment for Dr. Vesalius. He kidnaps the doctor's son and places him on a table on which a container full of acid is waiting to destroy the boy's face. A small key implanted near the boy's heart will free him, but Vesalius must perform the surgery within six minutes to get the key before the acid falls. The operation succeeds and the acid instead strikes Vulnavia.

Convinced he has accomplished his vendetta, Phibes retreats to a stone sarcophagus beside the embalmed body of his wife. As he drains out his own blood and replaces it with embalming fluid the coffin's inlaid stone lid slides into place, concealing them both in darkness. Trout and the police arrive and discover that Phibes has mysteriously disappeared. Trout and Vesalius recall that the "final curse" was darkness and they speculate that they will encounter Phibes again.

[edit] The Ten Plagues of Egypt

Dr. Phibes takes his inspiration for the murders from the Old Testament, specifically the Ten plagues of Egypt:

  1. Boils: Prof. Thornton is stung to death by bees (not shown, only referred to during the film)
  2. Bats: Dr. Dunwoody is mauled to death by bats
  3. Frogs: Dr. Hargreaves's throat is crushed by a mechanical mask of a frog
  4. Blood: Dr. Longstreet has all the blood drained out of his body
  5. Hail: Dr. Hedgepath is frozen to death by a machine spewing ice
  6. Rats: Dr. Kitaj crashes his plane when attacked by rats
  7. Beasts: Dr. Whitcombe is impaled by a brass unicorn head
  8. Locusts: Nurse Allen is eaten by locusts
  9. Death of the first born: Phibes kidnaps and attempts to kill Dr. Vesalius's son Lem
  10. Darkness: At the ambiguous ending of the film, Phibes drains the blood from his own body while injecting embalming fluid, apparently joining his wife in death.

[edit] Production Notes

  • Robert Fuest rewrote most of the original screenplay. One of the few scenes to remain as scripted was one in which Trout consults a rabbi and first learns of the curses. Some original plot lines and sequences that were altered or eliminated:
    • Phibes was to be much more violent and unlikeable in the script, abusing Vulnavia, smashing furniture, etc. It was decided to make the character more sympathetic.
    • The victim of the plague of rats was to be attacked on a boat rather than in a plane. It was changed as most people's reaction was, "Why couldn't he just jump off the boat?"
    • Vulnavia was going to be revealed as another one of Phibes' clockwork devices (he has a clockwork band called "Dr. Phibes' Clockwork Wizards.")
    • Phibes was originally to kill Vulnavia and then escape his house (which was to catch fire) in a hot air balloon with Victoria's body.
  • In order for Joseph Cotten to know his cues, Phibes' dialogue was read aloud by a crew-member.
  • Price commented that Cotten was uncomfortable doing these scenes, so he intentionally pulled a lot of faces to crack him up.
  • Vincent Price went through hours of make up, which often had to be reapplied as he kept laughing.
  • 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 film was followed by the sequel Dr. Phibes Rises Again in 1972. Several other possible sequels were planned including Dr. Phibes in the Holy Land, The Brides of Phibes and The Seven Fates of Dr. Phibes, but none of these were made.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Critical reception

Critic Christopher Null wrote of the film, "One of the '70s juiciest entries into the horror genre, The Abominable Dr. Phibes is Vincent Price at his campy best, a former doctor and concert organist (go figure that one out yourself) who is exacting revenge on the nine doctors he blames for botching his wife's surgery, which ended with her death. Through a series of tortuous means that would make a Bond villain green with envy, the hideous Phibes is matched by Joseph Cotten as the doc at the end of the road. A crazy script and an awesome score make this a true classic."[1]

[edit] The Music of Dr. Phibes

  • The film opens with War March of the Priests (Mendelssohn) flamboyantly played by Dr. Phibes on a grand organ.
  • The succession of murders is accompanied by period music including Charmaine, Darktown Strutters Ball (sung by Paul Frees), You Stepped out of a Dream, Close Your Eyes and Elmer's Tune.
  • The film also features a version of the Frank Sinatra hit One For My Baby (And One More For The Road) (sung by Scott Peters)
  • The poster Dr. Vesalius finds for a past concert of Dr. Phibes lists all pieces of music related to religion, a reflection of Dr. Phibes obsession with music and religion.
  • Over the Rainbow appropriately closes the film over the end credits.

[edit] Taglines

The producers used the following taglines to market the film:

  • Original: (In a pun on the tagline for the movie Love Story) - Love Means Never Having to Say You're Ugly.
  • Current (DVD): Revenge Is The Best Medicine.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Null, Christopher. FilmCritic.com, film review, 2002. Last accessed: January 8, 2008.

[edit] See Also

[edit] External links