The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971)
Directed by Robert Fuest

Film Review

Vincent Price lives up to his reputation as the camp king of horror in this deliciously camp black comedy, revelling in his most famous role as the truly abominable Dr Phibes.  Price is robbed of the power of speech for much of the film, and when he does regale us with his distinctive tones it is via an electronically enhanced dubbed-on recording, but his presence alone is enough to chill and delight, in roughly equal measure.  As a kitsch cousin of the phantom of the opera, draped in what looks like a lacquered bin liner, Price's Dr Phibes is a welcome addition to cinema's long roll-call of misunderstood fiends, one whose main virtue is the ingenuity with which he prosecutes his campaign of terror.  Who else would have thought to kill someone by hurling a brass unicorn at him, or freezing him to death in his own car?  Pure genius.

Joseph Cotten is the unlikeliest of names you would expect to see next to Price's in a low budget British horror film and it is well-known that Price put him through Hell whilst making the film, using every opportunity to make him corpse on camera.  Whilst he may not look entirely comfortable, Cotten turns in a solid straight man performance, leaving other members of the cast - primarily Price and Peter Jeffrey (hilarious as a bungling police inspector) - to go after the laughs.  British comedy icon Terry-Thomas puts in an amusing cameo appearance as one of the murder victims, doing his bit to put off any budding blood-donors. 

As usual, American International Pictures get a great deal for their money, a fair chunk of which seems to have gone on Phibes' cavernous lair, which looks like something out of a kitsch fairytale, complete with automaton musicians, tiled dance floor and plush cinema organ.  Having cut his teeth directing episodes of The Avengers, Robert Fuest is well-suited to direct this similarly implausible melange of mystery, fantasy and off-beat comedy and gives it an intoxicating sense of fun.  There's nothing remotely scary about The Abominable Dr Phibes - apart from (maybe) the cheeky homage to Price's gruesome reveal in House of Wax (1953) - but what it lacks in thrills it more than makes up for in style.  The film's surprising success ensured there would be a sequel, with Vincent Price back on villainous form in Dr Phibes Rises Again (1972).

Film Synopsis

England, 1925.  When several eminent doctors die in mysterious and horrific circumstances it soon becomes clear that the murders are linked. Assisted by an amulet left at the scene of one of the killings, Scotland Yard detective Inspector Trout realises that each death is fashioned after one of the ten plagues of Egypt.  The only thing to connect the victims is that they once worked with a surgeon named Dr Vesalius on an operation to save a young woman that went badly wrong.  The woman's husband, Dr Anton Phibes, would be the obvious suspect, but he died in a car crash shortly after his wife's death.  Or did he...?