October 27, 2006
Dr. Phibes
Reviewer:Jonathan Marlow
Rating (out of 5): ***½
"Nine killed her, nine will die!"
Robert Fuest is one of the greatest directors you've never heard of. From his days as helmsman for a handful of episodes on the ground-breaking television show The Avengers, on to his brief attempt at Eurotrash with the fabulous And Soon the Darkness and even until his last feature, the surprisingly explicit Aphrodite, the man was an exceptionally crafty filmmaker. Over a two-year period (1971-2), Fuest released among the most original pair of horror pictures ever made, both starring the legendary Vincent Price as Anton Phibes: The Abominable Dr. Phibes (amazingly, Price's 100th movie appearance), and the less successful Dr. Phibes Rises Again. In the original, organist Anton uses the ten plagues of Egypt (as described in Exodus) to kill the nine doctors responsible for his wife's demise. With a supporting cast of Joseph Cotten, Terry-Thomas, the stunning Virginia North and an array of talented character actors, the first Phibes is a masterpiece. The sequel, continuing in the black-humor vein, still has the systematic death element (even if it isn't worked into the plot quite as cleverly), still has significant guest stars (Robert Quarry, Peter Cushing, Terry-Thomas again -- didn't we kill him off in the first one?) but lacks the spark of the original. Yet despite the fact that it feels rushed into production to capitalize on the success of the first film, the sequel is terrifically entertaining. When Price died in 1993, it temporarily killed my dream of making a third Phibes film. "Temporarily" because, as you'll note when you watch these films, Vincent's character can be replaced -- he has no face. Someday, someday...
Posted by cphillips at October 27, 2006 3:21 PM
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