THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES Review On "Violent Maniac's Cage"

ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES, THE

ALSO KNOWN AS: Curse of Dr. Phibes, The, Dr. Phibes.

(1971, UK)

DIRECTED BY: Robert Fuest.

STARRING: Vincent Price, Joseph Cotten, Virginia North, Terry-Thomas, Sean Bury, Susan Travers, David Hutcheson, Edward Burnham, Alex Scott, Peter Gilmore, Maurice Kaufmann, Peter Jeffery, Derek Godfrey, Norman Jones, John Cater.

Vincent Price takes charge once again in one of his most memorable roles as Dr. Anton Phibes. Dr. Phibes is a horribly disfigured musical genius and biblical scholar, not unlike Erik in Phantom, the disfigurement the result of a car crash. His wife was killed by a team of surgeons who he felt let her die. He then avenges the death of his wife by inflecting Old Testament curses on the doctors responsible. The grisly methods used against the surgeons are very ceremonial and all well staged. The style of the movie is spectacular, the setting is the 1920's and the use of art deco style is prominent, yet a few erroneous anachronisms pop up (Sinatra record?). The campy feel of the movie balances the gore with plenty of humor. The movie shares a unique similarity with Se7en in that the bible is used in various crimes, yet unlike Se7en, Dr. Phibes uses only the curses of the Old Testament rather then the 7 deadly sins. Good nods to Price as the vengeful doctor, yet the only thing really missing is Carolyn Munro who portrays his wife yet does not appear on screen, appearing only in a photograph.

Review by: Losman

Email: losman@express-news.net

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