When Hollywood was capable of making decent movies; The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971)

Here is a movie that I loved as a kid. There are people who think that it is a piece of Satanic propaganda. I disagree. I just think that it is a chunky tongue in cheek, campy, pseudo horror flick from the 1970’s.

Here’s my take on this masterpiece of camp.

They just don’t make ‘em like The Abominable Dr. Phibes* anymore. In fact, they just don’t make ‘em like Vincent Price  anymore, either. Dr. Phibes, first off, is the definitive role that  Vincent Price was born to play, and second off, is firmly embedded in a  different time. He belongs to the era of 1950s EC Comics horror titles  such as “Tales from the Crypt,” “The Vault of Horror,” and “Weird  Fantasy.” 

-All Horror

A Satanic Movie?

Well, well. It turns out that the Church of Satan founder Anton Szandor LaVey has claimed that the main character in this Vincent Price film was based on him.

I would have never even associated Vincent Price with any kind or works of Satan. He was, after all, just an actor who played Satanic roles to the “T”.

The Abominable Dr. Phibes is a 1971 British dark comedy horror film, produced by Ronald S. Dunas and Louis M. Heyward, directed by Robert Fuest, written by William Goldstein and James Whiton, and starring Vincent Price and Joseph Cotten. 

Its art deco sets, dark humour, and performance by Price have made the film and its sequel Dr. Phibes Rises Again cult classics. 

-Wikipedia.

Anyways, this character’s name is Dr. Anton Phibes and he’s an organist, researcher, medical doctor, biblical scholar and ex-vaudevillian who has created a clockwork band of robot musicians to play old standards at his whim.

Now, in hindsight, seeing as how nearly all of these things match up with Satanist LaVey, I can kind of see his point. Kinda.

Though, this movie isn’t going to be useful for recruiting anyone to follow Satan, I’m afraid.

“I won’t do another Phibes film unless Robert Fuest directs it. He’s the only person in the world who is mad enough to direct the Dr. Phibes films. He’s a genuine, registered nut! He even looks like a madman. He’s all over the place, like an unmade bed. What imagination he has. They were all his ideas…. Bob has never done anything that was nearly as good as the Dr. Phibes films.”
— Vincent Price, 1979

The Movie

Dr. Phibes main ballroom. — The film begins with a dark figure playing gothic music on a huge pipe organ. The audience for this recital of sorts seems to be having a wonderful time…until you look a bit closer. They are all mannequins seated in positions that give the illusion that they are enjoying themselves in a lavish nightclub. Then we see the first appearance of Vulnavia (Virginia North). Though she never speaks a word through the entire movie, Vulvania has quite an impact. Vulnavia and the organ player proceed through a highly ritualized chain of events, gliding through loading an automobile with a large box, driving to a swank part of London and arriving at a large British mansion.

The sets in this movie are amazing and lavish.

This movie is one I can’t be quiet about. It’s one of the strangest and most delightful films I’ve ever seen.

Dr. Phibes (his particular field is never given) is an underground  aristocrat in early 20th-century London, who is bereaved of his late  wife Victoria after a fatal car crash. Phibes himself is also presumed  dead by the authorities, since his own car went off a cliff when he was  en route to his wife. Victoria died on the operating table, the doctors  unable to help her, and now Dr. Phibes has sworn vengeance against the  doctors he blames for his wife’s death.

So what, he’s going to  hire lawyers and sue for malpractice? Oh no, much too common. He’s going  to kill them off one by one! To do so, he’s going to hatch contrived  murder traps based (very loosely) upon the ten plagues of Egypt  mentioned in both the Quran and the Bible. What, do you expect him to  take a gun and shoot them, like a bourgeois commoner? Nope, his traps  involve several species of animal, in between intricate mechanical  devices that must have cost a fortune to research and manufacture for  this single use. He also has a pendant necklace for each victim, which  he will hang around a wax bust of its target after a successful kill and  melt with a blowtorch. 

 -All Horror

Dr. Anton Phibes died in Switzerland, racing back home upon hearing the news that his beloved bridge Victoria (an uncredited Caroline Munro) had died during surgery.

The abominable Dr. Phibes 2 — On team Phibes, we have his mute but fashionable assistant, Vulnavia (Virginia North). When she isn’t running errands for Dr. Phibes transporting cages of deadly animals around London, she’s dancing up a storm with him in his underground ballroom or providing moral support playing a violin that’s color-coordinated to match her current outfit.

The truth is that Phibes has survived, scarred beyond belief and unable to speak, but alive. He uses all of the skills that he’s mastered to rebuild his face and approximate a human voice.

Oh yeah. Aside from all that, he also may or may not be a tad bit insane.

The abominable Dr. Phibes 3 — The police, led by Inspector Trout (Peter Jeffrey), keep a stiff upper British lip as they scurry around England trying to put together clues to all the steampunk devices and menagerie of exotic creatures. They’re pretty far behind the mad Dr. Phibes and don’t catch up very quickly. The targeted doctors themselves aren’t exactly elusive prey either, as they’re all dupes who spend more time nurturing obsessions with stag movies or model trains than taking the police warnings seriously. When caught, they have a tendency to sit politely and accept their deaths rather than do something so un-British-like as get up and run away, because they haven’t been excused.

Now, Phibes believes that the doctors who operated on his wife were incompetent and therefore must pay for their insolence. So he does what anyone else would do: visit the Biblical ten plagues of Egypt on every single one of them.

Now people, listen up! That’s how you get revenge, and do it properly.

Phibes is, of course, played by Vincent Price. No one else could handle this role. Or this movie.

There’s hardly any dialogue for the first ten minutes of the movie. Instead, there are long musical numbers of Phibes and his clockwork band playing old standards. In fact, Phibes doesn’t speak for the first 32 minutes of the movie.

Anyone who asks questions like “Why?” and says things like “This movie makes no sense” will be dealt with accordingly.

The abominable Dr. Phibes 4 — But we haven’t gotten around to Phibes himself yet! He’s disfigured from his own accident, so he wears a mask that bears a remarkable resemblance to Vincent Price, and he’s rendered unable to speak, so he has to plug a huge-horned Victrola into a cord on the side of his neck and mime along with his own dubbed dialogue. He completes this eccentric performance by being a fashionable man-about-town, and his disfigurement doesn’t stop him from having unbounded pride in his appearance, as his face is plastered as a logo on the walls of his mansion and even the tinted windows of his car.

After the first few murders, Inspector Trout gets on the case. He becomes Phibes’ main antagonist for this and the following film, trying to prove that all of these murders — the doctors and nurse who had been on the team of Dr. Vesalius (Joseph Cotten!) — are connected.

Phibes then stays one step ahead of the police, murdering everyone with bees, snow, a unicorn statue, locusts and rats, sometimes even right next to where the cops have staked him out.

The abominable Dr. Phibes 5 — Dr Phibes spends his free time playing an organ in his underground lair, accompanied by a whole orchestra of automatons dubbed “Dr. Phibes Clockwork Wizards.” His other pursuits include delivering rambling eulogies to his late wife, to whom he has built a shrine. In a career with some serious ham and cheese in it, Dr. Phibes is one of Vincent Price’s hammiest roles!

Vulnavia

Dr. Phibes is assisted by the lovely Vulnavia. We’re never informed that she’s a robot, but the opinion of others, she actually is. Both she and the doctor are the most fashion-forward of all revenge killers I’ve seen outside of Meiko Kaji and Christina Lindberg.

Writer William Goldstein wrote Vulnavia as another clockwork robot with a wind-up key in her neck. Fuest thought that Phibes demanded a more mobile assistant, so he made her human, yet one with a blank face and mechanical body movements.

 "Easy does it. I think it's a left-handed thread." 

— Policeman unscrewing a victim impaled by a unicorn horn,  The Abominable Dr. Phibes

I still like to think that she’s a machine, particularly because she returns in the next film after her demise here. Also — Fuest rewrote nearly the entire script.

The abominable Dr. Phibes 6 — The Abominable Dr. Phibes is a cult classic today, even amongst the non-horror muggles. The film plays a strident note in between camp and grotesque, with art-deco sets and baroque flourishes everywhere. While there isn’t much to the story beyond “madman kills people in obsessive revenge,” the style trumps the substance. One minor quibble is that the scenes involving animals, in those pre-CGI days, didn’t get the animals full cooperation and seem to be more cuddly than threatening. And of course, the whole thing is dated and intentionally corny, so if you like your horror serious, this isn’t the film for you.

The Key to the Heart

After killing off everyone else — sorry Terry-Thomas! — Phibes kidnaps Dr. Vesalius’ son and implants a key inside his heart that will unlock the boy. However, if the doctor doesn’t finish the surgery on his son in six minutes — the same amount of time he had spent trying to save Phibes’ wife — acid will rain down and kill both he and his boy.

Against all odds, Vesalius is successful.

Dr Phibes -misc — The Abominable Dr Phibes is a camp masterpiece. It has a sublime elegance – what other film could offer up a scene where a man’s blood is drained to the accompaniment of a woman in furs standing outside playing a melancholic violin solo. There is such a droll sense of humor at work here – like the moment Vincent Price’s deformed title doctor pours a glass of champagne and then tips it up to his neck to drink, or puts a finger dipped in the vegetable juice to his neck to taste the flavor. There is the joyously droll moment where Maurice Kaufman is impaled against the wall on the horn of a unicorn head fired from a cannon, with the bumbling police then having to unscrew the body from the wall, while arguing over which way the thread of the horn’s screw runs.

But… Poor Vulnavia.

Vulnavia, in the middle of destroying Phibes’ clockwork orchestra, is sprayed by the acid and killed while the doctor himself replaces his blood with a special fluid and lies down to eternal sleep with his wife, happy that he has had his revenge.

The abominable Dr. Phibes 8 — The Abominable Dr Phibes is a camp masterpiece. It has a sublime elegance – what other film could offer up a scene where a man’s blood is drained to the accompaniment of a woman in furs standing outside playing a melancholic violin solo. There is such a droll sense of humor at work here – like the moment Vincent Price’s deformed title doctor pours a glass of champagne and then tips it up to his neck to drink, or puts a finger dipped in the vegetable juice to his neck to taste the flavor. There is the joyously droll moment where Maurice Kaufman is impaled against the wall on the horn of a unicorn head fired from a cannon, with the bumbling police then having to unscrew the body from the wall, while arguing over which way the thread of the horn’s screw runs.

The Ten Plagues

If you’re interested, the ten plagues Phibes unleashes are:

Blood: He drains all of Dr. Longstreet’s blood
Frogs: He uses a mechanical frog mask to kill Dr. Hargreaves at a costume party
Bats: A more cinematic plague than lice from the Biblical plagues, Phibes uses these airborne rodents to kill Dr. Dunwoody
Rats: Again, better than flies, rats overwhelm Dr. Kitaj and cause his plane to crash
Pestilence: This one is a leap, but the unicorn head that kills Dr. Whitcombe qualifies
Boils: Professor Thornton is stung to death by bees
Hail: Dr. Hedgepath is frozen by an ice machine
Locusts: The nurse is devoured by them thanks to an ingenious trap
Darkness: Phibes joins his wife in eternal rest during a solar eclipse
Death of the firstborn: Phibes kidnaps and the son of Dr. Vesalius

I love that this movie appears lost in time. While set in the 1920’s, many of the songs weren’t released until the 1940’s. Also, Phibes has working robots and high technology, despite the era the film is set in.

The abominable Dr. Phibes 7 — Vincent Price gives the best performance of his life as a madman, seemingly trapped inside his own face, all the time delivering hilariously flowery eulogies to his dead wife via speaker-phone. There is that marvelously wicked little chuckle he gives, sitting sniffing a daisy as he watches one victim go down in a plane. He’s perfect. The scenes in the house as Price and the lovely never-speaking Virginia North sweep across the ballroom floor, amid painted Art Deco cycloramas and a clockwork orchestra have a beautiful, elegant sophistication. There is also a superb score.

There’s nothing quite like this movie. I encourage you to take the rest of the day off and savor it.

A Satanic Film?

How does Phibes live up to being a Satanic film? In my opinion, Phibes embodies one of the nine Satanic statements to its utmost: Satan represents vengeance instead of turning the other cheek.

Indeed, the men and woman whose negligence led to the loss of Phibes’ wife were never punished. Phibes had to become their judge, jury and yes, destroyer.

The abominable Dr. Phibes 10 — If you are planning on spending some time this weekend watching a movie, whether in the comfort of your own company, or with a sweetheart or friend, I’d like to recommend The Abominable Dr. Phibes for your evening’s selection. In this cult horror classic directed by Robert Fruest, screen legend Vincent Price is the eponymous Dr. Phibes, a reclusive genius who can build incredible musical automatons, play a mean organ, waltz till the cows come home, and still manage to exact his carefully cultivated plan of vengeance, all while wearing great capes.

On the other hand — or hoof, as it were — Phibes is the exact antithesis of the ninth Satanic sin, Lack of Aesthetics, which states that “an eye for beauty, for balance, is an essential Satanic tool and must be applied for greatest magical effectiveness.

It’s not what’s supposed to be pleasing—it’s what is.

Aesthetics is a personal thing, reflective of one’s own nature, but there are universally pleasing and harmonious configurations that should not be denied.” So much of what makes this film is that Phibes’ musical art is just as essential as his demented nature and abilities.

Music is the core of his soul, not just revenge.

Vulnavia from the first Dr. Phibes movie. — If you are planning on spending some time this weekend watching a movie, whether in the comfort of your own company, or with a sweetheart or friend, I’d like to recommend The Abominable Dr. Phibes for your evening’s selection. In this cult horror classic directed by Robert Fruest, screen legend Vincent Price is the eponymous Dr. Phibes, a reclusive genius who can build incredible musical automatons, play a mean organ, waltz till the cows come home, and still manage to exact his carefully cultivated plan of vengeance, all while wearing great capes. Assisted by his stylish, silent accomplice Vulnavia (Virginia North), Phibes carries out murderous revenge, styled (if a little loosely) after the Ten Plagues of Egypt, on the various medical professionals he believes botched his wife’s medical treatment and caused her untimely death.

Back to Dr. Anton LaVey

Another point of view comes from Draconis Blackthorne of the Sinister Screen: “This is an aesthetically-beauteous film, replete with Satanic architecture as well as ideology. Those who know will recognize these subtle and sometimes rather blatant displays.

Obviously, to those familiar with the life of our Founder, there are several parallels between the Dr. Anton Phibes character and that of Dr. Anton LaVey – they even share the same first name, and certain propensities.”

So maybe it is a kind of homage to Satanist Dr. Anton LaVey.

Conclusion

Homage or not, it’s a great movie, and a fun watch. It’s not like anyone is going to be seduced to the dark side by this movie. It’s just plain campy fun.

 This film is an intriguing tale of revenge. The sets are “70s  spectacular” and the performances by Price and North are extraordinary.  There are a few elements that really make this horror movie work:

 • The murders are done in very creative and ingenious ways, using intricate devices and techniques. (Somebody watched The Abominable Dr Phibes before writing the horror movie Saw I’m sure)

 • Vincent Price pulls no punches in his over-the-top portrayal of the  good doctor, and makes him believable, as only Vincent Price could.

 • Humor and levity intermix with horror and intrigue, and this rescues The Abominable Dr Phibes from being a total cheese-fest.

 • The style and, well, “bigness” of the visuals, characters and music  result in this not just being a great Vincent Price movie, but a work  of art where every element fits together just right.

 The Abominable Dr Phibes showcases the brilliance of 70s  style and of the mastery of Vincent Price. Many of the younger folks may  have missed him altogether, which is a shame. I do think, though, that  one of the best contributions that the freak-show Michael Jackson has  made to the world is introducing Vincent Price to a whole new generation  of horror-buffs by using his voice in the pop music hit “Thriller” from  the 80s. Now, watch The Abominable Dr Phibes and REALLY get a taste of what made this man great. 

-Horror Freak News

Some cool links

Torrent Links

You can watch it for free if you don’t mind waiting a half an hour to half a day to download the torrent.

For those of you who are unaware. Torrents are parts of files that are spread out in tiny packets all over the internet. You use a "Bit Torrent" client to vacuum up all those little bits and pieces of the file. It then assembles the file into a movie that you can watch. The time that this takes can vary from a few minutes to weeks depending on how popular or obscure your searched file is.

You will need an application to manage the download. I recommend the free application VUZE. To download the video is thus easy. Install VUZE, and then click on one of the following torrent links.

Depending on where you live, you might not have the freedom to access these sites and the ISP might block them from access, or the search engines might black out their search results. Americans, in particular, might have some real problems. Therefore, I listed the most accessible torrent sites available to Americans. Pirate Bay and 1337X. I think that Kick Ass Torrents is still blocked for all Americans.

Google and Bing will most certainly block certain websites, and avoid others at the request of the United States government. From “Uncle Sam’s” point of view, you go after the “low handing fruit” that the vast bulk of Americans use. Then ridicule the outliers as “misfits”, “deplorables”, and “Nazi’s”.

The international website “Kick Ass Torrents” was seized by the Department of Homeland Security. The reason being that they offered royalty free downloads of copyrighted movies and music. Thanks to President Obama, visiting any of these websites is a federal crime that Americans are forbidden to visit. Even for a nano-second.

As far as privacy is concerned, Bing will alter the behavior of the Search Engine if you live in the EU.

Movies that Inspired Me

Here are some movies that I consider noteworthy and worth a view. Enjoy.

Stories that Inspired Me

Here are reprints in full text of stories that inspired me, but that are nearly impossible to find in China. I place them here as sort of a personal library that I can use for inspiration. The reader is welcome to come and enjoy a read or two as well.

Space Cadet (Full Text) by Robert Heinlein

Starman Jones (Full Text) by Robert Heinlein.

The Lottery (Full Text) by Shirley Jackson

Farnham's Freehold (Full Text) by Robert Heinlein

Invisible Boy (Full Text) by Ray Bradbury

Job: A Comedy of Justice (Full Text) by Robert Heinlein

Spell my name with an "S" by Isaac Asimov

Not the First (Full Text) by A.E. van Vogt

My Poetry

Articles & Links

You’ll not find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you because I just don’t care to.

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just clean up the mess and get on with life Yes. I love it. Great. -MM

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Mark

5 years ago

Vincent Price was on the far left and even prevented his wife from leaving money to the John Wayne Cancer Institute.

congjing yu

Author

Reply to Mark

I did not know that. Perhaps, maybe, there actually is a link between his progressive liberal beliefs and Satanism.

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