The musical master of the macabre is back from the dead, and boy, is he loving it! After entering stage one of the underworld in the first of two films, Dr. Philbes loaded himself up with formaldehyde and went off into a deep sleep, prepared to be woken up by his silent assistant and head off to the next part of his big adventure. In the process, more people have violent and painful deaths, all the more head-turning and difficult to watch than the very first one. While death may not exactly happen on the Nile, it is near the land of the Pharaohs, and if you think Joan Collins had a nervous breakdown when she found herself being enclosed in that 1955 camp epic, wait until you see what happens to modern intruders on Philbes' efforts to find life eternal here.A rather rough looking Mr. Clean wanna-be gets amusement by computerized snakes which interrupt him playing pool. But of course, one of them is real. Yet, this isn't enough to stop the macho muscle man from cutting out the venom, but there's another surprise in store. Hugh Griffith, who had a cameo in the first film as a rabbi, comes across Philbes' musical dummies on the Egyptian bound cruiser, and literally ends up meeting the bottle in one of the funnier (if still macabre) moments, taking the phrase "stuff it!" to extremes. Another one of the explorers intruding in on Philbes' plans ends up with a truly painful demise involving a key he desperately needs in the middle of the most gruesome form of living animals. I had to turn my head throughout this entire sequence but even with that was laughing, half in disgust, half at myself for being such a coward in not being able to watch it. Another goes down "Days of Our Lives" territory where he finds the danger of the sands through the hour glass. Cameos from Peter Cushing, Terry-Thomas (playing a different character who doesn't meet a grizzly end) and Beryl Reid seem pointless.As an artistic looking horror film with much art deco, a wonderful period feel and some brilliant comedy, this succeeds. But as a film and especially as a sequel, it truly feels unnecessary, since the previous movie had wrapped everything up neatly and didn't warrant continuation. There's also a major blunder concerning the silent character of Vulnavia, Philbes' obvious mistress, who was brutally covered in acid at the end of the first film. The recast of the role is supposed to make you assume that the character had some sort of plastic surgery, but certainly, Dr. Philbes' accomplice, even with medical attention needed, would have been incarcerated for life after all the hideous things she helped him accomplish in the first film. The film is obviously a matter of taste, and while the squeamish not need bother, neither should those who look for consistency and pretty much demand that even the worst of horrific films like this have a point. The first one did; The only point this one had for me was the fast-forward button on the remote control.

In this dull, less-than-scary, and, totally predictable, little horror film from 1972, the ever-effeminate Vincent Price, once again, lisps and minces his way through yet another one of his roles as some insufferably sadistic, little movie-villain.Tongue-in-cheek performance, or not - I have to admit that I, for one, find Vincent Price to be way-way too gay to be at all convincing as the sinister, little culprit that he liked to make himself out to be. And, besides that, I think he was way too old for his roles, as well.Anyways - As the story goes - After spending a decade in suspended-animation, Dr. Phibes awakens (with absolutely no muscle atrophy, whatsoever) and heads to the tombs of the Pharaohs in Egypt with his beautiful aide and the perfectly preserved corpse of his long dead wife.It's here that Phibes attempts to resurrect his dearly beloved.In the meantime he goes on a predictable, little killing spree, murdering people, left, right, and center, in the most cleverly thought out ways imaginable.Ho-Hum.

THE ABOMINABLE DR PHIBES was a big enough hit to lead to a sequel but you can see right away how little mileage there is in a franchise like that . Despite the action being moved all the way to Egypt it's still the same basic idea as the first film with a genius madman killing people in a series of inventive ways that border on the blackly comical . There's also the camp feel of the first film especially the character interaction and dialouge between Trout and his Superior The sequel has a very strange cast . It includes characters from the first film but we see the return of Terry Thomas in an entirely different role . He's also there in a one scene cameo as are much of the big name cast such as Reid and Cushing which seems like a cynical marketing exercise to bump up the star names when in fact most of the characters are superfluous to the threadbare story

As far as I am considered, "Dr. Phibes Rises Again" of 1972 is actually a very good sequel to the brilliant "The Abominable Dr Phibes" of 1971. Sure, the film is a lot less original than its predecessor (which is the case with most sequels), but it is nonetheless wonderfully macabre and hilarious, and the great Vincent Price (my favorite actor) is once again brilliant in his role. After three years of sleep, the malignant Dr. Phibes (Price) awakens when the moonlight hits his tomb, just to find his mansion demolished and a set of ancient papyrus scrolls stolen. The scrolls, which are supposed to lead to the river of eternal life, have been stolen on account of the eccentric millionaire Darius Biederbeck (Robert Quarry). But, as we know, the vengeful Dr. Phibes is not a good person to mess with, and stealing from him is likely to reduce one's life expectancy rather than to bring eternal life... Sure, the film is less original than "The Abominable Dr. Phibes", and it some lengthy parts in-between, but it is nonetheless a macabre and often outrageously funny sequel, and a wonderful satirical Horror film of its own right. Vincent Price is back in the role of Dr. Phibes, and he is, of course, once again brilliant as the vengeful Doctor. The murders are bizarre and hilarious as in the original. Robert Quarry is very good in his role, and so are Peter Jeffrey and the rest of the cast. Most notably, the supporting cast includes Price's fellow Horror icon, the great Peter Cushing in the small, but great role of a ship captain. The film is not as great as "The Abominable Dr. Phibes", which one should definitely see before this one, but it is doubtlessly a highly entertaining little film, and the ending is simply brilliant. Highly recommended, especially to my fellow Vincent Price fans.