...because the comedy must be funny yet the horror must be, well, horrible! This film manages to do both. The art designer was somewhat confused because although most of the fashions and all of the autos are 1920's vintage, some of the houses are decorated in early 70s style. The story is actually taking place in the 1920s.The storyline opens with inspector Trout of Scotland Yard noticing that two surgeons have very recently died in odd ways - one killed by bats, another by bees. His boss basically tells him - poppycock! Don't waste your time on this. But then a third is killed by strangulation via a mask at a costume ball and he is sure something is up. His assistant finds the link between the three - Dr. Vasalius (Joseph Cotton). They visit him, and even while they are there a fourth doctor dies, also a former associate of Vasalius. Vasalius finds the link between the five of them in his case history files. They all worked on one case together -that of Victoria Phibes, who died on the operating table. Could it be her husband doing all of this? No, he died in a fiery auto crash in Switzerland racing to get back to England when he heard of his wife's illness. With no children and no surviving relatives, everybody is stumped.Well, the audience sees who is doing this all along. It is Vincent Price in a diabolically campy performance as Dr. Phibes, out to avenge his wife's death. He is mute throughout the film - well, that is, his lips never move. He is assisted by someone else who is completely mute. Although she is never called by name anywhere she is credited as Vulnavia and given big credits as "Introducing Virginia North". Funny thing is, this was her last credited acting role! Vulnavia's fashion sense is one reason I was confused about the time period. She looks like a model circa 1970. Well, she actually WAS a fashion model circa 1970. Vulnavia is a beautiful girl who never speaks and seems to follow Phibes' every command even without him telling her what to do, all this for a bizarre recluse obsessed with his dead wife. The question never answered is WHY?Well, there are lots of questions here, just don't let them get in the way of the fun because the outrageous impossibility of Phibes succeeding and the passivity of his victims, some of whom just sit and stare at him while he kills them in odd ways when just running away would thwart his plans, are part of the reason that this is a comedy. Then there is poor inspector Trout whose assistants are named Bass, Carp, and Bream. So this is being played as a farce right down to the names of the cops out to solve the murder.You can watch it late at night or alone. It won't actually scare you, but you might feel like a bad person for laughing just a bit. Especially at the end when you finally get to hear Vulnavia's voice - screaming. Highly recommended.

*Spoiler/plot- The Abomidable Mr. Phibes, 1971. A modern time (1927) Renaissance Man, Doctor Phibes loses his beloved wife during a surgical operation. He decides to get vengeance on each member of the surgical team in the most horrific biblical way.*Special Stars- Vincent Price, Joseph Cotton, Peter Jeffrey, Virginia North, Terry-Thomas, Hugh Griffith, Caroline Munro.*Theme- Vengeance is a strong emotion.*Trivia/location/goofs- There is a film sequel to this film called, "Dr. Phibes Rises Again". Enjoy the 1925 Art Deco styling of the sets. In order for Joseph Cotten to know his cues, Phibes' dialog was read aloud by a crew-member. Vincent Price said Joseph Cotten was very uncomfortable doing his scenes, so he intentionally made a lot of funny faces to make him laugh. The name "Vesalius" is a reference to Andreas Vesalius, a Flemish scientist who cut up corpses to learn about the workings of the body. The "Vampire Bats" were really flying foxes, very docile fruit-loving bats. A very young Joanna Lumley appeared as a laboratory assistant, but her scenes were cut. Virgina North appeared in a play in London called "Council of Love," in which she was silent throughout her performance. "I played the daughter of the devil," she told the Associated Press in 1971. "I'd go around and do terrible things. The people who made the movie saw me in the play and decided I was what they wanted. You might say I was ready made for the movie part." For the many scenes in which Vincent Price was required to speak without moving his mouth, he was painted with a substance called 'collodion' which literally immobilized his face. GOOFS- The film is set in 1925. The automobiles, airplane, and film projector seem to be from the 1920s, but the house interiors, including the lights around Dr. Phibes' organ, and clothing appear to be early 1970s "mod" style. At the end Dr. Phibes plays "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" which was written in 1935. You can clearly see wire attached to the flying bat. After Vulnavia dances with Phibes, he lowers the cage of bats into the cellar. Vulnavia runs up the stairs, then appears downstairs seconds later, in different clothes. It is established that Phibes is murdering the surgeons he hold responsible for the death of his wife; but at the masked party, Dr. Hargreaves introduces himself as 'a psychiatrist'.*Emotion- A visibly rich and 'campy' stylistic film with many film 'exploitation' elements added for good measure. This melodrama is enjoyable and has genuine elements of horror. Clever and memorable as one of Vincent Prices best films. It's a must see film.*Based On- Popular news articles from the horror and crime pages.

Dr. Phibes (Vincent Price) is quite the talented man. Not only is he a doctor, he is also a successful concert organist and, by the looks of things, some sort of mechanical engineer. He was also married to the beautiful Caroline Munro (who goes uncredited) until Phibes suffered serious facial injuries in a car crash on his way to see his seriously ill wife, who ended up dying on the operating table. Believed dead but instead in hiding and seriously p****d, Phibes begins to hunt down and imaginatively murder the nine doctors he holds responsible for failing to save his wife, building up to Dr. Versalius (Joseph Cotten), in the style of the Ten Plagues of Egypt from the Old Testament.It would be easy and indeed lazy to label Dr. Phibes as camp. With it's wildly colourful sets and outlandish performances (Price is wonderfully over-the-top), this shares more with the kitschy futuristic feel of A Clockwork Orange, which came out the same year, than, say, the original Batman TV series. All realism is left firmly at the door, as we are introduced to Phibes, sat hunched and wildly bashing his organ (no euphemism intended), in the middle of what appears to be some kind of macabre ceremony. Left unable to speak following his accident, Phibes has also created a device which, when inserted into his neck, allows him to speak to his dead embalmed wife. It's deliciously free-spirited, never allowing something like logic to get in the way of fun, acid-trip horror.It shares a lot in terms of narrative with the superior Theatre of Blood (1973) - which is often labelled Dr. Phibes 3 by it's fans - so the film is little more than murder after murder. But it's the inventiveness and the sheer audacity of the set-pieces that makes the movie so much fun. We have death by bats, a doctor who sits back and lets Phibes drain him entirely of his blood, skull-crushing-by-frog-mask, and a face eaten by locusts. There's something morbidly fascinating in watching the predictability of the events unfold, and the murder scenes provide buckets of black humour, in a tamer and more Carry On-style than Theatre. Price is unsurprisingly a joy to watch, while Cotten is surprisingly game. One of the wildest horror films ever made.www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com

Fondly Remembered and Revered by Most this is a Visually Stunning Black Comedy with Horrific Overtones. Its may be Overrated but it is Still Quite a Different Blend of Tea. Vincent Price, Stifled from much Acting by a Frozen Face/Mask and a Monotone Off Screen Diabolical, Distorted, Dialog Delivery has been much Praised here, but for what, it is Hard to Say. It's just about Everything Else that makes this what it is.The Value of this Off Kilter Thriller is in its Look and Tone. Deadpan in Delivery and Deadly Gruesome in its Murders, this Remains a Unique and Special Movie that was Ahead of its Time. It does Manage to become a bit Tiresome and Repetitive as the Respective Numbered Victims are Dispensed with, but it Never Manages to be Boring.A bit Lengthy but Still a Cult Movie to be Sure and Worth a Watch for Something Completely Different. It is a Colorful Experiment that is Better than it Should have been and that begs Thanks from Everyone Involved, from the Director, Writer, Set Designs, Costumes, Cinematography, and Performers. It is a Patchwork of Talent that makes this a Delight. Bold and Bloody, Bad and Beautiful.