MovieChat Forums > The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971) Discussion > This Mistake Is Not A Mistake

This Mistake Is Not A Mistake

posted 17 years ago by lebowski-2
10 replies | jump to latest

I'm referring to the opening scene where Phibes dances with Vulnavia in the ballroom. She walks upstairs as he lowers the cage of bats down the hatch in the floor which Vulnavia (in a different outfit) takes and puts in the car.

People consider this bit a mistake. Vulnavia appears in two shots one after the other. How can she be downstairs when she was just seen going up? How can she change clothes so fast?

The answer: The woman Phibes dances with is not Vulnavia, but a vision of his dead wife Victoria in her wedding dress. Victoria goes upstairs while Vulnavia is already downstairs.

[–] Circ81 17 years ago

Really? Where did you read that? Seems better than an actual mistake.

It's better to rest in the warm body of a friend, than in a cold hole in the ground.

[–] misbegotten 17 years ago

Interesting theory, but I still believe that it's Vulnavia dancing with Phibes - and I don't think her appearance seconds later in another costume is a mistake. If you watch both Phibes movies, it's pretty clear (although never stated outright) that Vulnavia isn't human. Instead she seems to be some kind of supernatural entity or spirit. Therefore, travelling from one location to another nearby in the blink of an eye - and simultaneously changing clothes - is entirely possible.

[–] MrBelette 14 years ago

It may not be a mistake but anyway it is Vulnavia in both scenes

[–] drzarnak 14 years ago

I always assumed it wasn't a mistake, but to show the viewers that she was a clockwork too, and that he had more than one.

[–] moosefeathers 13 years ago

bad editing.

Swing away, Merrill....Merrill, swing away...

[–] moosefeathers 10 years ago

Upon further review of the movie, also when we get to the blood curse, she enters the doctor's house all in white, and yet, she's outside playing the violin dressed all in black.

Swing away, Merrill....Merrill, swing away...

[–] devtrev27 10 years ago

Interesting, but an entity or spirit wouldn't be affected by acid.

[–] dbwindhorst 9 years ago

That fact that she rematerializes before our eyes at the beginning of the sequel would lend credence to that idea.

[–] Perkins_the_Uncanny 10 years ago

In scriptwriting it's called a 'logic gap'; obviously Vulnavia didn't magically change clothes and teleport, so we use our logic to fill in the gap that she changed clothes and then walked to the car.

It's used mostly to edit out boring scenes like changing clothes or walking to cars.

Oddly, it was used extensively in 'The Avengers' where superfluous establishing shots were not filmed but the dialogue would tell you where the characters were going is you wouldn't get the usual exterior shot of a country house with Steed's car pulling up to it...he'd just be there.

Perkins...the Uncanny
"Zombies, man. Creep me out..."

[–] wtdk123 9 years ago

The lack of "continuity" is quite deliberate. Fuest was a director on "The Avengers" which often had fantastic elements. It was a stylistic choice--Fuest was a director on that series and much of his stylistic work there was carried over here to this film. As to her charge, she didn't teleport, didn't have magic abilities...in the original script she was a "clockwork" herself, i.e., a robot that looked human like those that played in his band but that got lost in the process of editing the film.

-"Honesty is the best policy, but insanity is a better defense." -Steve Landesberg