Unique Comedy Horror But Not for Young or Sensitive Viewers
The 1971 British comedy horror film The Abominable Dr. Phibes stars Vincent Price as Dr. Anton Phibes, a famous concert organist with doctorates in both music and theology. The actions and motivations of Dr. Phibes follow the pattern of a special kind of role Price did repeatedly starting with House of Wax in 1953, of an accomplished and maybe even brilliant character driven to mad revenge by tragic circumstances. In villainous roles previous to House of Wax, he was either just plain bad to begin with or fell into a criminal lifestyle through trying to better himself. Only in The Invisible Man Returns was he driven mad and that was by the invisibility formula. After House of Wax he played a number of such vengeful madman roles.
In The Abominable Dr. Phibes, Dr. Phibes blames the medical team that performed his wife’s fatal surgery four years earlier in 1921 for her death. The story takes place in 1925 but the film has a fairly substantial 1960s vibe. Dr. Phibes is presumed to have perished in a car crash while racing home upon hearing of the death of his beloved wife. The wife is very cleverly named Victoria Regina, the name of Vincent Price’s first major stage play. (Incidentally Price’s only daughter is also named Victoria.)
Phibes proceeds to carry out murders on each of the surgical team, based on the Biblical ten plagues of Egypt, while Inspector Harry Trout, played by Peter Jeffrey, races to protect the remaining team members, always arriving instants too late.
Some of Price’s fans consider this his strangest film. Dr. Phibes was rendered unable to speak in the car accident, and can communicate only by attaching a sort of stethoscope device to his throat and the other end to a Victrola speaker. He does not move his lips but only his throat. Consequently all of Price’s dialogue was overdubbed by him and a crew member had to speak his lines to cue Joseph Cotten, who played Dr. Vesalius, which is said to have been very disconcerting to Joseph Cotten.
As for whether this is suitable for kids, I would either say no or use extreme discretion. The murders are quite gory and the victims are innocent, having tried to help Dr. Phibes’s wife and presumably all their other patients. The last intended victim is based on the death of the firstborn. Phibes kidnaps Lem, the likable young son of Dr. Vesalius. Dr. Phibes has a hideously gruesome fate planned for him. The film isn’t particularly mean-spiritied, as Dr. Vesalius is a sympathetic character and the law enforcement officers are dedicated and well-meaning. It is, as stated, not a serious crime drama but has a dark sort of humor to it without being laugh out loud funny. It’s impossible to conclusively recommend or not because the response to it depends so much on the individual viewer. The sets are pretty neat with nice creepy touches. I found it entertaining.