My Favorite Horror Double Feature:THE ABOMINABLE DR.PHIBES(1971)*** out of **** & DR.PHIBES RISES AGAIN(1972)**1/2 out of ****

One of the favorite horror roles Vincent Price did in the many films he did for American International Pictures during the 1960's & 1970's was the nefarious and sinister mad Dr. Anton Phibes that Price portrayed in two popular horror films, THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES(1971) & DR. PHIBES RISES AGAIN(1972)

THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES(1971) *** out of **** Directed by Robert Fuest Starring Vincent Price, Joseph Cotton, Hugh Griffith,Terry-Thomas,Virginia North, Caroline Munro Rated PG 94 minutes Released by MGM/UA Home Video

Vincent Price in his many horror film roles,most often portrays an unjustly malignant man who then becomes a vengeful monster striking against those who made him a monster in the first place. In the first Phibes film,Price plays Dr. Anton Phibes who supposedly died in a car crash in 1925 and whose beautiful wife Victoria played by Caroline Munro unnecessarily dies at the operating table by careless doctors.Phibes who survives horribly disfigured from the crash, decides to take revenge against his wife's doctors with the help of his beautiful mute female assistant Vulnavia played by Virginia North. Phibes plan is to use the nine deadly curses Moses used against the Pharoah of Egypt to release the Jewish people in order to kill the nine doctors. Joseph Cotton plays Dr.Versavius, the lead doctor who operated on Phibes wife. The nine death sequences re done in a very witty and macabre manner similar to THE AVENGERS TV show, especially since the film's director Robert Fuest had himself directed various TV episodes of this classic British TV spy show of the 1960's. Both Price and Cotton are equally excellent in their adversarial roles and most especially Price who portrays Dr. Phibes with great relish and black humor. The DVD of this film only has the theatrical trailer.

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DR. PHIBES RISES AGAIN(1972)**1/2 out of **** Directed by Robert Fuest Starring Vincent Price, Robert Quarry , Fiona Lewis,Valerie Kemp, Terry-Thomas,Peter Cushing, Beryl Reid, Hugh Griffith, Caroline Munro, Rated PG, 94 minutes Released by MGM/UA Home Video

This second Phibes films picks up where the first one left off,with the nefarious Dr.Phibes awaken from his suspended animation sleep after a three year period from the ending of the first film.But Phibes discovers from his return that a sinister rival named Biederbeck played by Robert Quarry of COUNT YORGA fame, has stolen from Dr. Phibes's safe some ancient Egyptian scrolls containing the formula of the "Elixir of Life" that is necessary to revive Phibes's beloved deceased wife, Victoria. Phibes then decides to go after his rival with the help of his beautiful mute assistant Vulnavia now played by Valerie Kemp by going to Egypt before Biederbeck and vengefully attack Biederback and his associates with ingenious devious ways of killing them. Price as always is great campy fun as Phibes and so is Quarry as his antagonist and the rest of the cast such as Fiona Lewis(THE FURY,TINTORERA, DRUM),Peter Cushing, Terry-Thomas who are all great. The film's major flaw is it's script that is basically a retread of the plotlines of the first film and Fuest's direction is not as good as his work on the first film. The DVD of this film is in anamorphic widescreen with the theatrical trailer as it's only extra. There was supposed to be a third Phibes film with Price to be called PHIBES RESURRECTED but Price ended his contract with AIP and also Sam Arkoff head of AIP decided to stop making low budgeted exploitation films in order to make big budgeted films to make AIP in a failed gesture to be equal to the other Hollywood studio