22. (THE ABOMINABLE) DR. PHIBES and DR. PHIBES RISES AGAIN! You might think of this as cheating, but with movies and movie series that are this good, I wont distinguish them as separate films...especially since if you love the first one, (and I can safely guarantee that you will!), you will want to move right into the next film...and the next (if there are more than two.) No Halloween list (at least, not as far as Im concerned) would be complete without mentioning THE premiere American horror actor of all time. Depending on when you grew up and what you grew up watching, you may think of that title-holder as Robert Englund, Jeffrey Combs, Bruce Campbell or someone from the movies of the early Eighties or beyond. Deep-dish devotees of horror, however, know that only one actor could possibly hold the title, and that man is Vincent Price. Whether youve seen fifty films hes been in or just one, there is no denying that the man had a way of taking over a role and commanding the screen like virtually nobody else. I didnt want to do this countdown without incorporating some of his best films, and youre going to see his name come up more than a few times, before we hit Number One. In 1971, decades before revenge thrillers like SAW and even pre-dating FRIDAY THE 13TH, screenwriters James Whiton and William Goldstein gave the horror world one of its most unique and sympathetic villains, and this great figurehead of the horror world, arguably his greatest role. A period piece set during the Turn of the Twentieth Century, it tells the story of the brilliant Dr. Anton Phibes. Surgeon, musician (particularly a master of the pipe organ), acoustic and mechanics specialist, there was nothing Phibes couldnt do. Except save his wife, the ravishing Victoria, (played in cameo by Caroline Munro), who dies on the operating table after a horrible accident. Phibes, thought dead, survives the ordeal and somehow manages to put himself back together. Now insane with grief and rage, he blames the nine members of the operating team who worked on Victoria for her death, and plans an elaborate and diabolical revenge. Using the Nine Biblical Plagues as his blueprint, he dispatches every single member in horrific and ingenious ways, finally matching wits with the head surgeon, Dr. Vesalius, (the great Joseph Cotten). Though most of his older films are tough for younger fans to gravitate to, as many have not withstood the test of time very well, PHIBES may be one of the few that remains curiously timeless, and was the influence for so many movies that were to follow, (including the already mentioned SAW.) Aided by the direction of Robert Fuest, (THE DEVILS RAIN), Price gives his trademark, larger-than-life performance as the ultimate anti-hero, whom the audience roots for to succeed, even as we cringe at his awful deeds. And he does it all with panache, and just the tiniest hint of a gleeful wink, that helps us enjoy the experience all the more. The huge boxoffice success of DR. PHIBES caught the studio, American-International Pictures, so quickly off-guard, that many of the unforgettably lavish sets designed by Brian Eatwell, had already been destroyed. Somehow, though, director Fuest with writer Robert Blees, managed to quickly cobble together the script for the sequel, DR. PHIBES RISES AGAIN!, pressing Vincent back into service for a second time as the wicked-but-oh-so-good-doctor. Although stylistically and in some cases visually, the sequel suffers by comparison to the first film, its still another fun ride, with a lot of well-known British actors serving as the grist for Phibes bloody mill (as in the first), and with the then-pregnant Virginia North being replaced by the equally beautiful model, artist and actress Valli Kemp, as Phibes familiar and faithful assistant, Vulnavia. A worthy pair of films (even for older movies), to spice up your Halloween! https://youtube/watch?v=sxnr9xycVLo
Posted on: Thu, 09 Oct 2014 05:04:08 +0000
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