Movie Reviews

Dr. Phibes Double Feature Blu-Ray Review – Two Maniacally Dark Classics From Vincent Price

By Dillon Gonzales
May 3, 2022
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THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES (1971) Meet Doctor Phibes: a one-time concert musician who’s now an all-time crazed murderer. In this clever, crypt-kicking classic, horror meister Vincent Price (The Raven, The Last Man on Earth) plays a diabolical doc seeking the ultimate in revenge with precision creepiness and surgical wit. Watch Dr. Phibes live up to his promise: “Nine killed her, nine shall die, nine eternities in doom!” After a team of surgeons botch his beloved wife’s surgery, leaving her for dead, the emotionally distraught Dr. Phibes creatively concocts a fatal prescription for revenge. Using the Good Book as his guide, Phibes unleashes a score of old testament atrocities—from a plague of locusts to an attack of rats—on his enemies that climax in what may be one of the eeriest endings on record! Robert Fuest (And Soon the Darkness) directed this darkly comic shocker that features Joseph Cotten (Baron Blood), Hugh Griffith (So Evil My Love), Terry-Thomas (The Green Man) and Virginia North (On Her Majesty’s Secret Service) as the doc’s evil assistant Vulnavia.

PHIBES RISES AGAIN (1972) Flesh Crawls! Blood Curdles! Phibes Lives! This sequel to The Abominable Dr. Phibes again features Vincent Price (Scream and Scream Again, House of the Long Shadows) as one of his most perfect horror villains in his long list of evil-doers. The eminent Dr. Phibes awakens from a decade of suspended animation and heads to Egypt with his mute aide-de-camp Vulnavia and the corpse of his dead wife. To resurrect his spouse, Phibes gets up to his usual, diabolical tricks: cleverly murdering people in strange and heinous ways to invoke a magical incantation. But once he is in the tomb of the dead Pharaohs, the good doctor discovers that his pursuit of an afterlife may be foiled by his nemesis who wants to end the reign of this sadistic surgeon of gore. Robert Fuest (The Devil’s Rain) directed this spine-tingling romp that features Robert Quarry (Madhouse), Peter Jeffrey (Ring of Bright Water), Fiona Lewis (Tintorera) and Hugh Griffith (Cry of the Banshee), with guest stars Peter Cushing (The Skull), Beryl Reid (The Killing of Sister George) and Terry-Thomas (Danger: Diabolik).

For thoughts on Dr. Phibes Double Feature [The Abominable Dr. Phibes/Dr. Phibes Rises Again], please check out our discussion on The Video Attic:

[youtube https://youtu.be/N-_eqyHXupw?t=1588]

Video Quality

The Abominable Dr. Phibes and Dr. Phibes Rises Again get a standalone Blu-Ray release courtesy of Kino Classics after previously being available as a part of the Vincent Price Collection: Volume I & II respectively from Shout! Factory. While I do not have both of those releases to compare, it is with almost certainty I can say that these 1080p presentations are derived from the same masters as those discs. While not perfect, this disc looks pretty excellent throughout most of the runtime. Plus, each film is given their own disc so compression issues do not pop up as an issue.

This disc does not digitally manipulate the pleasing natural film grain that is present without being overly clumpy in the grain field. There are some nuanced, vibrant colors that make the film pop in a visually exciting way, especially in the inventive production design. The skin tones look natural, and the presentation features pretty deep black levels. The shadow detail only occasionally falters with blacks presenting with a bit of a milky appearance. The presentation rarely lacks the fine detail that you would hope for from a Blu-Ray upgrade. There are the occasional moments with nicks and scratches, but for the most part the damage does not distract too terribly. The optical effects are the biggest downturns in quality, but this is a limitation of the source material and not the transfer. While the previous Vincent Price sets are great for hardcore fans, it is also nice to see these get a standalone Blu-Ray. The fact that it looks so good is icing on the cake.

Audio Quality

The Blu-Ray comes with a lively DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio lossless soundtrack that sonically represents the films in an enjoyable manner. The activity is primarily contained to the center channel with some environmental sounds adding some dimension to the environments. The memorable music, including the organ played by Phibes himself, sounds very strong and adds a nice ambiance to certain moments. It never overpowers the dialogue or other important information in any significant way. The normal dialogue sounds crisp and clear, but the mechanical voice of Dr. Phibes is intentionally distorted as it should be. The tracks do not showcase much in the way of age related wear or hiss. These tracks are as strong as the source material will allow, and the folks at Kino Classics have done a nice job of presenting both of them in this release.

Special Features

The Abominable Dr. Phibes

Audio Commentary #1: Director Robert Fuest provides a great commentary track moderated by Marcus Hearn in which he recalls the indecision of AIP in regards to various aspects of this film, his work with Vincent Price, his additions to the final draft of the script, his devilish shot composition, collaborating with the other performers and more. While not all memories are crystal clear, there are some great stories throughout.

Audio Commentary #2: Justin Humphreys, the Author of The Dr. Phibes Companion, provides an immensely fact-filled commentary track in which he talks about the production design, the art-deco aesthetic of the feature, the direction of Robert Fuest, the musical nature of the film, the careful lighting, the different contributions from the cast and more. This is the perfect complement to the first commentary track as you get more of an analysis of the film from a critical perspective.

TV Spot: A minute-long TV spot is provided here.

Trailers: The two-and-a-half minute trailer is provided for The Abominable Dr. Phibes. There are also trailers provided for Theater of Blood and And Soon The Darkness.

Dr. Phibes Rises Again

Audio Commentary #1: Justin Humphreys, the Author of The Dr. Phibes Companion, returns for another incisive commentary track in which he talks about the decision to create a sequel, the competing scripts, the recut nature of this final version, the grandiose score, the cinematography of the feature, the film’s reputation and more. It is always great to hear directly from a devotee who has no lack of knowledge.

Audio Commentary #2: Film Historian Tim Lucas provides a likewise dense and insightful commentary track in which he discusses the troubled nature of the production, recycled footage, the background of the performers, the elimination of comedic bits and more.

Radio Spots: A minute-and-a-half collection of radio spots are provided here.

Trailers: The two-minute trailer is provided for Dr. Phibes Rises Again. There is also a trailer provided for Scream and Scream Again.

Final Thoughts

The Abominable Dr. Phibes and Dr. Phibes Rises Again are two of the more entertaining Vincent Price films we have seen to date as we explore more of his prolific career. There is an undercurrent of dark comedy throughout both of these films which works immensely well, and the films do not falter when it comes to constructing these ideas into an entertaining narrative. Price is giving his all to these performances, and the fantastic array of classic performers rounding out the cast only makes the experience richer. Kino Classics has delivered these to Blu-Ray as a standalone set that sports a great A/V presentation and some commentary tracks that were not on the Scream Factory release. Those who appreciate a good slipcover will also be interested to know the initial batch ships with one so be sure to get your order in early if that is important to you. If you already have both Scream Factory sets, there is no pressing reason to purchase this one, but it might be worth it to you if these are the only films from the sets you want and you love audio commentaries. Recommended

Dr. Phibes Double Feature [The Abominable Dr. Phibes/Dr. Phibes Rises Again] is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Kino Classics has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.