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      The Abominable Dr. Phibes

      1971, Horror/Comedy, 1h 33m

      40 Reviews 5,000+ Ratings

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      Critics Consensus

      The Abominable Dr. Phibes juggles horror and humor, but under the picture's campy façade, there's genuine pathos brought poignantly to life through Price's performance. Read critic reviews

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      The Abominable Dr. Phibes  Photos

      The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971) The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971) The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971) The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971)

      Movie Info

      In a desperate attempt to reach his ill wife, organist Anton Phibes (Vincent Price) is horrifically disfigured in a car accident and presumed dead. When he learns that his wife died during an operation, Phibes blames her surgeons and plots an elaborate revenge to punish them for their incompetence. With the help of a mute assistant (Virginia North), Phibes creates a mask resembling his own face and murders the surgeons one by one using bizarre methods inspired by the biblical plagues.

      • Rating: PG-13

      • Genre: Horror, Comedy

      • Original Language: English

      • Director: Robert Fuest

      • Producer: Louis M. Heyward, Ronald Dunas

      • Writer: James Whiton, William Goldstein

      • Release Date (Theaters):  original

      • Release Date (DVD):

      • Runtime:

      • Distributor: Live Video, MGM/UA Home Entertainment Inc., Image Entertainment Inc., Orion Pictures, American International Pictures, Vestron Video, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Distributing Corp., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

      • Production Co: American International Pictures (AIP)

      • Sound Mix: Mono

      • Aspect Ratio: 35mm, Flat (1.85:1)

      Cast & Crew

      Critic Reviews for The Abominable Dr. Phibes

      Audience Reviews for The Abominable Dr. Phibes

      • Jan 02, 2016

        It's a 70's version of Seven - and all that implies.

        Super Reviewer
      • Oct 04, 2013

        A wind-up orchestra nicknamed the "Clockwork Wizards", reenactments of biblical curses and a phonograph in order to talk are only the faintly peculiar oddities in this olive-black, droll hybrid of operatic horror and Grand Guignol comedy. Since his face has been corroded away, Price conveys all of his vengeful emotions and homicidal frivolity with his disembodied, alto voice and his expressively mischievous eyes. Phibes' lair is a masterstroke of geisha design with a rich lavender-and-pink color palette. For a film with such an outrageously shlocky premise, the death scenes are underwhelming and tame with the particularly gruesome details held off-screen like the aftermath of a locust attack. An acid-rigged contraption by Phibes is obviously an influence for the elaborate traps for the 'Saw' franchise. The film achieves the requisite spookiness when Phibes is cavorting in his hideout with his mannequin band. To be fair though, the objective is a fiendishly funny and classy hurrah for Price and as a showcase for the erstwhile cult-classic maven, it more than delivers.

        cory t Super Reviewer
      • Jun 10, 2013

        The is from the MGM Midnite Movies Double Feature Collection. These movies are always worth getting and make a fine collection. Sheer terror doesn't get much more frightening than this. Scare-master Vincent Price plays a doctor who loses his voice in a car accident, but can still speak by way of an electronic device. He vows revenge on the nine doctors that were responsible for an unsuccessful surgery attempt on his wife, Victoria. He, along with his fiendish but sexy assistant Vulnavia (Virginia North), murder them one by one in such grotesque ways as draining one guy of all his blood, attacking a nurse with a swarm of locusts, and giving an attendee of a costume party a frog mask that becomes so tight around his neck that it snaps his head off. The sheer audacity of these grisly murders, along with Price's meticulous and methodical planning, make for a one-of a-kind scary experience. 4 stars 6-08-13

        Super Reviewer
      • Jan 04, 2013

        This film set the scene for many horror movies to come (Saw is one very noteworthy one). I have a rule that any film starring Vincent Price is good, and this film didn't fail that rule. However, this film did fall short of my expectations. Reenacting exodus' plagues was a cool idea, but I think they could have done better with it.

        Super Reviewer

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