Celebrating
50 glorious years on the screen, it’s the 1971 Vincent Price classic,
The Abominable Dr. Phibes, which was released in the US on May 18, 1971
(its UK release was in April of that year). Dr. Phibes has become one
of Price’s most memorable characters, even with the limitation that he
couldn’t move his prosthetic face! Somehow, Price managed to emote
through the deadpan expression and imbue the character with charm,
charisma and pathos.
Directed by Robert Fuest, who also came up
with the story idea, the character of Phibes bares a striking
resemblance to a certain acquaintance of the director, the notorious
founder of The Church of Satan, Anton LaVey. LaVey even claimed as much
and, given the character’s name is Dr. Anton Phibes and he’s an
organist, researcher, medical doctor, biblical scholar and
ex-vaudevillian who has created a clockwork band of robot musicians to
play old standards at his whim, it’s hard not to see the similarities. I
tend to give credence to this after having read LaVey’s writings and
been a fan of the film (and its sequel) for decades.
Feust
gained recognition as an extremely inventive set designer working on
series like The Avengers and the New Avengers and it’s easy to see his
talents on display in both Phibes movies. While the rudimentary plot of
revenge does not offer a great deal of depth, the film soars on the
strength of evocative set pieces and stylish Art Deco visuals. Each of
the death scenes is constructed like a meticulously choreographed
macabre ballet and Phibes’ home setting is a wonderful fantasy land of
mechanical musicians, an ornately animated theater organ and his high
fashion mute muse, Vulnavia, who deftly assists the doctor on his quest
to redress the wrongs he perceives were inflicted upon his deceased, but
preserved wife, Victoria.
Phibes is the quintessential
anti-hero and the revenge story told here is very much the opposite of
the norm for such fiction, which commonly function as cautionary tales
about the cost of vengeance to those pursuing it. In this case,
vengeance is a delicious dish to be savored and enjoyed to the fullest,
whether served hot or cold or covered in honey for the locusts to feast
upon. Each victim in this symphony of sadism is relished and lingered
upon to extract every morsel of sustenance. Whereas mere mortals are
diminished by their pursuit of revenge, Phibes is enriched and nourished
by it. His adversaries, the London police, are shown as bumbling
amateurs and fools who are always 10 steps behind their foe. It’s one
of the first film series I ever encountered where the “bad guy” always
comes out on top. There’s no comeuppance, no moral price to pay, no
defeat at the hands of the “good guys”.
I first encountered
these movies in the mid 1970s when local TV stations would often have a
weekend midnight horror movie. Friday or Saturday nights were the time
to tune into the creep shows after mom and dad were in bed and us kids
were allowed to stay up late and lose ourselves in these strange scenes.
Phibes was an immediate favorite because it looked so beautiful and
the story was unlike anything I’d seen in any other horror movie. My
appreciation for these films has only grown over the years as I’ve seen
them again and again. It’s that combination of artistic style and flair
setting the stage for Vincent Price’s nuanced performance that make
these films so timeless and transcendent. There’s a sort of “Zen” to
them that is rare and leaves one with a wonderful sense of clarity.
