Film Review
Never slow to milk to death any cash cow that came their way, American
International Pictures didn't even pause to catch breath before rushing
out a sequel to
The Abominable Dr Phibes when
it proved to be a hit at the box office.
Dr. Phibes Rises Again offered
another bulimic helping of bloodcurdling horror and black humour, as
frantically camp and zany as the original but looking far less
polished. The ingenuity and thought that went into the first
Phibes film are singularly lacking in its sequel, which is essentially
a lazy retread of what has gone before. Production office
interference scuppered any hopes the writers may have entertained of
making this a logical follow on to Phibes' first adventure, and so the
central villain ends up being just your average homicidal maniac in a
mask, with a back story for every occasion.
That isn't to say the film isn't fun. With Vincent Price
staking his claim to be the greatest camp horror icon of them all,
aided and abetted by a glittering ensemble of British acting talent
(including Peter Cushing, the man who was originally offered the part
of Phibes),
Dr. Phibes Rises Again
can hardly fail to entertain. Price and co-star Robert Quarry's
mutual antagonism is far from simulated (the actors hated each other)
and this brings an edge to both their performances. You can just
imagine what fiendish death Price had in mind for Quarry, something far
more colourful than the deaths by impaling, drowning, scorpions, bird
of prey, compaction and sandblasting that Phibes casually dishes out in
this film. Compared with the slick
The Abominable Dr Phibes, this too
hastily cobbled together sequel is a pretty senseless, pretty aimless
romp, but with Vincent Price on board, elevating camp villainy to a
fine art, it is no less entertaining.
© James Travers 2014
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Film Synopsis
England, 1928. Three years after his campaign to slaughter those
responsible for his wife Victoria's death, Dr Anton Phibes awakes from
suspended animation, to find that his London mansion has been
destroyed. Worse, fragments of an ancient Egyptian parchment have
been taken from his safe. Phibes had been planning on using these
to locate the pharaohs' River of Life, by which he would revive his
dead wife and confer on her and himself immortality. Accompanied
by his faithful assistant Vulnavia, Phibes traces the missing parchment
to Biederbeck, a centuries' old adventurer who is also looking for
eternal life. Biederbeck follows Phibes to Egypt, with a pair of
inept English detectives, Trout and Waverley, hot on their heels.
Once settled in his new subterranean lair, Phibes amuses himself by
killing the members of Biederbeck's expedition in the most gruesome
manner possible...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.