Le Retour de l'abominable docteur Phibes

Not as good as the first Phibes movie (The Abominable Dr...) but jolly good fun, so long as you're not expecting a horror movie! This is a comedy! The double act of Peter Jeffrey and John Cater as the bumbling police officers Trout and Waverley are a joy. Vincent Price, himself, often portrayed his characters with tongue firmly in cheek, (witness the AIP Corman series of E A Poe titles) and this is no exception. What I would like to know is what is the obsession with dance band leaders and jazz cornet/trumpeters all about? OK, its set in the 20s, (allegedly!) and the mechanical band look like an old dance band of the time, or is it just another in-joke probably lost on most viewers? I'll explain: Beiderbeck (Bix Beiderbecke - legendary cornettist, who died of drink at 28); Hackett (Bobby Hackett - cornettist often compared to Bix for his lyrical style); Baker (Harold "Shorty" Baker - one-time trumpeter for Duke Ellington. Or even Kenny Baker, English trumpeter of considerable ability); Shavers (Charlie Shavers - highly accomplished trumpeter from the 'swing era'); Stewart (Rex Stewart - cornettist with Duke Ellington during 30s/40s). Get the picture? Then we have two band leaders: Ambrose (English dance band leader from the 30s) and Lombardo (Guy Lombardo, Canadian dance band leader from the 20s and 30s). Obsessive or what? Never mind, I just thought I'd point it out!!!! Its still an enjoyable load of old nonsense all the same. 10 out of 10 for cheekiness, but overall a 7.

This movie is so similar to the original that I sometimes have trouble remembering which crazy diabolical way of murdering his enemies occurred in which movie. Dr. Phibes returns (even though we DISTINCTLY saw him kill himself in the last movie!) and this time he is a little less focused on revenge and devotes most of his energy to resurrecting his long dead wife. However, have no fear, this does NOT mean he won't be killing many people in the process of restoring her! Yep, once again he comes up with many wacky and twisted ways to kill. So, in essence, if you loved the first movie you'll be happy but if you hated it, it doesn't get any better! I liked both and admit they are a guilty pleasure---they are SO cheesy and silly but I really liked the movies a lot!

UPDATE: I just saw this movie again tonight just after seeing the first Phibes film. I sure had a different reaction this time. While Phibes' murders were once again quite interesting, the film had two major ways that made it very inferior to the original. In the first film, whether right or wrong, Phibes felt he had a legitimate reason to kill. Here in "Dr. Phibes Rises Again" he clearly kills completely innocent people and is much more of a jerk. Also, the plot is not nearly as coherent as the first film and seems like it could have used some re-writing. Still worth seeing but clearly not up to the standards of the first.

...as the original. Yes, the design is impressive. Yes, Phibes is nearly as good. The Biederbeck sub-plot (Robert Quarry's best performance by far: check his IMDB credits list to see how many turkeys he's been in) is interesting, and makes him a suitable rival for Phibes. Sort of.

And that's kind of where I'm stuck at. Everything in this movie is "sort of." Biederbeck is "sort of" Phibes' rival, but the two never meet until the end. The movie "sort of" carries on the theme of the original. But without a driving force or motivation of vengeance, or a theme like the Plagues, here it's just a matter of seeing how many nifty ways Phibes can (rather implausibly) knock someone off. And some of those (a raven?) aren't even that interesting.

The humor here is also a lot broader, which wasn't really to my taste, either. Watching Phibes chow down on grapes through his neck hole and almost choking struck me as parodying the character itself, which tends to rob Phibes of much of his menace.

Overall, this sequel is enjoyable, but to me, it ultimately fails to rise to level of its predecessor.

I bought this one as part of a back to back Dr. Phibes Midnight Feature DVD. I didn't like it quite as much as the original, but it was not completely without its charm. Vincent Price's performance was good (as per usual) and Robert Quarry did well as Biderbeck (Dr. Phibes' foe in this film). As anyone who has seen the original can guess, there's a lot of really elaborate deaths and more of Vincent Price talking through a machine plugged into his neck.

The film picks up with a brief recap of the original (Phibes out to kill the doctors who where operating on his wife when she died). Phibes then arises from the tomb in his basement where he and his wife's corpse were resting for about three years. Phibes has a plan this time to find a secret river of life in Egypt that comes to a pharaoh's tomb once every 2000 years so he can bring his wife back to life and have eternal life. However, Phibes' house has been demolished and a priceless scroll that had the secret of the tomb has been taken. Biderbeck (Quarry) somehow acquired the scroll and intends to find the river for himself and his girlfriend. Both travel to Egypt to find the river of life, and Phibes kills Biderbeck's lackeys along the way in his usual methods.

It's not that bad. It didn't live up to the original, but it still delivered big on the theme deaths. The deaths aren't quite as structured as in the last Phibes film, but they're still pretty fun.

Dr Phibes Rises Again is the sequel to the magnificent 'The Abominable Dr Phibes'. The original film achieved cult classic status through a magnificent performance from Vincent Price as the vengeful doctor of the title, and an over the top, absurd, camp styling that set it apart from most other films in it's field. Both of these ingredients are present for the sequel, but it doesn't succeed like the first one did because there's just something missing. The sequel sees Dr Phibes 'rise again' upon the moon aligning itself in a certain way (or something) and travelling to Egypt to find a river that will grant him and his neither living, nor completely dead beloved, immortality. However, things aren't so simple because the scrolls that lead the way to the river have been stolen and Phibes has a contender; someone that needs to find the river just as much as he does out there in Egypt with him.

What's basically missing from this film is assurance. The first film obviously knew what it wanted to do and so was able to do it and not let anything get in the way; this one is very muddled, and it never completely gives the impression that it knows where it wants to go. Just like the first film, this one delivers some very imaginative and very grisly methods of dispatch for it's lesser characters. However, these death scenes almost appear superfluous to the plot, and appear to only be there to continue what the original started, as Phibes probably could have gotten where he wanted to go without them…but I'm not one to complain about a film that sees a man trapped in a giant gold scorpion while being eaten to death by live ones, and another man killed via a sharp spike shooting out of the telephone, so whether they're needed or not; they're nice. The film also features, like the original did, a lovely camp feeling; but it's never on the same level as it was in 'The Abominable'. Perhaps it's the move to Egypt and the low quality of the set's (as opposed to the grand and lavish ones of the original) what's done it.

As mentioned, Vincent Price returns to take up one of the roles that have helped cement him in the minds of his fans - Dr Phibes himself. This role, frankly, was made for Vincent Price; and he excels at playing it. It can be said that he doesn't do quite as good a job here, but then again; he didn't have as much good stuff to work with. Also making an appearance is fellow horror legend - Peter Cushing. Cushing only actually appears for all of about two minutes, but it's nice to see him nonetheless. Robert Fuest returns to the director's chair, as you'd probably expect; but the most notable performance in the film (other than Price) comes from Peter Jeffrey, in the role of the inept Scotland Yard inspector - Inspector Trout. Jeffrey delivers his lines with impeccable comic timing and steals every scene he's in. I'd even go as far as to say that Jeffrey is just as important a part of these two movies as Vincent Price is.

Overall, this film isn't nearly as good as 'The Abominable Dr Phibes', but fans of the original will find lots to like and despite the fact that it's a lesser film and has many flaws; I love this kind of stuff so it gets a big thumbs up from me.