Plot: Dr Anton Phibes is on a mission, to get revenge on the doctors (and nurse) who failed to save the life of his wife Victoria on the operating table. With help from his assistant Vulnavia, he begins killing off the doctors (and nurse), taking inspiration from the Biblical plagues of Egypt. Meanwhile, Scotland Yard is on his trail, trying to stop the killing spree before it's too late.
Movie Review: I'm going to state this right now: The Abominable Dr Phibes is one of my favorite movies. The dark humor, the 1920s aesthetic, the inventive deaths, there's just nothing like it. I want all of Vulnavia's outfits.
One of the best aspects of Dr Phibes are the makeup effects, particularly on Vincent Price. Having a character that needs to have a seemingly artifical appearance to cover the lack of a face should not be an easy feat, yet the result is one of the most iconic looks in horror cinema. The deaths are also quite gruesome, with the locusts and mechanical frog mask being prime examples. The rats and bats are much too cute for me to find creepy, though.
I love the 1970s depiction of the 1920s, especially Phibes' elaborate ballroom with clockwork musicians, as well as Dr Vealius' apartment, which doesn't look out of place in either 1921 or 1971.
Suffice to say, The Abominable Dr Phibes is just the perfect campy 70s horror. Required Valentine's Day viewing!
Bonus Content: If you own the Vincent Price Collection Volume 1 from Shout Factory, the bonus features on Kino Lorber's release are just about the same. The only difference is that Kino also added trailers for a few of their other 70s UK horror releases.
The audio commentary with director Robert Fuest can be a little hard to understand at points, but his stories about working with some of the actors on The Avengers and his opinions on the film's reputation are nice to listen to.
However, I greatly prefer Justin Humphreys' commentary, as it's quite informative of the film's art design and production history.
The only other two Phibes-related extras are a TV spot and the theatrical trailer.
If you already have the Shout Factory disc and aren't interested in the sequel, then I would advise on skipping this release, as it's virtually the same content. But, if you don't mind the double dip (like myself), then getting two sets with only one disc in common doesn't seem so bad!
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