Is There A Doctor in the House?

 

This is my entry for the Favorite Stars in B Movies Blogathon hosted by Films from Beyond the Time Barrier.

If Roger Corman can be considered the king of "B" movies, then the King of "B" movie stars would almost certainly be Vincent Price. Price made almost his entire career out of the kind of movies that would be standard fare at the drive-in. And he had a voice that is instantly recognizable. You don't even have to know beforehand that he appears at the end of the Michael Jackson song "Thriller". Once the words come across "Darkness falls across the land...", everybody knew, "Hey, that's Vincent Price!"

And absolutely nobody could emit an evil laugh that could send chills down your spine like Price.

American International Pictures, the distributors of the Dr. Phibes movies, went to the Price well a number of times over it's almost 30 years of existence.  The reason that AIP is one of my favorite studios is that it was one of the primary distributors of what are now classics in the drive-in movie pantheon. (If you've read this blog for a while, you know that, even though I have strayed from the original premise of the blog, my primary interest is in the low budget horror and sci-fi stuff that was primarily the fare du jour for the average drive-in.)

And although it can't be said that Price kept the studio afloat during those years, enough of it's output featured this drive-in movie hero that it can safely be said he made them a lot of money.

Over the years Price made a variety of films, some true horror, and some with such comic feel to them, despite the horror aspect, that they could almost be considered comedies.  I think the Dr. Phibes films could fall into that second category.  Black comedy (not "black" as in race, but "black" as in dark) is something that sometimes takes a special (some might say twisted) mind.

The gothic horror theme was in decline by the 70's, although it had had a nice run through the 60's. Was this a last hurrah for the theme?  Not entirely, although it didn't quite crop up all that often afterwards.  But if anyone could have still pulled it off, it was Price.  

OK, after extolling the virtues of Price, I need to add something else. The movie starts out in the titles with words that always get my heart pumping: 

"James H. Nicholson and Samuel Z. Arkoff Present" 

Those words meant I was getting high quality stuff in the next hour and a half or so,  They were the driving genius behind bringing us such classics as:

I Was a Teenage Werewolf

A Bucket of Blood

X: the Man with X-Ray Eyes

Panic in the Year Zero!

Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine

The Amazing Colossal Man

And a slew of others.  They were the driving force behind and original creators of American Pictures International and were highly influential in creating my love of trashy drive-in movies (none of which I was old enough to see during the first run, of course, but highly attractive to me now).  The fact that all of the above have links to previous posts on The Midnite Drive-In are a testament to how much I appreciate these two guys.

The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971):

"Love means never having to say you're ugly." That (corrupted) line from a (then) recent movie Love Story was the tag line for the film. (I didn't make it up, so don't blame me... There it is on the poster.)

The story takes place sometime in the 1920's. Mad genius Dr. Anton Phibes lives his life in a secluded mansion where he is the leader of his own band. Not a band in the traditional sense of the word. The band consists solely of one real person, Dr. Phibes himself, playing the oversized organ (and with an oversized ego to match...). The rest are animatronic players. 

 

Dr. Phibes has his doctorate in music and was a renowned musician in his heyday.  But he must be a genius in other realms too, because he didn't just buy that animatronic band or the other things he uses throughout this film at the neighborhood flea market. 

Doc spends his life in seclusion because the whole world thinks he is dead. Which helps when he begins his systematic attempt to exact revenge on the doctors who tried (but failed) to keep his wife alive after an accident.  And the reason the world thinks he is dead is because he was supposedly killed while racing back to London from Switzerland after hearing of his wife's predicament.

Phibes blames the doctors in charge of his wife's surgery for incompetence in their profession.  And thus has determined that each should die.  The method of their deaths is based on the Biblical plagues of the Old Testament, visited upon the Egyptians by the Hebrew God for their reluctance to free the Jews from captivity.  Why Biblical plagues? I have no idea.  It's not as if he is Jewish, at least I don't THINK he is...

(Of course, this being Hollywood, since some of those plagues in the Bible story were  not melodramatic enough, some changes were made.  For instance, there were no bats in the Biblical version, but the first victim is dispatched with them. Some of the others are just as tenuous.  Turning water to blood, for instance, appears to have been changed to draining one of his victims of their own blood.)

Assisting him is an assistant, called Vulnavia (Virginia North). Not his wife, just a helper who helps him in his quest.

Investigating these mysterious deaths is a police inspector, Trout (Peter Jeffrey), who despite the misgivings of his superiors, is convinced there must be some connection between the deaths of the doctors. 

(I guess having a sudden spate of odd deaths of people in the doctor profession all at once didn't raise any red flags with the superiors.  Or maybe they were just worried about the widespread panic that would result if the press got wind of it. Which is a legitimate concern with at least one of the bosses Trout confers with during his investigation.)

Doc hangs a Hebrew medallion on a wax sculpture after every death and burns the wax figure. I can't read ancient Hebrew, so I'm only assuming it is Hebrew, however, but otherwise the connection to the Biblical plagues and the medallions wouldn't make sense.

So Phibes' first victim (on screen), Dr. Dunwoody (Edward Burnham) is dispatched by bats (which apparently corresponds to the Biblical plague of flies. But flies can't be trained to act, and bats can, so...)

 

A reference to another victim who had recently been killed by bees, Dr. Cornton. (Possibly paralleled to the plague of boils, which may be similar to bee stings)  Which is where Inspector Trout begins his investigation, based on the coincidence of two doctors dying in mysterious ways.

The third victim, Dr, Hargreaves (Alex Scott), is choked to death by a frog mask (frogs plague, of course)

 

Trout finds out that the three victims had all worked under Dr. Vesalius (Joseph Cotten) and goes to him to find out some answers.

The fourth victim, Dr. Longsteet (Terry-Thomas), has his blood drained from him (which corresponds to the water turned to blood plague). You may not feel it so bad that Longstreet dies, because he is a pervert.  His last act on Earth is watching some 1920's porn...

 

Phibes ends up leaving behind the medallion he intended to hang on the wax sculpture.  It is found by Trout who goes to the guy who made them where he finds out that it is one of a set of ten he had made. And is told that the symbol is, indeed, Hebrew.  Which leads him to a rabbi who tells him that this particular one is a symbol of blood. And he also learns of the ten plagues. which is revealing, of course, since the first four victims have been dispatched in similar ways to the plagues.

30 minutes into the movie we FINALLY hear Vincent Price's voice (sort of: he has lost the use of his mouth because of the accident, but he can put a stethoscope-like device to his neck and vocalize, after a fashion), 30 minutes into a film starring Price before he even says one word seems like a long time, since Price's voice was probably the most noticeable part of his performances. 

Between his expounding that "nine killed you; nine shall die" to a picture of his wife, and Trout finding out from Vesalius that all the victims (plus a few others) had worked to try to save Phibes' wife, we get the full picture.  And there are potentially 5 more victims...

But since Phibes himself was apparently killed in a car accident while trying to race back to London, Trout is not sure who could be behind these strange occurrences.

The fifth victim is Dr. Hedgepath (David Hutcheson), who is killed by a hail making machine in his own car. (the plague of hailstones).

 

Gradually, based on the background that Trout discovers about Phibes' past, he starts to think that maybe, just maybe, Dr. Phibes didn't really die. An investigation of  the Phibes crypt reveals that there is a container with the ashes of someone inside, but that only proves that SOMEONE'S ashes were entombed.  Not necessarily Phibes himself. And Phibes' wife's crypt is empty.

Dr. Pitaj (Peter Gilmore) is the sixth victim, attacked by rats while trying to fly a plane ( the pestilence plague, perhaps?). Despite the efforts of the police to stop the plane before it takes off, he ends up dying by the rats and crashing the plane. (I read that originally they were going to do the scene on a boat, but some more rational person said "well, couldn't he just jump in the water and save himself?  Believe me, this is the better route, and the scarier one, if you ask me.)

 

And the seventh victim, Dr. Whitcombe (Maurice Kaufman) is skewered by the statue of a unicorn (the livestock plague? it's a stretch, I know. At this point, my being able to decipher those Hebrew symbols might have been helpful).

 

The eighth victim is not actually a doctor but a nurse (Susan Travers) who had been in attendance at the scene when Phibes' wife died.  She is dispatched by locusts, attracted by a goo he made from what appeared to be Brussels sprouts  (yet another reason for me to hate Brussels sprouts). And this despite the fact that "half of Scotland Yard" is surrounding the building complex. (Boy, this Phibes guy, he do get around.)

 

That leaves only the head doctor, Vesalius. (And, if you're keeping count, two plagues). So "darkness" and "first born" plagues remain. But Vesalius says his older brother is dead, so it's probably not going to be the "first born" one...  But, wait..., he DOES have a son himself...

OK, so I'll leave off here so you have something to maybe motivate and inspire you to watch. Gee, ain't I a stinker...?

But before I let you go to the intermission: 

Would you believe that Peter Cushing was in line for the Joseph Cotten role? The reason he had to back out was because his wife was very sick (she would actually pass away during the time the movie was filmed). Not that Joseph Cotten was bad, but I can see Vesalius being a very different character if Cushing had played him.

And while on the subject of Cotten, it's interesting to see how his star waxed and waned over the span of his career.  Although he never actually got nominated for an Oscar, he was in some very Oscar-worthy roles. And worked with the likes of Orson Welles and Alfred Hitchcock on numerous occasions. But he was also very obviously not ashamed to take a buck wherever it was. (Notably The Hearse, which was reviewed on this blog several years ago.)

 

Dr. Phibes Rises Again (1972):

You just can't keep a bad man down... especially if there's money in a sequel...

It's only been a year since the release of The Abominable Dr. Phibes (or one minute since you read the story in the previous portion of this post).  But in terms of the history of the events in the two films,  it has been three years.

And just in case you may have forgotten the diabolical actions of our villain, the film starts out by giving you an encapsulation of said events.  It also tells us that Phibes put himself in suspended animation, as opposed to having killed himself.

See, he was waiting until the moon is in the seventh house and Jupiter aligns with Mars... Wait, sorry,  that's a different movie... But he is waiting for a special alignment of the moon and the planets, one which had not occurred for 2000 years.  When that happens, the events that sent him into this suspended animation reverses and Dr. Phibes Rises Again.

Phibes has a goal.  His goal now is to find a way to get his beloved wife, Victoria (Caroline Munro), back from the dead and to eternal life.  Apparently, as stated by Phibes, he had been alive at that time and prepared for this moment.  (Wait a minute, Phibes already has eternal life?  And he had been preparing for this moment even then?  This is interesting.  Maybe there's more to Phibes than we previously thought...)

He has a map to an ancient Pharaoh's  tomb, beneath which, only every 2000 years flows a "River of Life". He revives his trusted assistant, Vulnavia (this time played by Valli Kemp), and none the worse for wear (which, if you watched the previous entry, you know her exit was not all that simple,,,) But upon reaching the secret room where he has stored the map, he finds it demolished and the map stolen.  Only one man could be responsible... Dr. Biederbeck (Robert Quarry).

Biederbeckand his friend Ambrose (Hugh Griffith {who, BTW, appeared in the first Phibes movie as the rabbi}) discuss their upcoming trip to Egypt.  Biederbeck has only one goal, to find the same "River of Life" that Phibes seeks, so all the treasure they find he graciously concedes to his friend.

Phibes breaks into the house after Biederbeck and Ambrose leave, dispatching Biederbeck's butler with a golden snake. 

Hours later, Inspector Trout (Peter Jeffrey) shows up.  Despite Biederbeck's insistence that discovering who stole the papyrus is more important, Trout, to his credit, insists that capturing the murderer is more paramount.  But as Biederbeck points out, if Trout finds the papyrus, whoever has it will in fact be the murderer.

Having regained his precious papyrus, Phibes takes Vulnavia and the corpse of his wife, and boards a ship bound for Egypt.  Without the papyrus, Biederbeck and Ambrose also board the same ship. (apparently they are just going to wing it...) But the purpose that Biederbeck has is stronger than any threat of failure.  For it seems he has been keeping himself alive with an elixir of life.

Ambrose goes searching the boat hold for Biederbeck's model of a mountain that will help explain Biederbeck's theories.  Unfortunately, instead of the model, Ambrose finds the corpse of Phibes' wife.  And Phibes dispatches him (through the rather mundane act of choking him..). And throws the body, encased in a large jar, overboard.  (It's amazing, given the genius that Phibes exhibits, that he doesn't know the jar will not actually sink. It floats to shore, where it is discovered by Trout.

The captain of the ship (Peter Cushing, who finally got his chance in a Phibes film) wants to spend precious time trying to find the body, but Biederbeck exhibits the same indifference to the mystery of his missing friend as he did for the murderer of his butler.  

The ship MUST continue it's journey forward. (And here, Biederbeck starts to take on the less appealing of the two villains.  At least Phibes does have some sympathetic feelings, even if it is only for his dead wife.)

In Egypt, Phibes and Vulnavia enter a secret passage under a statue of an ancient pharaoh, and behold! A modern (or 1920's modern, anyway) room, complete with art deco decorations.  (Phibes must have been a psychic as well as an ancient sorcerer to have envisioned how things would be in style at this time...)

Trout and his boss go to the shipping agent, Lombardo (Terry-Thomas (who had previously played one of Phibes victims in the first movie}). Lombardo reveals that among the passengers was a woman who had arranged to have an organ put in the manifest for her employer.  Immediately they ask if the employer's name was Phibes. (Now why on Earth would they ask that? Surely they thought he had really gone on to his eternal "reward" 3 years ago...) Lombardo tells them, however, that his name was "Smith". (yeah, right, like that is a real name of someone...)

Biederbeck arrives at the mountain to find that part of his investigation crew has already gone on.  A man named Hackett (Gerald Sim) tells him that Baker (Lewis Flander) and Shaver (John Thaw) would not wait, despite Biederbeck's insistence, and have proceeded without him.  Baker is dispatched by an eagle that guards the entrance.

Meanwhile, Phibes discovers a secret compartment under the mountain which, inside, contains the pharaoh's crypt. and a key, which although he apparently does not know where it fits, he does know that it fits some lock which will help him revive Victoria.  And so, he puts Victoria is a glass coffin and, using the available trolley cart tracks, puts her under the crypt. Where he knows that the River of Life will flow on the full moon and revive her.

(Side note: If you are having trouble with all this modern technology having been created centuries before, you are not alone.  But then, it is apparent that Phibes is not only a wizard at concocting odd deaths of his enemies, a wizard at creating musical automatons, a wizard at avoiding any unecessary complications from his actions, but just plain truth, a wizard...)

Biederbeck's inamorata, Diana (Fiona Lewis). whom he has brought along, begins to wonder about her lover and what drives him.  She has observed that he is obsessed with the mountain and it's secrets, but lacks anything revealing sympathy or concern for the bodies that keep piling up around him.  She demands to know more, but he won't tell her. 

And bodies DO keep piling up. Phibes dispatches one man by locking him up and killing him off with a batch of scorpions.  Another is crushed in a vise. Biederbeck is determined in his goal, however.  But he does exhibit some sense of sympathy. He sends Diana off with the only remaining member of his entourage, Hackett, to safety. But he did not take into consideration Phibes' own sense of determination. He tricks Hackett into leaving Diana alone and wile he is gone takes her hostage.  Then dispatches Hackett with a trick car cigarette lighter which is rigged to turn into a sand blaster (one of the most ingenious devices Phibes comes up with in both movies!)

Once again, I will leave the denouement for you to discover on your own.  If you are a Vincent Price fan you may already know how it turns out, anyway.  Or if you are a fan of these types of movies, you can probably make an educated guess. (But you'd probably be wrong... Now, you are curious, aren't you/  Hahahahahaha!)

Unfortunately, the Phibes saga ended here. Although AIP tried to get yet another Phibes movie going, none of the proposed sequels ever got off the ground floor. Imagine, if you will, though The Seven Fates of Dr. Phibes. Or even The Brides of Dr. Phibes. (Both were proposed titles that never got completed to the satisfaction of the potential producers.)

This post is dedicated to the memory of the man who made horror both scary and funny.  No one could pull off adding humor to horror like Price.  Thanks, Vincent, for 50+ years of scaring the hell out of (and making us laugh while doing it.)

Home awaits. Time to get this old Plymouth rolling.  Drive safely, folks.

Quiggy