The Abominable Dr. Phibes

I haven't watched many of Vincent Price's classic run of horror movies, but if you're old enough to know who he is and why he was famous, you know his movies fell into a few buckets, and he wasn't often called to do more than be Vincent Price in them. Whether he was the mustache-twirling bad guy, the stalwart hero of the story, or something in between, Price brought his unique charm to whatever he was in. The Abominable Dr. Phibes, however, takes a different approach. It is most comparable to Theatre Of Blood (I know, that came two years later) in form, but definitely not in execution. Theatre would see Price ham it up as a Shakespearian actor getting revenge on his critics in ways that mimicked death scenes in the play, and it gave Price ample runway to make the idea of "over the top" feel understated. Phibes, however, goes in the opposite direction; here, he plays a man seeking revenge on the medical staff who failed to save his wife, and kills them in a manner based on the Ten Plagues visited upon Egypt in The Bible. Unlike his character in Theatre, Phibes is mute, his vocal cords damaged in an accident. Price's role here is almost a proto-slasher killer, although he's not some masked goon stalking babysitters; he glowers, he has a ritual built into his killing process, and there isn't a trace of humor or ironic camp about him whatsoever. Price is 100% a malevolent sociopath here. It is fascinating to see him take on an almost prototypical slasher movie villain role here. The movie is hardly up to the levels of gore of slashers, but the core DNA is there; a silent killer, a deeply personal motive, a targeted group of people, and unique ways of dispatching the victims. Maybe there are other movies where Price plays a more straight antagonist, but this is a first for me, and it's fascinating. Equally fascinating is the movie's visual style. Phibes came out in 1971, so there is a lot of carry-over in style from the late 60's, but there's also some weird presaging going on of 70's disco culture, especially in the opening moments ... but the movie also takes place in the 1920's. This results in a weird head-on collision of sets, dress, make-up, and style that combines elements from all over time and space. There are shades of the mod scene, art deco, nods to silent movie aesthetics, musical and dance numbers, and even Bond movies of the era. Phibes never stops throwing ideas at the wall, giving it a memorable, distinct style. I can't say it's period accurate -- there is some stuff that is anachronistic that you just have to waive off -- but when the movie is constantly throwing something new at the viewer, it doesn't really matter. You just learn to accept it. This does, however, also work against the movie. The Ten Plagues don't readily avail themselves as manners of murder, and the movie has to contort the rules and itself in some situations to make them work. It also could not care less to explain the character of Vulnavia (yup, that's her name) or her relationship with Phibes. And the ending is one of the endings of all time. It certainly does bring a stop to the movie. As I've watched more Price movies, I've learned that I have to set the bar a little lower. These were not made to be prestige horror, and they certainly didn't go for the jugular like horror movies would in the late 70's and beyond. His movies were a vibe unto their own, and as long as you're okay with that, Phibes is probably in the upper echelon of his filmography, at least as far as I've seen.