Dr. Phibes Rises Again, 1972.
Directed by Robert Fuest.
Starring Vincent Price, Robert Quarry, Peter Jeffrey, Valli Camp, Fiona Lewis, Hugh Griffith and Peter Cushing.
SYNOPSIS:
Some time after his murderous campaign of vengeance against the doctors who failed to save his wife, the villainous Dr Phibes ventures to Egypt in the hopes of discovering the secret to eternal life.
Of the many films that I looked at in last year’s October Horrors, one of the nicest surprises was The Abominable Dr. Phibes, a fun, darkly comic horror starring the legendary Vincent Price as the titular scarred doctor on a quest of violent and often silly revenge. So, given how much fun we had with the original, let’s dive into the sequel, the decent but sadly lacking Dr. Phibes Rises Again.
As with the original, the main draw is the hypnotically charming Vincent Price as the titular Dr Phibes. Once again, remaining tight-lipped and speaking through a radiogram, Price conveys most of his performance through his piercing eyes and facial expressions, playing the role with a knowing look of devilish mischief.
When he does speak, Price hams it up as only he can. Delivering towering grand speeches about life, eternity and his beloved wife, his iconic voice blending sophisticated class and campy creepiness. Plus, we get to enjoy him singing Over the Rainbow as the film ends, climaxing his rendition with a sinister laugh and leaving us with a smile.
The supporting cast, which features a handful of returning faces (including Peter Jeffrey as Inspector Fish Pun, I mean Trout), does a decent enough job with their roles. Jeffery and his on-screen superior John Cater as Waverly stand out in particular, as they bumble their way through the runtime like a lost comedy double act. Their silly banter about ‘balls’ and ‘squirts’ and general clumsy tomfoolery made for some delightfully corny comic moments that, while terribly dated, still made me chuckle.
Robert Quarry as Phibes’ new nemesis Biederbeck makes for a decent foil for Price. However, despite his best efforts, Quarry is powerless when up against the sheer power of his iconic co-star, with the few scenes the two share being a one-sided ham fest in which Price obliterates Quarry completely with his thunderous screen presence.
As with the first film, Dr. Phibes Rises Again is not so much an outright horror but more of a dark comedy, filling its runtime with a litany of violent deaths and comic hi-jinks laced with a distinctly morbid British sense of humour. The jokes are dated and more likely to raise groans than laughs, such as Waverly’s comments after seeing a dead man reduced to a skull, remarking “he’s got nothing to say”. Although, if you just embrace the silliness of the humour, you’ll still find yourself at least cracking a smile now and again.
What is severely lacking from the first film is the creativity in Phibes’ kills. Previously we had Phibes drawing inspiration for his murders from the Ten Plagues of Egypt, resulting in various bizarre and creative comic death scenes. However, this time around, even though Rises Again takes place in Egypt, the death scenes are all rather unmemorable and fall a bit flat, even the one in which a man is crushed flat.
One minor criticism I levelled at the first Phibes was that it felt less like a complete story and more like a series of loosely connected vignettes. This time around, we have an actual plot in which Phibes and his assistant travel to Egypt to grant his beloved wife and himself eternal life. Yet, although we have a more concrete story, Rises Again doesn’t really do much with it.
Most of the film is just Phibes monologuing and then occasionally killing someone off, albeit with a lack of variety that at least made the first film entertaining. And while I love Vincent Price monologuing up a storm, I do need a bit more to back it up. That, and it’s just not as much fun this time around with the lack of silly kills and generally slower pace making for an occasionally tedious watch.
Although one scene which quickly emerged as my favourite of either of the two Phibes films is Rises Again’s opening sequence. Following a recap of the first film via recycled footage and an American narrator who sounds like a sports announcer, we see Phibes, of course, rise again, emerging from the crypt he entered at the end of the previous film. However, the scene is rendered spectacularly grand and silly by the musical score, performed by a full orchestra and a choir with maximum bombast. This music, combined with the imagery of Phibes rising from his slumber and raising his arms, gives the scene an absurd level of gravitas, almost as if Christ himself has risen again. It is gloriously stupid, but it’s a moment that made me break out into a big daft grin.
While it may lack the same creativity and fun of the original, the overpowering charisma of Vincent Price, corny but endearing humour and an undeservedly hilariously grandiose opening sequence allows Dr. Phibes Rises Again to at least be worth a look for fans of the first film.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★/ Movie: ★ ★ ★
Graeme Robertson
