Dr. Phibes
| The Abominable Dr. Phibes | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Robert Fuest |
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| Music by | Basil Kirchin |
| Cinematography | Norman Warwick |
| Edited by | Tristam Cones |
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| Distributed by | Anglo-EMI Film Distributors |
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Running time
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94 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
The Abominable Dr. Phibes is a 1971 British comedy horror film directed by Robert Fuest, written by William Goldstein and James Whiton, and starring Vincent Price and Joseph Cotten. Its art deco sets, dark humour and performance by Price have made the film and its sequel Dr. Phibes Rises Again cult classics. The film also features Terry-Thomas and Hugh Griffith, with an uncredited Caroline Munro appearing in still photographs as Phibes's wife.
The film follows the title character, Anton Phibes, who blames the medical team that attended to his wife for her death four years prior and sets out to exact vengeance on each one. Phibes is inspired in his murderous spree by the Ten Plagues of Egypt from the Old Testament.
Dr. Anton Phibes, a famous concert organist and expert in theology and music, is thought to have been killed in a car crash in Switzerland in 1921, while racing home upon hearing of the death of his beloved wife, Victoria, during surgery. Phibes survived the crash, but he was horribly scarred and left unable to speak. He remakes his face with prosthetics and uses his knowledge of acoustics to regain his voice. Resurfacing secretly in London in 1925, Phibes believes his wife was a victim of incompetence on the part of the doctors, and he begins elaborate plans to kill those he believes are guilty.
Aided in his quest for vengeance by his beautiful and silent female assistant Vulnavia, Phibes uses the ten plagues of Egypt as his inspiration, wearing an amulet with Hebrew letters corresponding with each plague as he conducts the murders. After three doctors have been killed, Inspector Trout, a detective from Scotland Yard, learns that they all had worked under the direction of Dr. Vesalius, who tells him the deceased had been on his team when treating Victoria, as were four other doctors and one nurse. After another doctor is murdered, Trout discovers one of Phibes' amulets (torn off during a struggle) at the scene, taking it first to the jeweler who made it and then to a rabbi to learn its meaning. Believing Phibes may still be alive, Trout and Vesalius go to the Phibes mausoleum at Highgate Cemetery and find a box of ashes in Phibes' coffin, but Trout decides they are probably the remains of Phibes' chauffeur. Victoria's coffin is found to be empty.
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