The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971)
84%RT Audience Score: 76%
Awards & Nominations: NA
The Abominable Dr. Phibes is a film that defies categorization, blending elements of horror, comedy, and musical theater into a singularly bizarre and entertaining experience. Director Robert Fuest’s background as an art director is evident in the film’s sumptuous Art Deco sets and costumes, which provide a striking contrast to the gruesome murders committed by Vincent Price’s titular character. Price himself is in top form, delivering his lines with a deliciously campy flair that perfectly complements the film’s over-the-top tone. While some may find the film’s mix of genres and styles jarring, those with a taste for the absurd will find much to enjoy in this cult classic.
The Abominable Dr. Phibes is a horror-comedy masterpiece that will have you laughing and cringing at the same time. Vincent Price is at his best as the titular character, and the revenge plot is so well thought out that you’ll be rooting for the villain. The set design is preposterously lush, and the musical numbers are a delight. Sure, some scenes are lit like a TV show, but who cares when you’re having this much fun? If you’re a fan of high-camp horror, this movie is a must-watch. Just don’t blame us if you have nightmares about organ-playing villains rising out of the floor.
Production Company(ies)
Aamir Khan Productions, Jhamu Sughand Productions,
Distributor
Live Video, MGM/UA Home Entertainment Inc., Image Entertainment Inc., Orion Pictures, American International Pictures, Vestron Video, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Distributing Corp., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release Type
Filming Location(s)
Highgate Cemetery, Swain’s Lane, Highgate, London, England, UK
MPAA / Certificate
Rated PG-13 for some horror violence/gore
Year of Release
1971
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Mono
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:1h 33m
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Language(s):English, Hebrew
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): May 18, 1971 Original
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 20, 2001
Genre(s)
Horror
Keyword(s)
starring Vincent Price, Joseph Cotten, Terry-Thomas, Hugh Griffith, Virginia North, Aubrey Woods, directed by Robert Fuest, written by James Whiton, William Goldstein, horror, box office performance, budget, reviewed by David Robinson, Margaret Hinxman, Dave Kehr, Wendy Ide, Keith Phipps, PG-13, Louis M Heyward, Ronald Dunas, Live Video, MGM/UA Home Entertainment Inc., Image Entertainment Inc., Orion Pictures, American International Pictures, Vestron Video, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Distributing Corp., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Mono, 35mm, Flat (1.85:1), organist, car accident, revenge, surgeons, mask, biblical plagues, Vincent Price as Dr Anton Phibes, Joseph Cotten as Dr Vesalius, Terry-Thomas as Dr Longstreet, Hugh Griffith as Rabbi, Virginia North as Vulnavia, Aubrey Woods as Goldsmith
Worldwide gross: NA
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): NA
US/Canada gross: NA
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend:
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Joseph Cotten – Dr. Vesalius
Terry-Thomas – Dr. Longstreet
Hugh Griffith – Rabbi
Virginia North – Vulnavia
Aubrey Woods – Goldsmith
Director(s)
Robert Fuest
Writer(s)
James Whiton, William Goldstein
Producer(s)
Louis M. Heyward, Ronald Dunas
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
NA
Academy Awards
All Critics (41) | Top Critics (8) | Fresh (36) | Rotten (5)
Mr. Fuest makes very tolerable use of bis means: added to which he has the overwhelming advantage of Vincent Price as the Abominable Doctor.
May 14, 2020
David Robinson
Financial Times
TOP CRITIC
It has, incidentally, a really well thought out revenge plot, directed by Robert Fuest with tons more style and assurance than he brought to Wuthering Heights.
May 14, 2020
Margaret Hinxman
Daily Telegraph (UK)
TOP CRITIC
A former art director, Fuest gives the film a preposterously lush, Ken Russell-ish look. Highly enjoyable.
October 19, 2016
Dave Kehr
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
High-camp horror with its tongue firmly in its gruesomely deformed cheek, this British oddity features Vincent Price in one of his most memorable roles.
November 14, 2014 | Rating: 4/5
Wendy Ide
Times (UK)
TOP CRITIC
Fuest plays up the 1930s-by-way-of-the-1970s set design, but any atmosphere gets lost in scene after scene that’s lighted like a TV show.
October 22, 2013 | Rating: 3/5
Keith Phipps
The Dissolve
TOP CRITIC
Anachronistic period horror musical camp fantasy is a fair description, loaded with comedic gore of the type that packs theatres and drives child psychologists up the walls.
March 26, 2009
Variety Staff
Variety
TOP CRITIC
There’s plenty of innovation on display, to say nothing of ample amounts of effective humor.
April 23, 2022 | Rating: 3/4
Matt Brunson
Film Frenzy
The climax is so dementedly intriguing, perfectly bringing together all the inventive weirdness before it, that it boldly caps off an unforgettable masterwork of the macabre.
August 27, 2020 | Rating: 9/10
Mike Massie
Gone With The Twins
One of the best horror-comics for years.
May 14, 2020
Dilys Powell
Sunday Times (UK)
Dr. Phibes manages the impressive stunt of being a good grotty horror film that succeeds in being genuinely horrifying while also succeeding on the level of super-high camp.
January 10, 2020
Norman Spinrad
Los Angeles Free Press
No film can be all bad which opens in a vast Art Deco chamber… with Vincent Price, masked, cloaked and hooded, rising out of the floor at the keyboard of a Wurlitzer organ playing Cole Porter melodies.
October 19, 2016
Christopher Hudson
The Spectator
A sardonic wink, back at The Phantom of the Opera and ahead toward Phantom of the Paradise, with The Avengers as structure and plenty of Franju in the mix.
October 19, 2016
Fernando F. Croce
CinePassion…
Plot
Doctors are being murdered in bizarre manners – bats, bees, a killer frog mask, etc. – which represent the nine Biblical plagues of Egypt. The crimes are orchestrated by an organ-playing, demented madman (from his home base, replete with a clockwork orchestra and help from a beautiful, mute assistant). Detectives are stumped until they find that all the slain doctors once assisted a Dr. Vesalius on an unsuccessful operation involving the wife of organist Dr. Phibes, killed in a car crash upon learning of his wife’s death. He couldn’t be the culprit, could he?
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
There is no goofy or funny or odd comment about the film in the Fresh Kernels database.
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