How many of you young cats remember VINCENT PRICE? Yeah, you might know him from the Michael Jackson Thriller video and song where he performed that awesome monologue “…. Your body starts to shiver… For no mere mortal can resist… The evil of the thriller” Hahahah AAHAHAHA!
Yeah, ya’ll remember that, but do you remember the late great V. Price as the horror actor extraordinaire that he was? THE FLY, LAST MAN ON EARTH, HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL, HOUSE OF WAX.… the list goes on and on. Most all of his horror films were great, even the bad ones. But there was one that I saw in the seventies as a kid (with my mom in the theater I think) that stood out among his later work – THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES.
The thing that I remember clearly in this movie isn’t the plot or Price’s eery performance, but the ridiculously ingenious ways that Phibes was killing people. He blamed nine doctors for the death of his wife, and commenced to kill them in weird ‘biblical plague’ like ways. The movie cemented its impression in my youthful mind with an ending score of ‘Somewhere, Over The Rainbow’ playing during the last scene of the film. This avant-garde horror was so off the wall in many ways, but made me appreciate Vincent Price all over again as a kid.
This production, which was shot in England, also starred Joseph Cotten as the protagonist Dr. Vesalius. It’s one of the little nuggets that Geek Soul Brother loves to lay on people when they think they’ve seen everything before. And if you Have seen this, then you are truly my soul brother or sister. Sadly Hulu only has the not so good sequel - Dr. Phibes Rises Again. But, if you have Netflix you can rent the two pack on DVD.
image source: aaronpolson.net
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