Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

This is a stylish and clever movie. It's very colorful and the elaborate murder sequences are a lot of fun to watch. Dr. Phibes as a character is very cool. He could easily make for a Batman villain. The final reveal of his true appearance reiterates this point. Of course this character is brought to life by the legendary Vincent Price. This is also a period movie, set in England of the early 1900s. The set-pieces are colorful, and I always enjoy seeing the beautiful classic cars and planes. The greatest set-piece is Dr. Phibes lair, which again (and awesomely), makes him seem like something out of a comic book.

I wasn't expecting much from this movie and I was pleasantly surprised.This was the first horror movie I watched in awhile that actually made some sense and wasn't full of plot holes.While the cops in the movie did say and do some dumb stuff.Like saying to double check the bats for rabies after they killed a guy.Would they give rabies shots to a corpse?Besides little things like that it wasn't too bad.I'm not sure if I have ever seen any other Vincent Price movies but I was assuming everything he did was cheesy and this definitely wasn't.It was a good story and it wasn't boring.There was too much bad music but the story makes up for it. Six stars.

Much like many evenings before, I felt the lacking of a great feature film to engage my prefrontal cortex. And since my go-to tends to be horror and horror only, I decided to change things up a little bit with a Horror/Comedy. Usually I try to stay away from this rather ambiguous mix of genres, but since I've got a weak spot for 70's horror, I gave it a shot. And boy, am I glad I did.From the very beginning there is something about the setting of the scene and the tension clouding up the room in its own silent way that reminded me of "The Holy Mountain", by the great Alejandro Jodorowsky. A somewhat strange comparison you might think, but it doesn't strike me as strange at all; maybe it was a favorable way for directors to approach the arts in the 70's. Whatever the common denominator might be, the opening scene presented, in my opinion, an undertone of similar vibes as that of "The Holy Mountain"; which is a good thing, of course. Overall, the film isn't all that scary, I must say. But that doesn't take away the fact that it is a great film. And also I wonder how scary a horror/comedy can get without it being a straight up horror film. Anyhow, even if it doesn't make my hair stand up on end it is still a great horror story. The film is an impeccable mix of the two genres; it's predominantly horror, with the occasional (and well placed) joke making an entrance when you least expect it.The comic elements sneak up from behind and grab you by surprise. At times, the jokes enter on such uninvited note that it really catches you off guard and make you burst into laughter. It is really my type of humor - black comedy. Compared to today's black comedy, it might appear somewhat modest, naturally; although how modest it might seem today, I'm sure that it was all but in the 70's. Overall, "The Abominable Dr. Phibes" is a film worth your while. If you enjoy a solid 1970's horror flick and at the same time don't mind the occasional laughter, you can't go wrong with this one. Even if you tend to avoid horror/comedy films, like me, I recommend that you give this one a go - it's timeless.

*Spoiler/plot- The Abomidable Mr. Phibes, 1971. A modern time (1927) Renaissance Man, Doctor Phibes loses his beloved wife during a surgical operation. He decides to get vengeance on each member of the surgical team in the most horrific biblical way.*Special Stars- Vincent Price, Joseph Cotton, Peter Jeffrey, Virginia North, Terry-Thomas, Hugh Griffith, Caroline Munro.*Theme- Vengeance is a strong emotion.*Trivia/location/goofs- There is a film sequel to this film called, "Dr. Phibes Rises Again". Enjoy the 1925 Art Deco styling of the sets. In order for Joseph Cotten to know his cues, Phibes' dialog was read aloud by a crew-member. Vincent Price said Joseph Cotten was very uncomfortable doing his scenes, so he intentionally made a lot of funny faces to make him laugh. The name "Vesalius" is a reference to Andreas Vesalius, a Flemish scientist who cut up corpses to learn about the workings of the body. The "Vampire Bats" were really flying foxes, very docile fruit-loving bats. A very young Joanna Lumley appeared as a laboratory assistant, but her scenes were cut. Virgina North appeared in a play in London called "Council of Love," in which she was silent throughout her performance. "I played the daughter of the devil," she told the Associated Press in 1971. "I'd go around and do terrible things. The people who made the movie saw me in the play and decided I was what they wanted. You might say I was ready made for the movie part." For the many scenes in which Vincent Price was required to speak without moving his mouth, he was painted with a substance called 'collodion' which literally immobilized his face. GOOFS- The film is set in 1925. The automobiles, airplane, and film projector seem to be from the 1920s, but the house interiors, including the lights around Dr. Phibes' organ, and clothing appear to be early 1970s "mod" style. At the end Dr. Phibes plays "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" which was written in 1935. You can clearly see wire attached to the flying bat. After Vulnavia dances with Phibes, he lowers the cage of bats into the cellar. Vulnavia runs up the stairs, then appears downstairs seconds later, in different clothes. It is established that Phibes is murdering the surgeons he hold responsible for the death of his wife; but at the masked party, Dr. Hargreaves introduces himself as 'a psychiatrist'.*Emotion- A visibly rich and 'campy' stylistic film with many film 'exploitation' elements added for good measure. This melodrama is enjoyable and has genuine elements of horror. Clever and memorable as one of Vincent Prices best films. It's a must see film.*Based On- Popular news articles from the horror and crime pages.