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We head back to 1971 again this week and welcome horror icon Vincent Price to the list for the very first time with an iconic film that is surely one of the most stylistically-unique horror films of all time, the darkly comic, and visually stunning The Abominable Dr. Phibes! Surely there was something in the air and water in the late 60’s and early 70’s (spoiler: it was LSD), because we’ve had two in a row now that just throw it all at the wall, and then some!
In a desperate attempt to reach his ill wife, organist Anton Phibes (Vincent Price) is horrifically disfigured in a car accident and presumed dead. When he learns that his wife died during an operation, Phibes blames her surgeons and plots an elaborate revenge to punish them for their incompetence. With the help of a mute assistant (Virginia North), Phibes creates a mask resembling his own face and murders the surgeons one by one using bizarre methods inspired by the biblical plagues.
Join Clay and Amanda as they go into the devilish deep end with a brass unicorn catapulted across the street and impaling a prominent surgeon, a band that can get really wound up, a literal headshrinker, all art deco everything, and maybe some questionable childing, but who are we to judge a child?
When one thinks about who might be on the Mount Rushmore of horror movie icons, Vincent Price definitely is one of the first names to pop up. In a career that spanned almost 60 years, he worked with everyone from Roger Corman to Michael Jackson, stealing the screen (scream?) in every role. Celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, The Abominable Dr. Phibes is surely one of Price’s standout performances, and he does the entire thing without ever opening his mouth!
So crank up the clockwork band, plug that quarter inch jack into the back of your neck, and avenge your loved ones in overly dramatic fashion with us…if you DARE!