Product Details

• Actors: Vincent Price, Joseph Cotten, Hugh Griffith, Terry-Thomas, Virginia North
• Directors: Robert Fuest
• Writers: Robert Fuest, James Whiton, Robert Blees, William Goldstein
• Producers: James H. Nicholson, Louis M. Heyward, Ronald Dunas
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
• DVD Release Date: February 15, 2005
• Run Time: 184 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (72 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0007R4SZY
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #11,483 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "The Abominable Dr. Phibes/Dr. Phibes Rises Again!" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

ABOMINABLE DR PHIBES/DR PHIBES RISE A - DVD Movie

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

55 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A collection of Price's better horror films plus extra features, July 26, 2007

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calvinnme - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Vincent Price: MGM Scream Legends Collection (The Abominable Dr. Phibes / Tales of Terror / Theater of Blood / Madhouse / Witchfinder General / Dr. Phibes Rises Again / Twice Told Tales) (DVD)

This set will contain seven of Vincent Price's better horror films of the 1960's and 1970's and even includes a bonus disc of extra features. MGM is no Warner Home Video when it comes to DVD boxed sets and extra features, but this one shows progress in that direction. The following are the details on the included films and extra features.

Abominable Dr. Phibes: Price gives a campy performance in one of the few horror films which successfully and intentionally joins comedy and horror. Joseph Cotten and Terry-Thomas are just two of the victims on whom Price seeks vengeance for his disfigurement and his wife's death. The Art Deco sets give the film a stylish look and the British deadpan delivery of many of the jokes helps immensely.

Dr. Phibes Rises Again: The disfigured madman (Price) is back as he and his deceased wife go boating down the Underground River of the Dead in this sequel to The Abominable Dr. Phibes. Once again, everybody is in it for the laughs including the set designer.

Tales of Terror - Three stories adapted very loosely from the work of Edgar Allen Poe - "Morella", "The Black Cat" and "The (Facts in the) Case of M. Valdemar", each roughly one half-hour in length.

Twice Told Tales - This is a compilation of three short films based on Nathaniel Hawthorne works - Heidegger's Experiment, Rappaccini's Daughter and The House of Seven Gables. In both this film and "Tales of Terror", the idea is not so much to be true to the original story, as it is to use the foundation of the story to the advantage of Cormen's ability to make scary movies and in Price's ability to star in them.

Theater of Blood: An entertaining horror film about a demented Shakespearean actor (Price) who takes a bloody revenge against the eight theatre critics who gave his performances bad reviews. To me this one of Price's often forgotten and most underrated films. He really hams it up and it works perfectly.

Madhouse: Price stars as an actor who returns to the screen to reprise his role as a killer a few years after his wife-to-be was decapitated by a killer nobody caught. Price is good as always, but it just seems a little tired and more like a tribute to his past and better films.

Witchfinder General (aka Conqueror Worm): In 17th-century England during the struggle between Cromwell and the Crown, Matthew Hopkins (Vincent Price) and his associates seek out and persecute those thought to practice sorcery as well as anyone else who incurs their wrath. When Hopkins executes the priest of a small town for being a warlock, he and his partner find themselves the target of a young soldier who leaves his post in Cromwell's army to hunt down and kill the pair. The movie captures this period in English history very well for a low-budget production. Price is at his menacing, sadistic best without the intentional camp that he injects in so many of his other horror films.

An extras disc will contain a documentary ("Vincent Price: Renaissance Man") and two featurettes ("The Art of Fear" and "Working with Vincent Price"). The set will be available on September 11th.

46 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Only one new transfer!!, September 16, 2007

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NCMovie Fan - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Vincent Price: MGM Scream Legends Collection (The Abominable Dr. Phibes / Tales of Terror / Theater of Blood / Madhouse / Witchfinder General / Dr. Phibes Rises Again / Twice Told Tales) (DVD)

For those Price fans who already own his prior DVD film releases, note that only Witchfinder General is a new transfer to DVD. The other film transfers are from previously released editions. And as such, Twice Told Tales, Theater of Blood, and Madhouse are in letterbox format, not anamorphic. So if you already have these films, Dr. Phibes and Tales of Terror on DVD you only need to buy Witchfinder General separately, you'll get nothing else new here. Fox cleverly fails to disclose the format of its DVDs by calling everything "widescreen" whether or not the films were processed in letterbox or anamorphic formats. Its a huge difference for those of us with HDTVs. What an opportunity lost for remastering these horror classics.

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 4 1/2 stars for the dark humoured "Dr Phibes" movies, April 9, 2005

By 

WTDK "If at first the idea is not absurd, the... (My Little Blue Window, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Abominable Dr. Phibes/Dr. Phibes Rises Again! (DVD)

You can never keep a good villan down much less kill him. Dr Phibes has started taking revenge against an odd assortment of people. He plays his organ and has his "mechanical men" play an assortment of oldies before retiring for the evening and then coming out again to kill. It seems that he holds these men responsible for the death ofhis wife and when he does payback its in the key of murder.

The first film was a witty horror surprise with sharp direction by Robert Fuest ("The Avengers")and sharp acting. Peter Cushing was originally set to play in the film but withdrew when his wife passed away. Price gives a great performance that's perfect for the film.

The second film on the flipside of this dual sided disc is the sequel "Dr Phibes Rises Again". Fuest had a hand in the screenplay and it's just as much fun as the first film. Robert Quarry (who Price would come to resent when he found out that American Internation Pictures was planning to replace him with Quarry for many future releases). Sadly, there weren't any more films in the series but then again they went out on a high note.

Picture quality is worth screaming about and the DVDs look very good. We only get the original theatrical trailers as extras which is too bad as director Fuest is still (at this moment) around and could given a couple of insightful commentary tracks. Because these were released by AIP people tend to look down on them but their stellar films made with wit, charm and intelligence. They're also ghoulish fun.