Episode description

Selected for our 10th episode anniversary by our listeners, The Abominable Dr. Phibes is a 1971 British comedy horror film, produced by Ronald S. Dunas and Louis M. Heyward, directed by Robert Fuest.

It stars, in his first appearance on the podcast, mister Vincent Price. 

Its art deco sets, dark humour, and performance by Price have made the film and its sequel Dr. Phibes Rises Again cult classics. The film also features Terry-Thomas and Hugh Griffith, with an uncredited Caroline Munro appearing in still photographs as Phibes' wife.

We follow the title character, Dr. Anton Phibes, who blames the medical team that attended to his wife's surgery four years prior for her death and sets out to exact vengeance on each one.

Phibes is inspired in his murderous spree by the Ten Plagues of Egypt from the Old Testament. For visual reasons, the plagues of flies and gnats were replaced with rats and bats.

The film was shot on the "20s era" sets at Elstree Studios in Hertfordshire. The cemetery scenes were shot in Highgate Cemetery, As well as the aforementioned sequel, several others were planned, including Phibes Resurrectus, The Bride of Dr. Phibes, and The Seven Fates of Dr. Phibes, but none were ever produced.

 In order to gain more publicity, this film was advertised as Vincent Price's 100th movie.

Linking this back to past General Witchfinder featured films (which inexplicably seem to all have been made with in a few years of each other) - Of course Caroline Munro has been seen writhing around in a blood sacrifice to Dracula in AD 1972. Peter Cushing was originally cast as Vesalius, but he declined because his wife was in poor health at the time, and a young Joanna Lumley did appeared as a laboratory assistant, but her scenes were sadly cut.

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