American International Pictures
There has never been any question Dr. Anton Phibes is a cunning, crafty and conniving genius.
All you need do is catch a viewing of The Abominable Dr. Phibes and you’ll see why: Those deaths! That methodical planning! And that ending — it leaves you hanging as to whether Phibes’ final machinations will come to pass. Zounds!
But, cool and freaky as The Abominable Dr. Phibes is, Dr. Phibes Rises Again just doesn’t cut the mustard quite the same way.
Yes, there are a few shocking moments in the film (the answering of a telephone by a particular manservant in one instance is gruesomely startling) but there are more snafus and boners than there are moments that work as they did in the original.
First, however, a brief summary of the film …
Having put himself into an eerie hibernation three years prior (at the end of The Abominable Dr. Phibes), Anton Phibes awakes once more to realize his dream: Take his beloved (albeit deceased) wife Victoria to Egypt to resurrect her and provide the both of them with immortality courtesy of a hidden Egyptian body of water, The River Of Life. However, upon coming out of his self-imposed suspended animation, Phibes discovers his house razed and a secret scroll revealing the location of The River gone. Fortunately, Phibes knows exactly who has the pilfered parchment, one Darius Biederbeck, a man hundreds of years old as a result of a mysterious life-giving elixir. With his trusty and silent assistant Vulnavia, Phibes sets off to pay Biederbeck a visit.
A little planning and one simple (but grisly) death later, Phibes recovers the scroll and sets off for Egypt via ship, his wife, assistant and those creepy clockwork men in tow. Once there, and with the aid of the recovered scroll, the twisted doctor sets up shop in a hidden Egyptian temple housing The River Of Life. Biederbeck is there as well and he’s aware that Phibes is at hand, too. In his attempt to discern where the temple is located, Biederbeck’s archaeological team begin turning up dead, the result of Phibes’ monstrous devices. But with Beiderbeck’s potion but a few drops from being gone, he’s all the more desperate to find The River Of Life. His life depends on it.
What’s left of Beiderbeck’s team discovers the hidden temple along with Phibes’ sarcophagus-encased wife, which happens to house a secret key to the gates of The River Of Life and he steals them away. Turnabout being fair play, Phibes abducts Biederbeck’s lover and threatens to kill her unless he gives up the key to the River’s gates. In the end, an exchange is made: The girl is returned and Phibes makes off to the waterway with his beloved where resurrection and eternity await. His life-giving potion exhausted, Beiderbeck gives chase and ultimately encounters Phibes one last time, pleading to let him come with him. Rapid aging is showing the man’s true colors and his demise is at hand. Phibes leaves him at the locked gates of the enchanted River until out of sight, “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” hanging in the air.
Throw in a hefty helping of innovative deaths as only Dr. Phibes can manage, and a subplot featuring the inspector and superintendent from The Abominable Dr. Phibes, and you have what made the original film the campy treat it was. But this time around things aren’t as surprising or impressive as before. In fact, they’re more corny than campy.
There are some issues with how things play out. A humongous fan is introduced to simulate a desert wind storm prior to one of the deaths in the film. Really? A giant fan? Did Phibes carry it all the way from England in the folds of his cloak for just the occasion? How about power for it? Not too many handy outlets in the middle of the desert, you know.
American International Pictures
Another scene showcases Phibes’ clockwork creations fooling one of Beiderbeck’s men out of his vehicle while the guy is on the run with Beiderbeck’s lover to escape the doctor’s influence. It’s a hokey and forced sequence. And you just know the guy is moments away from catching a dirt nap. Another man is killed and stuffed into a giant booze bottle and tossed overboard in the middle of the ocean. Who catches wind of the bottled body as it washes to shore? None other than Inspector Trout and Superintendent Waverley, reprising their roles from TADP to add some comic relief. (Note: Their efforts never rise to the occasion.) It’s missteps such as these which make Dr. Phibes Rises Again a substandard follow up. It’s said the success and popularity of the first film hurried the makers of the sequel to rush it out to the hungry public. But that hurriedness shows in the final product. There’s no *umph* of the original. The sequel is a mishmash of story, a soggy plot, and deaths that have little meaning. They’re there to fill a void more than they have a meaningful purpose.
American International Pictures
However, there are a few redeeming qualities that make it worth watching. There are moments showing Phibes applying his prosthetic features on his horribly burnt visage which are quite gruesome. One scene features Phibes hiding out in the temple floor among the bones of the dead, eyes wide open and watching eerily, which leaves you rather uncomfortable. Good luck falling asleep if you have that image in mind when you go to bed. A bonus appearance from Peter Cushing as the captain of the ship shuttling Phibes and company to Egypt hearkens to his much later appearance as Grand Moff Tarkin in the original Star Wars film, A New Hope. And, of course, die-hard Vincent Price-O-Philes will enjoy the doctor’s further adventures, goofy as they may be.
American International Pictures
Still, the sequel was somewhat popular. It didn’t make the grade; it definitely didn’t measure up to the standards of the original. But the two films obviously go together and are good 1970s Halloween fare. Back to back they’re worthy of the effort. But the sequel alone isn’t worth it’s weight without its predecessor.
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