The Abominable Dr. Phibes

Doctor Anton Phibes, whose wife died on the operating table, lost his face and his voice in a crash and is presumed dead. He returns and kills the nine physicians who were in that theatre, one by one, arranging the deaths after the ten plagues of Egypt: locusts, bats, hail, blood. The film is not interested in suspense. It is interested in design: each killing is its own staging, its own mechanism and its own joke. It is not trying to frighten you but to make you wait for the next invention. The form is art deco: Phibes' mansion, his clockwork orchestra, his organ and the bright colours are the real show. Among the most stylised works in the British horror wave of the early seventies. Robert Fuest directed. Vincent Price plays the part without speaking; the character's voice comes from a device at his throat, so the performance runs largely on gesture and posture. Joseph Cotten plays the doctor the police turn to. The film was an unexpected success and a sequel followed the very next year. Who it is for: viewers who like stylised horror comedy and Vincent Price. Who it is not for: anyone after realism. The plot is entirely a pretext, the detective side is weak, and for some the humour puts the tension out completely.