Matcollis This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

Bardlerx Strictly average movie

Allison Davies The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Raymond Sierra The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

e_k_cinephile I was amazed at the originality and intelligence of the story of this film. I am totally sure that this film inspired "Se7en", with the killer following a religious symbolism in his chain of murders and saving the last symbol for himself. It is also obvious that "the key hidden in the chest" scene inspired "Saw". The religious symbolism in the film leads to original murder styles that are visually interesting. And then there is the charisma of Vincent Price, perfect for his role. Seeing a never-speaking, female assistant was also original. Joseph Cotten provides a great counterpart to Price. The scenes with the police officers provide well-dosed humour to the film. A must-see cult film.

O2D I wasn't expecting much from this movie and I was pleasantly surprised.This was the first horror movie I watched in awhile that actually made some sense and wasn't full of plot holes.While the cops in the movie did say and do some dumb stuff.Like saying to double check the bats for rabies after they killed a guy.Would they give rabies shots to a corpse?Besides little things like that it wasn't too bad.I'm not sure if I have ever seen any other Vincent Price movies but I was assuming everything he did was cheesy and this definitely wasn't.It was a good story and it wasn't boring.There was too much bad music but the story makes up for it. Six stars.

dougdoepke Stylish horror. Those scenes in front of the altar to the pipe organ are weirdly elegant in composition and effect. The hooded figure contorting beneath the fiery red pipes is a real eye-catcher. Lunatic genius Phibes (Price) blames doctors attending to his wife for her death. Now he's patterning their demise, one by one, after a biblical version of deadly plagues, and tidy they ain't. But isn't Phibes dead from the same accident that killed his wife. At least that's what the English cops think. Phibes certainly looks deceased, like he's been on a 6-week bender with his face stuck in a freezer. But at least actor Price doesn't have to memorize any lines. And whose great idea was high priestess Vulnavia (North). In her flowing gowns and cape, she makes it all seem high class. Then too, dig that band of mechanical musicians, perfect for the Phibes nutcase. Their selections certainly aren't expected, but then this is supposed to be the 1920's. But pity poor Cotten as the 9th intended victim. He's got to play everything straight amidst all the madness. Still, he was an alumnus of that other weird genius of movie- making, Orson Welles. Anyhow, I guess budget minded AIP had to go to England to get the bang for their buck that they needed. Happily, however, the bang shows up and in elegant Technicolor along with a highly imaginative screenplay. One of Price's best.

Johan Louwet A movie that clearly is more about mystery and atmosphere than a character study. The story is pretty basic about a man calling himself Dr. Phibes (Vincent Price) who seeks revenge for the death of his wife and his own disfigurement. Though he cannot move his mouth he was clever enough to invent a machine that recreates his voice. Very nice setting where he lives with some great contrasts. He has his own private opera with organ and wax figures playing other instruments and a beautiful young lady (who I believe never says anything) occasionally playing violin or dancing. When one of the doctors who he holds responsible for his wife's death dies he symbolically burns the face of the wax image he created of them. Even though the killings are technically not by his hands he surely has a creative way of invoking them with 10 plagues from the Thora (Jewish) as his guide. Very creative indeed. Surely this has inspired later movies. With the operation scene in mind I had to think of the Saw movies. And the plagues might have been an inspiration for movies such as The Reaping while the killings also reminded me of the method that the killer in Seven was using. Very inspirational film indeed.