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A beautiful sentiment, don’t you think?
The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971) was one of the first real horror movies I ever saw as a kid. I remember the very British mixture of gore and humor were a little confusing to my undeveloped brain. But how can you not love a film where a man gets his face eaten off by locusts?
This poster catches that dark satirical tone perfectly – parodying, of course, the trite catch phrase from Love Story: “Love means never having to say you’re sorry”,
I actually own a psychedelic version of the poster made just for black light. Ahh, the 70’s.
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| “Misty? Yeah, I don’t know how to play that…” |
The plot, you ask? Look at that face – does it matter?
The bad doctor, with the help of his sexy female assistant, gets revenge on the men who he holds responsible for his wife’s death. He does it in increasingly novel and vicious ways using the Plagues of Egypt as his inspiration – you know, as one does. Hilarity ensues.
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| Those darn authorities |
Now pristine on Blu-ray, I recommend you check it out if you’ve never seen it. At this point in his career, Vincent Price had a healthy irreverence for his legendary B-movie status and this movie sees him having a ball, reveling in every over-the-top moment.
But as Don McLean once sang:…
Vincent, this world was never meant for one as ugly as you.
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| “Wait. Let me go get my lips.” |