Another physician is introduced, and this bizarre plot begins to flesh itself out a bit more. Inspector Trout visits the home of Doctor Vesalius. There is one thing that links all of the deceased together. All of the physicians, including Vesalius, operated on a woman named Victoria Phibes who had been dying from an undisclosed illness. While the team had been operating, Victoria's husband, Anton Phibes, had been returning from a concert in Switzerland. On his way to the hospital, his car flipped over and exploded. Phibes was burned to "death" and there was nothing left but ashes (or so the story goes). Trout suspects that Phibes may have faked his death and has vowed to kill all of the doctors who failed to save his wife. Trout and Vesalius enter a graveyard, with the attendant declaring under his breath that the worms will have these two fools soon enough. Trout reveals that Phibes had degrees in music and theology. Vesalius says it neatly explains Phibes' knowledge of the Egyptian plagues, which Trout hadn't yet connected.

Caroline Munros' lovely visage can be seen in several key photos, as the motive behind Phibes' entire killing spree. After the first few murders, Inspector Trout gets on the case. He becomes Phibes' main antagonist for this and the following film, trying to prove that all of these murders - the doctors and nurse who had been on the team of Dr. Vesalius (Joseph Cotten!) - are connected. Phibes then stays one step ahead of the police, murdering everyone with bees, snow, a unicorn statue, locusts and rats, sometimes even right next to where the cops have staked him out. Three words to describe The Abominable Dr. Phibes: elegant, macabre, and…fashionable. Master of horror, Vincent Price, is devilishly captivating as Dr. Phibes, a man insane from the weight of grief. With its surreal art direction and dark humour, The Abominable Dr. Phibes is a wonderful (if sometimes overlooked) piece of horror cinema.Shout! Factory - The Vincent Price Collection". shoutfactory.com. Archived from the original on 2 August 2014 . Retrieved 4 September 2014. The Abominable Dr Phibes has achieved quite a cult status among horror fans, and for good reason; as this is one of the finest pieces of camp horror ever produced. The villain at the centre of the film - Dr Phibes - is one of horror cinema's true villainous masterpieces. Unlike many of the not very well thought out villains that we see all too much of today, Dr Phibes is well-rounded concoction of evil. He has his reasons for killing - revenge, his killings certainly aren't boring by any stretch of the imagination and even the man himself IS horror, as he's a horrifically scarred madman that can only talk through use of a microphone connected to his throat. He surrounds himself with horrid looking camp items and has no care whatsoever for his fellow man. However, despite all these bad points that the man has - we are still able to care for his plight somewhat. Phibes isn't someone that just kills for the fun of it; he's distraught over the loss of his beloved, which puts the audience in a strange situation as we have decide whether or not there is a human being beyond this malicious facade. This madman is played by Vincent Price - who else? Price was born for this role and he makes it his own. Price embeds himself on your mind with this performance and it's impossible to imagine anyone else playing Dr Phibes; and that is a sign of a great actor. Price has played many roles in the style of this character, but this is his best and I'd even go as far as to say that this is the quintessential Price performance. The Worldwide Guide to Movie Locations by Tony Reeves. The Titan Publishing Group. Pg.9 "Film location titles". Archived from the original on 25 June 2015 . Retrieved 21 June 2015. Phibes hooks Longstreet up to a catheter and begins draining his blood into eight pint-sized glass jars while Vulnavia watches the affair while playing the violin. He then delicately arranges the eight jars on the mantelpiece and the two leave. Longstreet's housekeeper finds his body, but Phibes got a little careless with this one and left a clue behind. Eventually the housekeeper informs Inspector Trout, who arrives to examine the body. He finds that the killer had left behind a strange medallion with Hebrew symbols etched upon it. Director Robert Fuest, production designer Brian Eatwell (creator of the film's noted art deco settings), and composer John Gale all remained from The Abominable Dr. Phibes team. [6] Price, Peter Jeffrey, and John Cater reprised their roles from The Abominable Dr. Phibes. Hugh Griffith and Terry-Thomas also appeared in both films, but played different characters. Caroline Munro appeared in both films as Victoria, Phibes' late wife, but in both films her role was limited to lying silently in a glass coffin. [6] It was originally planned for Phibes to have a new assistant in the sequel, but the studio insisted that Vulnavia be retained, despite the fact that the character dies in the first Phibes film, and despite the unavailability of original Vulnavia actress Virginia North, who was pregnant at the time. [6] Valli Kemp was cast as a replacement.

Pirie, David (September 1971). "The Abominable Dr. Phibes". The Monthly Film Bulletin. 38 (452): 179. The TV broadcast version of the film excises some of the more grisly scenes, such as a close-up of the nurse's locust-eaten corpse.One of the most wonderful elements of this film is the Art Deco set and costume design. Every scene just oozes with elegance. At the Vesalius home, Trout tries to reassure Vesalius that the police are doing everything they can, and suggests a little brandy might help. By now, Inspector Trout is racing around town trying to find the surviving doctors who once worked on Victoria Phibes. He tries to protect a guy named Doctor Whitcombe at a local mall, but Whitcombe dies when a giant brass unicorn is launched from a catapult, spearing him in the chest and nailing him to a door. This is a wonderful tale of love and revenge. And revenge comes in the form of nine incredibly inventive deaths based upon Old Testament plagues - "Nine Killed her, nine shall die, nine eternities in doom!" Phibes promises us. Following a strange rash of deaths, a police inspector realizes that the deaths were all of the men were in the employment of a doctor who let a distinguished professor's wife die in their care and sets out to stop him from continuing his plan of revenge against them.