Disturbing yet enthralling

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

I hated this when I saw it as a kid. But in my maturity [I've been through Firbank, I've been through Ludlam and Busch, and I'm here] I get it and like it. Why NOT give the Liberace of horror the high camp vehicle he really deserves, squish the horrific elements off to one side and give us a pageant of decadent poses, literate witticisms and rude winks? I'm glad they made this film and I find myself wishing that Ken Russell had either had access to production values this good or had given enough of a damn to have worked for them. As for the abbreviated kill count, I found it refreshing. I was glad that it lacked the sickening gore and sadism of "The Abominable Dr. Phibes" and "Theatre of Blood," and as good as those films are, I don't particularly want to see them again because I don't want to see THAT again. I really am getting old.It's been said that the entertainer Frank Sidebottom must have gotten the idea for his John Held Jr. style costume head from Dr. Phibes' Clockwork Wizards, and watching this I'm not so sure--Sidebottom's head was way creepier, maybe because unlike the Wizards he actually was supposed to be human.

Three years after his last rampage, Dr. Anton Phibes is resurrected and seeks a map to Egypt that will give his wife life again, and discovering the truth about the mystical map alerts an old group of nemesis of his resurrection who race to Egypt to stop the madman's plans.It isn't the out-and-out classic the first one was, but this is still a great film regardless. Just as in the first one, one of the finest points is the overall feeling present as this is still a nice, campy ride. Seeing Price return to the role is a great deal of fun and the amount of screen time the film gives him causes that. We have a lot of great moments that just prove to be a collection of camp strung together because Phibes is now out and about in the world where his threat is greater. No longer stuck basing the deaths off the ten plagues of Ancient Egypt, he can let his imagination run wild, and this lets in some pretty ingenious set-pieces as he is now no longer bound by the confines of London anymore to spread his vision. That this is a road movie allows for greater and more elaborate deaths, which is a great advantage as instead of guessing when Phibes would attack here it's a where and with what, and that gives the film a little extra suspense. The film also has a great sense of set-design, and there are some wonderful sets here. The initial Egyptian design is one of the best, and it looks suitably forgotten in the ruins, and the final location sets are just simply breath-taking to behold. It certainly ends the film on a positive note that few other films in this particular style don't often do. This also goes along with the rather strong finale, where the action is quite fun and thrilling within the catacombs of the pyramid and really lets us side with him during this section of the film when it's needed the most. These here really hold it up as there isn't much really much wrong here. The biggest issue here is that the opening flashback to the original wasn't one of the best ways of getting a movie started. It spoils too much of the first film and didn't really do much to bring new information to light. The narrator was the final straw for the scene as it just completely ruined the mood of the scene. It's one of the few times that a film opens on a downward note. Just as in the first one, the fact that Phibes still talks with the voice-box is a disappointment. Even though it doesn't make sense to change it as it wouldn't really fit well with the movie, the fact that it's still here is a hurdle to overcome for Price fans. There is also something different in the campiness in this one over the first one that doesn't make it as fun. It's an indefinable quality, but it is there. It's still a fun, campy movie, but not like the first one.Today's Rating/PG-13: Violence.

To my knowledge (and trust me, I could very easily be wrong on this), this is the only sequel ever made to a movie in Vincent Price's long, distinguished career. The original PHIBES movie was a surprise success for AIP, so they quickly rushed out a sequel the following year. Alas, like many horror sequels, the movie repeats many of the same patterns and characters from the original, but with little of the same success and charm. It begins by committing a typical horror sequel ploy. Phibes does, indeed, rise again despite the first movie making it seem like he was content to go to his death with his wife. Coming along for the ride is his beautiful mute assistant, who has someone healed from the acid burns suffered in the first movie. Yes, it's a different actress as well.The biggest problem suffered here is the lack of the thematic element present in the first one. The movie was often over-the-top and campy, especially in its' elaborate super-villain type murders, but these were forgiven for the fun presented in the interesting theme of connecting them to the ten plagues. Here, the murders aren't nearly as clever and there is no unifying element to them, except for a vague desert theme.According to internet info, the studio did quite a bit of meddling with this movie pre-release as well. As a result, additional scenes were filmed with Price to explain some of the myriad plot gaps. This causes an immediate problem as the plot gag of having Price communicate with a "voicebox" connecting his throat to a gramophone through a cable. Quite often here Price is able to speak without any cable or speaker present, which further serves to expose the weaknesses of this sequel to the audience.For the most part, if you enjoyed the original, you'll enjoy this movie. It's worth it for Price alone, who has the power to save even the worst horror movies. Just be aware that it suffers the same fate as most sequels do as being a pale imitation of the original.

Years after going into hibernation, Dr. Phibes comes back to life and so has his fashionable female assistant Vulnavia (too bad she has only one other acting credit, "The Great Muppet Caper"). How Vulnavia survived the acid attack from the first film, I have no idea. Anyway, together they travel to Egypt to find the river of life that flows once every 2000 years in order to resurrect Phibes' wife Victoria. Biederbeck, running out of water from the last two thousand years, is racing to get there first. Who will win? Depending on how you look at this, the movie is either awesome or campy or both. I think both. Vincent Price (Dr. Phibes) never fails as a mad scientist and Phibes is a good character to demonstrate this. The supporting cast is also well-picked (with even a cameo from Peter Cushing). And the deaths are particularly cruel -- scorpions, snakes and one of the most painful ways to die you have seen (which involves crushing but you will have to check it out for yourself). Price, good deaths and a smoking hot woman. What more do you want? Well, there's the camp aspect. So many questions are raised here, besides how Vulnavia survived and where she was hiding. How does Phibes survive undetected if his house is torn down? How does he build so many elaborate traps in Egypt? How does he hide the bodies so quickly? And then there's the Clockwork Wizards (his robot friends who play instruments with him as he plays his organ). They are great (and call to mind Argento's "Deep Red") but it seems unlikely they would be able to be transported with such ease. Oh, and if Phibes needs his special tool to speak, why does he ever disconnect it? It is not like it gets in the way or something, except maybe while sleeping.You like Vincent Price. You like 1970s horror films from American International Pictures. You will like this film. Some say it's not as solid as the first, other say it's on par. I would suggest seeing the first one first (that makes sense) but there's no reason to avoid this film. It deserved more sequels, but this was not to be.