| The Abominable Dr. Phibes vs. Theater of Blood |
[Nov. 4th, 2009|10:27 am]
International Bon Vivant and Raconteur
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The horror-comedy The Abominable Dr. Phibes was on Turner Classic Movies on Halloween. I recorded it on DVR and watched it Monday night. Then, last night, a bunch of us--me, my girlfriend,  awv2006, jwirenius and some other friends--went to the Film Forum in lower Manhattan to see the horror-comedy Theater of Blood. Watching both films back to back like that, it quickly occurred to me that they're actually exactly the same movie. The evidence:
The Plot
Phibes: Vincent Price stars as Dr. Phibes, a musician and theologist who is driven mad by the death of his wife and plots to kill the doctors who couldn't save her
Theater: Vincent Price stars as Edward Lionheart, an actor who is driven mad by not winning the Critics Circle Award and plots to kill the critics who voted against him
Theme Killings
Phibes: Deaths based on the ten plagues of Egypt
Theater: Deaths based on famous murders from Shakespeare plays
Villain Believed to Be Long Dead By the Victims as Red Herring
Phibes: Check--Phibes thought burned to death in a car accident while racing to hospital after news of wife's death
Theater: Check--Lionheart thought dead by suicide attempt in front of critics on the award night
The Victims
Phibes: All the doctors are cartoonish buffoons except their leader, played by Joseph Cotten
Theater: All the critics are cartoonish buffoons except their leader, played by Ian Hendry
Villain's Sexy Female Assistant
Phibes: Vulnavia, played by Virginia North (connection to Phibes unknown)
Theater: Edwina, played by Diana Rigg (Lionheart's daughter)
Cops
Phibes: Bumbling but ultimately heroic
Theater: Bumbling but ultimately heroic
Villain's Ridiculously Obvious Secret Hideout
Phibes: Big mansion in plain view of everyone that's completely outfitted for Phibes' needs, including a pipe organ, an elevator and working electricity, where much time is spent dancing with his female assistant
Theater: Big abandoned theater in plain view of everyone that's completely outfitted for Lionheart's needs, including a working sound system and electricity, where much time is spent rehearsing Shakespeare with his female assistant
Villain's Silent but Appreciative Audience
Phibes: Robotic musicians created by Phibes
Theater: Local winos turned Lionheart's henchmen
Face Makeup
Phibes: Phibes, a burn victim, wears makeup in order to look his old self, including a fake nose
Theater: Lionheart, a ham actor, wears exaggerated stage makeup in order to look the part, including a fake Jewish nose for when he plays Shylock
Ridiculously Complicated Final Trap for the Hero
Phibes: Acid pouring through a long, winding tube that takes a full six minutes before it will spray out onto our hero
Theater: Two daggers on a rolling device aimed at our hero's eyes that takes freaking forever before it will blind him |
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