Dr. Phibes Rises Again! and other stuff

The great thing about cheap DVDs is that I get to watch movies that I've read about but never had the chance to do so (until recently).

Dr. Phibes Rises Again! (1973) - 10/10
The Dr. Phibes series was a comeback of sorts for Vincent Price. A brilliant musician and theologian, Phibes was horribly disfigured in a car accident and whose wife died in the emergency room at the hospital. This is the sequel to the first film which takes place three years after the events in it. In this chapter, Phibes seeks to kill those who are responsible (even indirectly responsible) for stealing a papyrus which contains information on the river of life.

The Abominable Mr. Phibes (1972) - 9/10
While many prefer the first film in the series over the second one, I found this one to be slow moving at times. But still, it is very entertaining and we get to see Vincent Price at his best -- in a very hammy performance (this was by design) which makes you cheer for the clever ways in which he kills the team of surgeons who were 'responsible' for letting Dr. Phibes' die at the operating room table. Modern horror fans will even recognize that the traps laid by Phibes inspired those used in the Saw movies as well. The Dr. Phibes series are highly stylized and take place in the 1920s.

Condemned to Live (1935) - 7/10
I will state up front that I am not a big fan of horror films that were made before the 1950s. While I can overlook the technological limitations, the social mores of the time didn't allow for much gore or scares. In spite of this, this film was actually fairly entertaining considering the time in which it was made and it's obviously low budget. The story is about a Professor who gets into a murderous trance at night time by tearing his victims' throats. He is sort of a combination between Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde and Dracula. I must commend the filmmakers here for creating a nice Gothic atmosphere and avoiding turning the film into a detective story, which was a trademark of horror during that time. This is the third movie that appears in Mill Creek's Tales of Terror 50 movie mega pack. This was 65 minutes of time well spent watching this.

A chockful of movie reviews

Here's a list of movies that I've watched lately. These are just quick reviews giving my impressions and this is the manner in which I will review a lot of the movies here on this blog. If I come across a movie that really makes an impression or if it is a fairly unknown classic (such as Werewolf Woman), then I will provide a more detailed review along with some photograph stills of the movie.

Dracula (1931) - 6/10
Though considered a classic, I always thought that this was flawed and a bit boring. That being said, I really like the first 20 minutes or so. I first saw this 13 years ago and decided to give it another chance. However, Bela Lugosi did provide the world with the blueprint of a cinematic Dracula which survives to this day.

The Pit and the Pendulum (1961) - 8/10
Another entry into the Corman/Price Poe series. Although it's a fairly good movie, it deviates quite a bit from the short story of the same name. And when we get to the part with the actual pendulum, it is only 5 minutes of story time--they cut out all of the good parts from the actual story. Starring Vincent Price and Barbara Steele.

Creepshow (1982) - 9/10
A very good horror anthology presented by George Romero and Stephen King. Quite a few big name actors are in here: Ted Danson, Leslie Nielsen, Ed Harris, Adrienne Barbeau and even King himself gives an entertaining performance.

Witchfinder General (1968) - 6/10
An OK Vincent Price movie about a 'witchfinder' who goes from village to village accusing everyone of witchcraft so he can get his kicks for torturing and executing people. Originally released in the US as "Edgar Allan Poe's The Conqueror Worm" to capitalize on the popularity of the Poe series, but the film has no resemblance to the original poem of the same name.