The return of Dr. Phibes
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The return of Dr. Phibes |
| Original title | Dr. Phibes Rises Again |
| Country of production | USA , UK |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1972 |
| length | 89 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Robert Fuest |
| script | Robert Fuest Robert Blees |
| production |
Samuel Z. Arkoff James H. Nicholson |
| music | John Gale |
| camera | Alex Thomson |
| cut | Tristam Cones |
| occupation | |
| |
The return of Dr. Phibes (alternative title: In Covenant with the Devil ) is a horror film from 1972 by director Robert Fuest , who wrote the screenplay with Robert Blees . The film follows directly on from the film Das Schreckenskabinett des Dr. Phibes on. The title role was played again by Vincent Price .
action
Three years have passed since Dr. Anton Phibes carried out his cruel plan of revenge and then put himself into a kind of artificial deep sleep. Now he is awakening again and intends to bring his beloved late wife Victoria back to life. For this he needs an ancient Egyptian papyrus map, on which the path to the river of eternal life is marked. But when he returns to his house from his secret vaulted cellar, he finds that the building has been almost completely destroyed and that his card has been stolen. Beside himself with anger, he swears vengeance on those who stand in his way.
Dr. Phibes, who can only speak with the help of a kind of gramophone , traces his Egyptian map all the way to the mysterious archaeologist and art collector Darius Biederbeck. Apparently Biederbeck knows about the secret that is hidden in the hieroglyphs. While he and his fiancée Diana Trobridge are away, Phibes kills his butler with a golden snake piercing its skull and retrieves the papyrus card. Together with his loyal assistant Vulnavia and the preserved body of his wife, he books a ship passage to Egypt in order to find the flow of life. Close on his heels are Biederbeck, who wants eternal life at all costs, and Inspector Trout from Scotland Yard , who immediately recognized the handwriting of the mad music virtuoso in this bizarre murder.
After arriving in Egypt, Phibes discovered that Biederbeck's men were already there to look for the legendary river. In doing so, they are getting closer and closer to his hiding place, which he has built exactly above the cavity in which the river of eternal life is supposed to flow every two thousand years. Dr. Phibes is now starting to decimate men in the usual creative way. One of his victims is hacked to death by an eagle and partially eaten up, another member of the expedition is poisoned by scorpions and another member is crushed in a kind of huge vice. Biederbeck, who has meanwhile arrived at the camp, is behaving strangely and strangely, as if he were running out of time. By a happy coincidence, he discovers the key that opens the gate behind which the river of life flows. Phibes doesn't give up, however. After peeling the meat from the bones of another team member using a high-pressure sandblaster, he kidnaps Biederbeck's fiancée Diana and threatens to drown her if Biederbeck does not give him the key.
He decides to save Diana and gives out the key. With him Phibes opens the gate to the river of eternal life and, together with the laid body of his wife, drives away on a boat into the darkness. Biederbeck begs Phibes to take him with him, but he has already locked the gate behind him. The reason for Biederbeck's hurry was that he was centuries old and could only maintain his youth with a bottle full of water from the river of life, which has now been used up. When Inspector Trout finally arrives, Dr. Anton Phibes escaped again and Biederbeck aged into a withered mummy.
background
- Since Virginia North was not available due to her pregnancy, Valli Kemp took over the role of Vulnavia.
- Originally, Dr. Phibes is said to have a new assistant since Vulnavia was killed in the finale of the first film. The studio, however, insisted on keeping the name Vulnavia due to its recognition value , so all relevant passages of the script that indicated a new assistant were deleted.
- There was a certain hostility between Vincent Price and Robert Quarry during filming . This was due mainly to the fact that Price had found that Samuel Z. Arkoff of AIP that time was planning to "cost-effective" against him to replace Quarry as their new horror movie leading man.
- The desert scenes were shot in Spain.
- One of the victims of Dr. Phibes reads The Screwing of the Screw in the book before it is crushed in a kind of huge vice.
- When Dr. Moving Phibes on his boat, he sings Over the Rainbow - an anachronism since the film is set in 1928 but the song was not written until 1938.
- Despite the success of the first part, the sequel never came to German cinemas. For this purpose, two German versions were produced in quick succession - one ("Im Bund mit dem Teufel") in Berlin for video evaluation (this is on DVD and was broadcast on private channels), one in Hamburg for ARD.
Reviews
- Lexicon of international films : “ Variation of the horror film motif of the obsessed scientist, indulging in bizarre decorations and bizarre murders; Much less staged than its predecessor, the film is already heading in the direction of horror shockers for their own purposes, which illustrate disgusting atrocities and clear sadism. "
Sequels
There were several attempts to shoot a third part, but all of them failed. According to a script with the working title "The Bride of Phibes" or "Phibes Resurrectus", Dr. Phibes meet a group of Nazis who are trying to wrest the secret of eternal life from him. In the end, Phibes should succeed in bringing his beloved wife back to life.
In an interview, Vincent Price spoke of a script called “Dr. Phibes in the Holy Land ”, which he found very successful. American International Pictures showed no interest in a film adaptation.
Another script, written by the writers of the first Dr. Phibes film, was supposed to have the Doctor encounter a group of Satanists led by Dr. Vesalius' now grown up son Lem.
Another, never realized, idea for a sequel entitled "The Seven Fates of Dr. Phibes “should Phibes resurrect his wife and lead her together with her assistant Vulnavia to Athens in search of seven magical statuettes . There it should turn out that Vulnavia is actually the ancient goddess Athena . In gratitude that Phibes and his wife free them from their mortal shell, she restores Phibes' disfigured face and allows both of them to enjoy eternal peace in Elysion .
DVD release
- The return of Dr. Phibes / October 6, 2003 / MGM Home Entertainment
Web links
- The return of Dr. Phibes in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Comparison of the cut versions The fourth from 12 - FSK 16 , The fourth night broadcast - FSK 16 of The Return of Dr. Phibes at Schnittberichte.com
Individual evidence
- ↑ The Return of Dr. Phibes. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .