Runtime: 89 minutes
Directed by: Robert Fuest
Starring: Vincent Price, Robert Quarry, Valli Kemp, and for a short amount of time Terry-Thomas & Peter Cushing
From: Amicus/AIP
While not as much a hoot as the first Dr. Phibes, it is still a hoot. A few years ago the original was seen; it took the opening scene for me to fall in love. Vincent Price and a very attractive brunette named VULNAVIA rise up on a stage and he plays on a giant organ w/ an animatronic band as if it was straight out of a Chuck E. Cheese. Then we get great outfit ensembles, dumb law enforcement and OOT creative deaths as Phibes was looking to resurrect his dead wife… Caroline Munro; I’d want to resurrect her myself! Excuse me for recapping the first film, but that’s what Rises Again does in the opening several minutes.
This is more of the same; Phibes rises again to make his wife rise again. He wishes to find the Scrolls of Life in Egypt; so does an eccentric named Biederbeck. The kills are backloaded here and this is even less logical than the original; be that as it may, there are still laughs (intentional, I mean) and dumb law enforcement, along with lavish set design and the deaths are still rather creative. Somewhat surprisingly, Ibiza managed to be an OK substitute for Egypt. Thus, I was entertained. Virginia North sadly did not return as Vulnavia, although her replacement Valli Kemp is another lovely gal.
In addition, there’s Peter Cushing and Terry-Thomas—albeit in cameos. There are rumors concerning whether or not Price and Robert Quarry (Biederbeck) got along, as allegedly AIP wanted to replace “old” Vince with the younger Robert. Looking at Quarry’s subsequent filmography… whether or not that was the plan, it didn’t happen. Those that liked The Abominable Dr. Phibes should give this a chance if they haven’t already.
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