Merry Christmas! And here's a little something filled with ho-ho-homicide cheer from the master of horror, Vincent Price.Scotland Yard is baffled when doctor after doctor turns up dead under ever more bizarre circumstances. Inspector Trout (Peter Jeffrey) goes so far to consult a rabbi (Hugh Griffith) when one of the bodies is found with an arcane symbol on a necklace nearby. The rabbi tells him the symbols represent the ten plagues of Egypt so the deaths are certainly connected. Trout begins to search for what the four dead doctors have in common and finds that they and five others consulted on a surgery for a woman named Victoria Phibes (Caroline Munro), who died on the operating table. The head surgeon, Dr. Vesalius (Joseph Cotten), remembers that the woman's husband died in a carriage accident on his way to retrieve his wife's body. Dr. Anton Phibes (Vincent Price) was a concert organist, renowned scientist, and biblical scholar before his untimely demise. It's all a little too neat and clean for Trout, however, and he begins to wonder if Phibes isn't behind the murders after all.
This had no right to be as entertaining as it was. I could not stop watching it and I will most assuredly be buying it as soon as I can afford to do so. Also, it's hilarious. There's just so much to enjoy. The deaths are elaborate and gory; I love the religious angle. His little helper, Vulnavia (Virginia North), is beautiful but creepy because she never speaks. There's a clockwork orchestra that plays jazz standards. How the hell is this not being shown constantly on movie networks? It should be a classic and instead it's relegated to MGM's B-movie label. I guess it's one of those where you need to be in-the-know to hear about it, like a secret club for all the cool weird kids. I expect my membership badge to come in the mail any day now. Preferably delivered by trained ravens.
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