Reviews (2)

touches all the bases
For me the measure of a good video or film isn't production value (though this can help)or good actors or actresses (ditto)or even the tightness of the script . It's all about entertainment (number one) & if you can sit through a feature & be sorry when it's over then you've stumbled on something special. The Musical score is very good, there are some pretty heavy names for a "B" movie Quarry, Bauer, Lamb, Ekland & Mccormick (known to me from the tonight show). If your taste in film doesn't venture beyond the current Box Office Smash, what I have uttered will be lost on you. On the other hand if this is hitting home give this video a shot. The movie is sexy, funny while well aware of it's target audience. This movie not only touches all the bases but delivers the goods (not for the kids)
Mike-somewhere in Canada

not bad somewhat corny, girls aren't bad
Beverly Hills Vamp is a somewhat entertaining movie with standard B-rated effects and of course plenty of skin to show. The acting doesn't really matter in a movie like this so don't take it too serious on that matter. I've seen lots of movie like this, and well, i'd have to say this was actually the best of all of them. Some scenes were somewhat funny, others were just plain corny. ... Read more

Amazon.com essential video

Alfred Hitchcock considered this 1943 thriller to be his personal favorite among his own films, and although it's not as popular as some of Hitchcock's later work, it's certainly worthy of the master's admiration. Scripted by playwright Thornton Wilder and inspired by the actual case of a 1920's serial killer known as "The Merry Widow Murderer," the movie sets a tone of menace and fear by introducing a psychotic killer into the small-town comforts of Santa Rosa, California. That's where young Charlie (Teresa Wright) lives with her parents and two younger siblings, and where murder is little more than a topic of morbid conversation for their mystery-buff neighbor (Hume Cronyn). Charlie was named after her favorite uncle, who has just arrived for an extended visit, and at first Uncle Charlie (Joseph Cotten) gets along famously with his admiring niece. But the film's chilling prologue has already revealed Uncle Charlie's true identity as the notorious Merry Widow Murderer, and the suspense grows almost unbearable when young Charlie's trust gives way to gradual dread and suspicion. Through narrow escapes and a climactic scene aboard a speeding train, this witty thriller strips away the façade of small-town tranquility to reveal evil where it's least expected. And, of course, it's all done in pure Hitchcockian style.--Jeff Shannon ... Read more

Reviews (57)

The Merry Widow Murderer strikes again
Hitchcock loved to subvert what others took for granted. Set in the Northern California town of Santa Rosa, Shadow of a Doubt is most subversive about the very normal, tranquil qualities of small town life. Like all of Hitchcock's most convincing and powerful thrillers, the mystery is revealed right away. Uncle Charlie (Joseph Cotton)is on the run from the police. He's endearing, charming and a serial killer nicknamed The Merry Widow Murderer. With the police hot on his trail he turns to the only place he can--home.

Uncle Charlie visits with his sister and her family in a sleepy small town. Uncle Charlie gets the chance to visit with his namesake and favorite niece nicknamed Young Charlie (Teresa Wright). They have a grand old name visiting until the past comes haunting. Young Charlie begins to suspect that Uncle Charlie is the Merry Window Murderer. What's worse, he realizes that she knows. Suddenly, he must find a way to murder his favorite niece and escape without suspicion.

Shadow is one of Hitchcock's earliest films where his favorite themes finally come together in a great collabortive effort with Thornton Wilder (Our Town). Wilder's early drafts (Hitchcock's wife and frequent collaborator Alma Reville did extensive rewrites along with Sally Benson and, of course, Hitchcock himself, as always, uncredited). Like many of the releases from Universal in the Alfred Hitchcock Collection, Shadow comes back with some interesting extras.

The documentary which includes interviews with Teresa Wright, Hume Cronyn, Robert Boyle, Pat Hitchcock O'Connell and director Peter Bogdanovich, isn't the usual slapdash affair. There's some interesting insights and observations about the film (if you'd like real insight into the film, I'd suggest the recent Hitchcock biography).

Joseph Cotton, Teresa Wright and the rest of this stunning cast capture the atmosphere (or least Hollywood's version of it with a bit more realism courtesy of Wilder and Hitchcock)of life in a small town during the 40's. It's one of Hitchcock's early American masterpieces (along with the wonderful Notorious).

The transfer looks pretty good overall. There are some minor issues with edge enhancement but the overall look of the film is very clean considering the age of the negative. It's a pity that so many Hitchcock films are spread over so many studios. Shadow would work well in a boxed set with Strangers on a Train and even Rear Window.

Charlie, think. How much do you know about your uncle?
Having just watched Alfred Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt (1943) last night for the first time, I was surprised at how good it was, and why I've never seen it before. I mean, I am a fan of Hitchcock, and I've seen many of his movies, but to have heard so little of this particular film seems puzzling to me, as it's an excellent film, and worthy of a lot more recognition than it seems to have gotten. Either that or I just need to get out of my cookie jar more often...

Anyway, the film, directed by Alfred Hitchcock and written by Thornton Wilder, stars a wonderful cast including Teresa Wright, who appeared with Gary Cooper the previous year in The Pride of the Yankees (1942), Joseph Cotten (Citizen Kane, The Third Man), and Henry Travers (High Sierra, Mrs. Miniver, It's a Wonderful Life). Also making an appearance is Hume Cronyn making his film debut in a supporting role as a mousy neighbor.

The story involves a family in a small California town, and the impending arrival of a relative, Charlie (Cotten), from back east. Most anticipatory is younger Charlie (Wright), named after her uncle, as she feels a deep, almost telepathic connection to this man she hasn't seen in quite awhile. Now, before Charlie's departure for California, we get a general sense of unease, as it seems Charlie is involved in something of a sinister nature. Upon arriving in California, the visit seems to be going well, as the family welcomes him with open arms, but soon we learn that trouble has followed Charlie in the form of two rather shady individuals who present themselves with a certain amount of deception, which is elaborated on later. The older Charlie's behavior begins to change subtly, perceptible only to the younger Charlie and us, the audience. As various bits of information are disseminated, the younger Charlie's begins to realize that her uncle may harbor a terrible secret that could tear apart the very fabric of her family. As her uncle's slick veneer is slowly peeled away, she eventually learns the truth, with the older Charlie realizing that the relative safety he sought in coming to stay with his sister and her family is in jeopardy. What lengths will he go to to protect himself from his past?

The film starts out very slowly, but it's obviously deliberate, as the sense of dread within the viewer is cultivated in meticulous fashion. This seems a common tactic with Hitchcock, but I did get the feeling it was more drawn out here than in most of his other films. The pacing felt very similar to Rebecca, another Hitchcock film, which was released in 1940, but while that film had a much more grandiose feel to it, this film keeps things fairly simple, which really works well. There is a good amount of leaving the viewer in the dark within the first hour or so of the film, but when the secrets of the character is revealed, the plot points prior to this fall into place nicely, making sense of these once less meaningful elements. Teresa Wright's character is wonderful as the perceptive and intelligent niece forced to make a very difficult decision between her family and her uncle, trying to deal with the consequences of whatever path she chooses. Cotten is the real standout performance in the film, presenting a very likeable character, with a highly polished exterior, but an exterior you learn is barely hiding a very ugly and, ultimately, dangerous core. He figuratively becomes the fox in the hen house, as his sinister nature encroaches upon this quiet, unassuming community. As I said before, the pacing is pretty slow, picking up moderately within the last 30 minutes (it has a running time of 108 minutes) to a very suitable and satisfying ending, one that provides a nice jolt during an already tense scene.

The print provided by Universal for this release looks very good, despite a few hardly noticeable signs of age and wear. Special features include a featurette on the making of the film, detailing why Hitchcock considered this to be one of his favorite movies he made, production notes, drawings and photographs, recommendations (to other Hitchcock films), and a theatrical trailer for the film. All in all, and excellent, if underrated, Hitchcock classic.

Cookieman108

What a Film!!!
It is sad that Santa Rosa, Ca. doesn't look like this today,but this film almost foretells the waiting, looming changes that we were about to face in our land, both to our lifestyle and our environment. Never more relevant than now.Hitchcock captured the essence of a wonderful and, now, nostalgic time in America as no one else, before or after.

5 star movie ...
While the film itself is absolutely brilliant, 'Shadow of a Doubt' loses a star for being a disappointing DVD. Considering this film was always hailed as being Hitchcock's favorite, I'm really surprised that Universal didn't roll out the red carpet when it came to the disc's bonus features.

I completely expected to see the same TLC that made the 'Rear Window', 'Vertigo', and 'Psycho' DVDs such an education to watch. Instead Universal didn't even seem to think 'Shadow of a Doubt' warranted a simple wide-screen format.

I loved the film and will always think of it as one of my favorites among Hitch's works. I can't help but to be disappointed that it seemed to fall to the way-side when it came to the attention I felt it should have commanded in its reproduction and formatting though.

I'll Go With the Masses on This One
No question about it: this one of Hitchcock's best, and it ought to be a lot better known.

There's some truth in the contention that much of Hitchcock's work is based on flimsy plotting, gimmickry, and attractive stick figures racing from one scene to the next just a step ahead of sense or logic. This is easily seen even in much-admired films like "North by Northwest".

But "Shadow of a Doubt" (along with "Vertigo" and the first half of "Psycho") gives the lie to the claim that this was all there was to Hitchcock. This is a film in which every turn of the narrative is governed by the development of character, as a girl matures from giddy teenager to strong (and even deadly) young woman while grappling with the knowledge that her beloved uncle is a serial killer.

The acting is uniformly outstanding. Cotten is in full lounge-lizard mode here--nobody ever enunciated a perfectly-balanced sentence with more venom. Hume Cronyn plays a neighborhood geek almost--but not quite--to the point of parody. But it's Teresa Wright who takes the prize here. Wright was a pleasant but unremarkable presence in a number of films, but in "Doubt" she really shows what she was capable of. Consider the expression on her face as she descends the stairs in the climactic scene, and how easy it would have been to overplay it.

Perhaps it was the influence of Wilder (though his biographers state that he actually didn't really do much work on the picture), but "Shadow of a Doubt" is one film in which the master outdid himself, stepping beyond the limits of entertainment into something approaching art. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Yes, yes--doubtless you're thinking that if you haven't seen theoriginal Count Yorga, Vampire you'll be completely lost. Turns out it's surprisingly easy to catch up! Robert Quarry reprises his role as Yorga, this time taking up residence by the Westwood orphanage. Mariette Hartley plays the lovely Cynthia, a kindhearted orphanage worker who unknowingly wins Yorga's heart. This might seem more special if Yorga weren't already being followed around by a bevy of nightgown-clad vampire girlfriends, but there you go. After Cynthia is captured and entranced by Yorga, her fiancée leads the chase to find her (helped by afew skeptical but dogged policemen--watch for a deeply embarrassed and heavily made-up Craig T. Nelson as one of the detectives). Quarry does his best to make Yorga a debonair vampire in the Dracula tradition, but is unfortunately hindered by Yorga's fondness for lounge-singer dinner jackets and his tendency to lunge at victims with both arms thrust straight out like a Scooby-Doo character. Yorga is mysterious, though--he isable to walk the land even during bright day-for-night sequences, for example, and there is also a fascinating moment in which he has apparently frightened a pod of humpback whales. This video edition includes the original theatrical trailer, which describes The Return of Count Yorga as "the most horrifying love story ever filmed." I could not agree more. --Ali Davis ... Read more

Reviews (13)

Better than the first movie
I own both of these movies and I would have to say that the Return of Count Yorga is much better than the first movie. There are more vampires, a bit more eerie and some pretty good action. For a cheap movie like this one is...it's not all that boring.

The only thing that I really hate about this movie compared to movies nowadays is that vampires died pretty easily to humans in the past..especially the 70's where there were vampire movies galore...and this is one of them. Overall, for a movie 30 years ago, I'll give this one 4 stars. This movie is better than some of Christopher Lee's Dracula movies (Dracula A.D 1972 and the Satanic Rites of Dracula...BOMBS!!).

COUNT YORGA IS A BAD ...!!!
Robert Quarry reprises his best role as Count Yorga.This time,he is after a beautiful woman who works at an orphanage.Count Yorga has his horde of vampires kill her familly,then kidnaps her.Roger Perry returns,but is playing a different character.He is now playing the fiance of the kidnapped woman.When he convinces the police that Count Yorga is to blame,they go to his big mansion and another terror filled romp ensues,as they find there's no way out.Watch when a preist tries to distract Count Yorga from noticing the police break in.Count Yorga sees through him and leads him to his death.It was hysterical how the preist reacted to this.Another hysterical scene,was Count Yorga's slo-mo run towards his victim.He can't say he didn't see him comming.Another weird ending.This one is more scarrier then the first.

COUNT YORGA FOR PRESIDENT!
This along with Salem's Lot are my two favorite vampire flicks. The vampire/zombie women along with GATEWAY MANSION really create an eerie atmosphere that is so classic 70's. I LOVE THIS FILM!

Slightly better than the first movie
Though the original movie leaves Count Yorga staked and turned to dust, he is back in this movie and up to his old tricks. How he got back is never explained, nor the return of his sidekick, or even his killed-in-the-original chief hunter. I actually prefer this lack of explanation to some silly alternative.

Yorga has moved to San Francisco, to a mansion next to an orphanage, which provides him with both adult and child prey. He is particularly attracted to Cynthia, played by Mariette Hartley. In true romantic fashion, he decides to win her by killing her family and kidnaping and hypnotizing her.

In many ways similar to the original movie in style, this film does have a couple creepy moments, in particular when Cynthia wanders through the mansion and is tormented by voices. Otherwise, this is essentially a remake of the original in structure, though more campy in style. I was particulary amused by Yorga's preferred method of attack: a hissing, slow-motion run at his victim.

As a bonus, this movie features one of Craig T. Nelson's earliest roles, but I don't know if that will really draw many watchers outside of the most avid Coach fans. For others, I can say that if you liked the original, you will like this one; if given a choice of only one to watch, choose this one. You will not be missing anything by skipping the first one.

Well made sequal to vampire classic!
If you loved "Count Yorga, Vampire", be sure to get a copy of the follow-up, "Return of Count Yorga". Although it also is a lower budget horror flick it has some truly great moments. The very good perfomance of a hearing-impaired teacher as well as her character's treatment by the authorities in the film also deserves mention. The deaf character in the movie is not considered a reliable witness by the police when reporting the brutal murder of her friends at the hands of the vampires. Craig T. Nelson is very young and handsome playing one of the cops in an early role. He fails to understand how a series of dissapearances could be linked to the vampire played once again (very well!) by Robert Quarry. Robert Quarry is both suave and chilling. As the film progresses they both get the point, except Nelson gets two of them!! Leave the lights on and don't forget the popcorn! ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Sybil Danning's Final Film is a Disappointment!
Sybil Danning plays the character of Ruger in this dull and depressing action film. Danning trying hard to live up to being the Female Clint Eastwood, plays a character who is silent, smokes cigars, and lives is a run down trailer. She is a Bounty Hunter who is seeking the man who killed her partner. Wings Hauser plays the villian Cavanaugh (who steals the only good scenes in the movie)with his demented, crazed, coke-dealing, psyco artist who is completely over the top and out of his mind. Since Sybil only has about 4 lines in the movie and seems to have a bored expression on her face, she is not as fun to watch as she was in previous movies. It will pretty much disappoint her fans who are use to seeing her play sexy bad girls in some of the wildest costumes of all times. This was her final film, but not her best. This film could have been better perhaps if it would have had a bigger budget and better writing. ... Read more

Amazon.com essential video

Alfred Hitchcock considered this 1943 thriller to be his personal favorite among his own films, and although it's not as popular as some of Hitchcock's later work, it's certainly worthy of the master's admiration. Scripted by playwright Thornton Wilder and inspired by the actual case of a 1920's serial killer known as "The Merry Widow Murderer," the movie sets a tone of menace and fear by introducing a psychotic killer into the small-town comforts of Santa Rosa, California. That's where young Charlie (Teresa Wright) lives with her parents and two younger siblings, and where murder is little more than a topic of morbid conversation for their mystery-buff neighbor (Hume Cronyn). Charlie was named after her favorite uncle, who has just arrived for an extended visit, and at first Uncle Charlie (Joseph Cotten) gets along famously with his admiring niece. But the film's chilling prologue has already revealed Uncle Charlie's true identity as the notorious Merry Widow Murderer, and the suspense grows almost unbearable when young Charlie's trust gives way to gradual dread and suspicion. Through narrow escapes and a climactic scene aboard a speeding train, this witty thriller strips away the façade of small-town tranquility to reveal evil where it's least expected. And, of course, it's all done in pure Hitchcockian style.--Jeff Shannon ... Read more

Reviews (57)

The Merry Widow Murderer strikes again
Hitchcock loved to subvert what others took for granted. Set in the Northern California town of Santa Rosa, Shadow of a Doubt is most subversive about the very normal, tranquil qualities of small town life. Like all of Hitchcock's most convincing and powerful thrillers, the mystery is revealed right away. Uncle Charlie (Joseph Cotton)is on the run from the police. He's endearing, charming and a serial killer nicknamed The Merry Widow Murderer. With the police hot on his trail he turns to the only place he can--home.

Uncle Charlie visits with his sister and her family in a sleepy small town. Uncle Charlie gets the chance to visit with his namesake and favorite niece nicknamed Young Charlie (Teresa Wright). They have a grand old name visiting until the past comes haunting. Young Charlie begins to suspect that Uncle Charlie is the Merry Window Murderer. What's worse, he realizes that she knows. Suddenly, he must find a way to murder his favorite niece and escape without suspicion.

Shadow is one of Hitchcock's earliest films where his favorite themes finally come together in a great collabortive effort with Thornton Wilder (Our Town). Wilder's early drafts (Hitchcock's wife and frequent collaborator Alma Reville did extensive rewrites along with Sally Benson and, of course, Hitchcock himself, as always, uncredited). Like many of the releases from Universal in the Alfred Hitchcock Collection, Shadow comes back with some interesting extras.

The documentary which includes interviews with Teresa Wright, Hume Cronyn, Robert Boyle, Pat Hitchcock O'Connell and director Peter Bogdanovich, isn't the usual slapdash affair. There's some interesting insights and observations about the film (if you'd like real insight into the film, I'd suggest the recent Hitchcock biography).

Joseph Cotton, Teresa Wright and the rest of this stunning cast capture the atmosphere (or least Hollywood's version of it with a bit more realism courtesy of Wilder and Hitchcock)of life in a small town during the 40's. It's one of Hitchcock's early American masterpieces (along with the wonderful Notorious).

The transfer looks pretty good overall. There are some minor issues with edge enhancement but the overall look of the film is very clean considering the age of the negative. It's a pity that so many Hitchcock films are spread over so many studios. Shadow would work well in a boxed set with Strangers on a Train and even Rear Window.

Charlie, think. How much do you know about your uncle?
Having just watched Alfred Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt (1943) last night for the first time, I was surprised at how good it was, and why I've never seen it before. I mean, I am a fan of Hitchcock, and I've seen many of his movies, but to have heard so little of this particular film seems puzzling to me, as it's an excellent film, and worthy of a lot more recognition than it seems to have gotten. Either that or I just need to get out of my cookie jar more often...

Anyway, the film, directed by Alfred Hitchcock and written by Thornton Wilder, stars a wonderful cast including Teresa Wright, who appeared with Gary Cooper the previous year in The Pride of the Yankees (1942), Joseph Cotten (Citizen Kane, The Third Man), and Henry Travers (High Sierra, Mrs. Miniver, It's a Wonderful Life). Also making an appearance is Hume Cronyn making his film debut in a supporting role as a mousy neighbor.

The story involves a family in a small California town, and the impending arrival of a relative, Charlie (Cotten), from back east. Most anticipatory is younger Charlie (Wright), named after her uncle, as she feels a deep, almost telepathic connection to this man she hasn't seen in quite awhile. Now, before Charlie's departure for California, we get a general sense of unease, as it seems Charlie is involved in something of a sinister nature. Upon arriving in California, the visit seems to be going well, as the family welcomes him with open arms, but soon we learn that trouble has followed Charlie in the form of two rather shady individuals who present themselves with a certain amount of deception, which is elaborated on later. The older Charlie's behavior begins to change subtly, perceptible only to the younger Charlie and us, the audience. As various bits of information are disseminated, the younger Charlie's begins to realize that her uncle may harbor a terrible secret that could tear apart the very fabric of her family. As her uncle's slick veneer is slowly peeled away, she eventually learns the truth, with the older Charlie realizing that the relative safety he sought in coming to stay with his sister and her family is in jeopardy. What lengths will he go to to protect himself from his past?

The film starts out very slowly, but it's obviously deliberate, as the sense of dread within the viewer is cultivated in meticulous fashion. This seems a common tactic with Hitchcock, but I did get the feeling it was more drawn out here than in most of his other films. The pacing felt very similar to Rebecca, another Hitchcock film, which was released in 1940, but while that film had a much more grandiose feel to it, this film keeps things fairly simple, which really works well. There is a good amount of leaving the viewer in the dark within the first hour or so of the film, but when the secrets of the character is revealed, the plot points prior to this fall into place nicely, making sense of these once less meaningful elements. Teresa Wright's character is wonderful as the perceptive and intelligent niece forced to make a very difficult decision between her family and her uncle, trying to deal with the consequences of whatever path she chooses. Cotten is the real standout performance in the film, presenting a very likeable character, with a highly polished exterior, but an exterior you learn is barely hiding a very ugly and, ultimately, dangerous core. He figuratively becomes the fox in the hen house, as his sinister nature encroaches upon this quiet, unassuming community. As I said before, the pacing is pretty slow, picking up moderately within the last 30 minutes (it has a running time of 108 minutes) to a very suitable and satisfying ending, one that provides a nice jolt during an already tense scene.

The print provided by Universal for this release looks very good, despite a few hardly noticeable signs of age and wear. Special features include a featurette on the making of the film, detailing why Hitchcock considered this to be one of his favorite movies he made, production notes, drawings and photographs, recommendations (to other Hitchcock films), and a theatrical trailer for the film. All in all, and excellent, if underrated, Hitchcock classic.

Cookieman108

What a Film!!!
It is sad that Santa Rosa, Ca. doesn't look like this today,but this film almost foretells the waiting, looming changes that we were about to face in our land, both to our lifestyle and our environment. Never more relevant than now.Hitchcock captured the essence of a wonderful and, now, nostalgic time in America as no one else, before or after.

5 star movie ...
While the film itself is absolutely brilliant, 'Shadow of a Doubt' loses a star for being a disappointing DVD. Considering this film was always hailed as being Hitchcock's favorite, I'm really surprised that Universal didn't roll out the red carpet when it came to the disc's bonus features.

I completely expected to see the same TLC that made the 'Rear Window', 'Vertigo', and 'Psycho' DVDs such an education to watch. Instead Universal didn't even seem to think 'Shadow of a Doubt' warranted a simple wide-screen format.

I loved the film and will always think of it as one of my favorites among Hitch's works. I can't help but to be disappointed that it seemed to fall to the way-side when it came to the attention I felt it should have commanded in its reproduction and formatting though.

I'll Go With the Masses on This One
No question about it: this one of Hitchcock's best, and it ought to be a lot better known.

There's some truth in the contention that much of Hitchcock's work is based on flimsy plotting, gimmickry, and attractive stick figures racing from one scene to the next just a step ahead of sense or logic. This is easily seen even in much-admired films like "North by Northwest".

But "Shadow of a Doubt" (along with "Vertigo" and the first half of "Psycho") gives the lie to the claim that this was all there was to Hitchcock. This is a film in which every turn of the narrative is governed by the development of character, as a girl matures from giddy teenager to strong (and even deadly) young woman while grappling with the knowledge that her beloved uncle is a serial killer.

The acting is uniformly outstanding. Cotten is in full lounge-lizard mode here--nobody ever enunciated a perfectly-balanced sentence with more venom. Hume Cronyn plays a neighborhood geek almost--but not quite--to the point of parody. But it's Teresa Wright who takes the prize here. Wright was a pleasant but unremarkable presence in a number of films, but in "Doubt" she really shows what she was capable of. Consider the expression on her face as she descends the stairs in the climactic scene, and how easy it would have been to overplay it.

Perhaps it was the influence of Wilder (though his biographers state that he actually didn't really do much work on the picture), but "Shadow of a Doubt" is one film in which the master outdid himself, stepping beyond the limits of entertainment into something approaching art. ... Read more

Reviews (22)

Badder and better
Unlike Vincent Price's the Fly and Dr. Goldfoot, this time the second one is better. The deformed and demented doctor is back to try and revive his beloved wife (Caroline Munro in an uncredited, non-speaking role). Instead of the revenge plot from the first film, this one has Phibes in a race with Biederbeck (Robert Quarry) to see who can find way to the river of life. This dark comedy is just a little better than the first due to a more interesting plot and a stronger supporting cast, although Peter Cushing only has a couple of lines and is still billed third. Price seems to really enjoy himself in the Phibes role and Robert Quarry is a very worthy advisary. In the late 60's -early 70's, Vincent Price did some really weak films like Scream and Scream again, the Oblong box and Cry of the Banshee that gave him top billing but gave him very little to do. So, it was great that he got to revive his horror career by doing some fine films like the the two Dr. Phibes films and Theater of Blood.

Excellent sequel to "The Abominable Dr. Phibes"
Vincent Price returns as Dr. Anton Phibes is this competent sequel, which has Phibes traveling to Egypt to get an elixer that will bring his deceased wife back to life. Phibe's antagonist Biederbeck (Robert Quarry) is also in search of the miracle drug. Phibes proceeds the eliminate the competition by picking off Biederbeck's crew with a grisly relish. Lots of fun that does justice to the original.

Give It To Me Straight Doctor, I Can Take It!
Yes, the good doctor (Vincent Price) has risen again, just as diabolical, just as obsessed with his beautiful, dead wife Victoria. He is now trying to get her to Egypt, where he plans on taking her down the secret "river of life" for her complete resurrection! Accompanied by the ever silent Vulnavia (Valli Kemp), Phibes must compete with archeologist / eternal-life seeker Beiderbeck (Robert "Count Yorga" Quarry) in a race to the land of the pharaohs for the expected murder-fest, and ultimate showdown. Lots of laughs and killings-a-plenty in this near perfect Phibes phollow up! Highly recommended...

Not quite as good as the original
The beauty of the original Dr. Phibes movie was that while the plot was fantastic and Phibe's schemes convoluted and almost impossible to pull off, there was always the sense that given a driven and malignant enough intelligence they could (emphasis on could) have happened. In other words in real life there could have been Dr. Phibes-like murders. In the second Phibes film, all pretense of reality is stripped away and the fantastic is embraced. The plot being that Phibes is racing against Robert Quarry's Biederbeck to locate the river of life in order to revive his long dead (yet remarkably perserved) wife, Regina. Whereas in the original, Phibes is merely out to avenge her 'murder' by killing the operating team that tried to save Regina's life. This is not to say this makes for a bad film, it just seems a little diminished when weighed against the original. Just how likely is that a man who can figure out how to survive years entombed with embalming fluid in his veins could not save his wife's life? And what exactly is Phibe's relationship with the conveinently ressurected Vulnavia? How is it that Phibe's tomb was never discovered but his safe was found and the house above him was completly leveled?

That being said, Dr. Phibes Rises Again is one heck of a fun, twisted movie to watch. Vincent Price is again at his campiest and the retro/deco sets are glorious to behold. Even the Egyptian sets are gorgeous and the outrageous props (like the elaborate tuba Phibes carts all the way to Egypt or his standard automated musicians) just add to the outlandish fun.

A number of the character actors from the original make appearances in this second installment including the dogged Inspector Trout and his bewildered Scottland Yard superior. Terry Thomas makes another cameo as a ocean liner booking agent (vs. his eventually bloodless Dr. Longstreet) and there is a wonderfull small appearance by Peter Cushing as an ocean liner captain.

Robert Quarry as Phibe's nemesis is as fun to watch as Price himself. Biederbeck's callous and casual egotism is almost as dehumanizing as Phibe's disregard for all those who get in his way (and many who don't). Phibe's dispatching of his victims is as vicious and mean spirited as in the original. His murder of Biederbeck's mute manservant is particularly innovative.

All in all this is a horror movie that is great fun not overly gory and outshines most of the horror films that followed it. There are plenty of humorous moments in the movie (most at the expense of the Scotland Yard detectives) to break up Phibe's sadistic scenes. The plot is somewhat plodding but lets be honest you don't watch Vincent Price horror films for Oscar quality plot elements (though the Phibes' plots are arguably more complex than say, Titanic's). You watch to see Price the horror master at work and he certainly earned his keep on this film.

oh no...you better watch out!!
You have to have seen the first film, "The Abominable Dr. Phibes", to really understand the "good" doctor's madness in his quest to find the river of life in Egypt. Phibes is totally dedicated to restoring life to his beloved wife, Victoria. So dedicated that he kills people who get in his way. In the first film he murders a lot of doctors and in this one he kills archeologists who are working for Biederbeck {he's played by Robert Quarry, the man who AIP was secretly planning to become their new horror star because Vincent was getting old and AIP felt that audience would turn away from an old man}. Biederbeck has a secret and he too is kept alive with serum but unlike Dr. Phibes, Biederbeck wants to find the youth river for himself. Phibes finds this apalling and he tricks Biederbeck into giving him back a key that unlocks the gate blocking the river of youth (it's in the bottom of a pyramid and resembles more like a stream than a river). Phibes paddles himself and the dead Victoria through the gates of life as Biederbeck slumps over watching the two sail off. Biederbeck's wife says something like "it's not the end of the world" and then we see Biederbeck turn into his true 110 year old self! The police force are once again on hand for comic relief (Inspector Trout and his superior are hilarious). This sequel is just as great as the 1971 original. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

great, if you want to see a bad film
unintentionally hilariously funny at times, this sequel to Tanya Roberts' INNER SANCTUM has little to reccomend it; except for the fact that it is so bad. The cover of the box may decieve those who wish to see a steamy sex film, because all such scenes are confined to the first half hour. The remaining time is filled with cliches and ridiculously fake or stupid horror scenes. Although the film will make you laugh, it leaves you feeling like you wasted your time. The writer ought to be given a pat on the back, and then be shot. ... Read more

Reviews (20)

A "pop/corn" vampire flick
Okay. So it's probably not the best vampire flick ever made, and it's time of setting does date the film a bit, but it is certainly a standout from a fairly rotten bunch.

It's best feature, is a brilliant performance by Robert Quarry in the lead role of Count Yorga; an inspired blend of viciousness and culture, all at the same time.
It certainly gives Christopher Lee's Count Dracula a run for his money!
The vampire women come straight from the set of a zombie flick in regards to their almost mindless search for blood. Curiously, they possess a ROW of sharp teeth (as does Count Yorga, when they're revealed), rather than the required elongated set of upper canines in which to delicately leave behind the standard two small puncture wounds on the neck.
This reflects the more primal, bestial, and dare I say "evil" interpretation these vampires take in the film, something in decided absense in the wake of Anne Rice's contributions to the genre.

THESE vampires are clearly predators, as we see towards the end of the movie, which finishes in a downbeat, post-"Night of the Living Dead" kind of way.

The film recycles the usual vampire movie cliches of the aristocratic, Eastern European vampire; the vampire's "brides"; the All-Wise Vampire Hunter (albeit, if Van Helsing was a "swinger"!), the vampire's black cloak, etc. and updates them to a modern day setting (well...for 1970, that is!), and fairly effectively introduces a nineteenth century vampire count into the twentieth.

This was the film Hammer's "Dracula A.D. 1972" and "The Satanic Rites of Dracula" should have been.

Cat, the other white meat...
Written and directed by Bob Kelljan, who later directed episodes on various 70's TV shows like Starsky and Hutch, Dukes of Hazzard, and Charlie's Angels, Count Yorga, Vampire (1970), aka The Loves of Count Iorga (not a misspelling), did extremely well when it opened.

The movie starts off with a scene of a large cargo ship sitting at a dock off some California coast, and a large, coffin shaped crate being loaded on a truck. As the truck drives away, we are treated to voice over that sounds like a mix between Ricardo Montalban and Harvey Fierstein talking about the vampire mythos. The truck continues until it comes to a secluded driveway with a large gate.

Next we go to a séance in progress, being conducted by Count Yorga, who, if you're familiar with the title of the movie, is a vampire. He ends up secretly putting the whammy on one of the women present, and then gets a ride home from a couple in their VW minibus...I have to say, it was kind of funny seeing this young couple and the aristocratic Eastern European (we learn that the Count came to America from Bulgaria) and very sophisticated Count crammed into the front bench seat of a minibus. Anyway, the couple drops the Count off after declining his offer to come into his home, and they get stuck in some mud along the Count's long driveway. This starts a five-minute discussion about mud. Where did the mud come from? How did we miss it come in? How come the rest of the ground is dry? Blah, blah, blah...it's scenes like this that really dragged this movie down. I guess, among the Count's other supernatural powers, creating wind and lighting, manipulating objects with his mind, mind control over animals and humans, super natural strength, he can also create mud. After hearing a wolf howl, the couple decides not to trek back to the Count's house but to spend the night in the minibus, and after a little lovin' in the back of the van, they are soon visited by a dark stranger (two guesses who).

As the movie progresses, the Count takes a couple of women (Count Yorga needs women!) in the way vampires do, and the men begin to suspect something is wrong, and whatever it is, it's directly linked to Count Yorga. They start throwing around the theory of vampirism, with some willing to believe once offered proof, while others refuse to accept even the possibility as they think the idea is purely a work of fiction.

After much goofy dialogue, two of the men decide to take matters into their own hands and try to sneak into the castle and convince themselves that Count Yorga is a vampire. They take along a female character, as they fear to leave her alone (great idea, take her into the lair of a suspected vampire). If they are able to confirm that Count Yorga is a vampire, they intend to kill him, and their friends who have been turned, as there is no cure for bloodsucking other than a wooden stake in the heart...the last twenty minutes or so things the pace picks up pretty well, as the two men confront Count Yorga and his brides from hell. And how could I write a review about this movie without mentioning Brudah, the Count's mostly mute, brutish servant? Oh man, he is good for a few laughs...he walks around the entire movie looking like a transported cavemen in a bad sport coat and tie. I kept injecting my own lines for poor Brudah when he had none...I imagined when he spoke, each sentence would be preceded by his own name..."Brudah want woman"..."Brudah drive car"..."Brudah need shave"....

The dialog throughout the movie is rather clunky but oddly realistic at times. The actor playing Count Yorga, Robert Quarry, was the highlight of the movie, really getting into the part creating a truly believable and scary character. I vaguely recognized him, but then remembered seeing him in Dr. Phibes Rises Again (1972). The direction was passable, but got annoying at times, especially during scenes with conversation, as the director would make many needless cuts back and forth between characters, sometimes showing the back of a character who was speaking... there was some blood and one scene in particular, with a cat, that was pretty ugly. The one actor most will probably recognize in this film is Michael Murphy, who played the mayor in Batman Returns (1992) and has been in a few Woody Allen movies like Manhattan (1979) and The Front (1976). The scares were mostly of the cheap kind, things popping out at the viewer accompanied by a loud sound effect or startling music. The film has a 90-minute run time, but I thought some trimming would have been useful, and would have quickened the pace.

The presentation on this disc looks really great, and special features include a trailer for the film and a neat reproduction of the original movie poster on a little card on the inside of the case. Age hasn't been kind to this movie, as the dating is very apparent in the wardrobe and hairstyles of the various actors, but I think the movie is worth looking into if you are a horror movie fan, mainly for Quarry's performance. A sequel was released a couple of years later titled The Return of Count Yorga (1972).

Cookieman108

The start of modern vampire cinema in America !!
It was no secret in the early 1970's that American International Pictures were grooming Robert Quarry to take over the mantle of their number one horror star, from the ageing Vincent Price. Price was none too happy about the treatment he received from studio executive's and made his feelings felt on several occasions. One well known story has it that during the filming of "Dr Phibes Rises Again", Price heard someone singing Gershwin and looked around the corner to see Quarry in full voice. Quarry turned to Price and remarked "Vincent, you didn't know I was a singer !". To which Price replied "Well, I knew you weren't a ******* actor."

However, Quarry did make a pretty decent vampire on three occasions in "Count Yorga", "The Return of Count Yorga", and the lesser known "Deathmaster"....all films being made virtually back to back ! "Count Yorga" started out as a concept from writer / director Bob Kelljan to make a soft porn style vampire film, however when he recruited Robert Quarry to play the lead, Quarry convinced him to play it straight for thrills. Keeping in line with the new age, hippie influenced culture of the 1970's, the film sees Count Yorga posing as a psychic medium and leading unsuspecting & naïve guests into his vampire clutches ! The film saw a departure from the more Hammer influenced style of vampire movie where the female underlings to Christopher Lee were buxom, attractive women. In "Count Yorga" however, the female servants of Yorga are haggard, disheveled harpies from the grave that mercilessly carry out the evil biddings of their master. Additionally, the film was noticeably more violent than Hammer's Dracula series, and shifting vampires to a contemporary setting ( as opposed to Hammer's Carpathian Mountains of the 1900's ) became the standard for vampire film's for many years to come, and definitely revitalized the declining movie fan's interest in blood suckers.

Kelljan does a pretty good job of keeping the plot ticking along, and Quarry does provide some solid scares....especially the shots of him bearing down on his victims in slow motion, arms outstretched and fangs bared. Well worth a look, "Count Yorga" is an interesting piece of vampire cinema that provided the genre with much needed fresh blood.

Fangs For The Memories
Somewhere between the "giant step for mankind" and Watergate Hotel breezed in this little independant feature that cost the investors about 80 grand--and returned, according to it's lead player, 100 times that amount in the first weekend of release--which, remarkably enough, brought a respectability to the modern vampire story.

More amazing is the fact that, three years later, Hammer Films couldn't as successfully pull off the same feat with its "Satanic Rites of Dracula," complete with all time horror greats Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, and, presumably, a much larger budget.

The film opens during a then-trendy seance with Robert Quarry playing suave, arrogant Count Yorga--a sort of dilletante who wears a cape, is twenty something years older than his hosts, and probably was the sort that hung around those sorts of early adulthood gatherings during the seventies because he wanted to slide up to some young body(ies). In this case, however, sex isn't on the older mans mind--his interest lay (as it were) in leaving his mark--two of them, to be precise--right in the neck.

The film's credit must go in large part to veteran actor Robert Quarry, whose performance as the Count was wonderful, and to Bill Butler (cinematographer) and Bob Kelljan (director)...The rest are merely bit (as it were!) players...

Great fun throughout and, although a bit choppy at times, holds its own even thirty years later.

ROBERT QUARRY IS AWESOME!!!
I love watching Robert Quarry act,especially his two Count Yorga movies.He's great as he matches wits with his foes.Roger Perry who's another actor I like,plays Dr.Hayes,a blood specialist.The doc is called in by friends when one is missing and another has bite marks on her neck.The doc and friends try to get anwsers from the Count and he's too cool,as he brushes each question off.On the other hand,when he gets mad,his face turns white and he charges people.The Counts mansion is very gothic and you could get lost in it.No happy ending here.This is scary stuff. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Nice Western!!
This is a nice western about a drifter who rescues a girl and the obstacles that he's got to face returning that ladie to her town.Singer Randy Travis does a superb job playing one of the bad guys.It's a must see!! ... Read more

Reviews (2)

GREAT MOVIE!
When I saw Madhouse I thought is was great!I mean that Elizibeth Peters girl was HOT!I got the hole body count:

Ellen-Decapitated with knife
Elizibeth Peters-Pitchfork in the neck
Party Girl-Strangled and hung
Director-Crushed by top of bed
Elizibeths Aunt and Uncle-Both impaled with a sword
Julia-Knife in the neck
Killer-Stabbed to death

Doctor Death Slays His Nay-Sayers
Paul Toombs (Vincent Price) is an actor who was famous for creating an ongoing dastardly movie character called "Dr. Death" - sort of the "Hannibal Lecter" of his day - and on the eve of his wedding to an ambitious starlet, she turned up decapitated after an argument with him. Toombs doesn't remember anything about it, except discovering the body. There was no evidence against him, so he was released - but his career was ruined.

Now, more than a decade later, producer Robert Quarry wants to star Toombs in a Dr. Death T.V. series in England. The press hounds him, a new generation of starlets wants to social climb with him, strangers try to frame him for statutory rape to blackmail him. The poor man just can't get any peace.

That is, until "Dr. Death" shows up, and the body count rises...

This is not a bad little mid-'70s horror flick, from Amicus studios. It has nice atmosphere and a good cast, including Peter Cushing as Price's best friend and writer/creator of the Dr. Death character. It's colorful and creepy, and a bit gorier than most films of the period.

It's essentially a psychological horror story/murder mystery, and for the most part it works. It suffers from only two problems: abrupt and not entirely believable character transitions, and a bizarrely surrealistic ending. But the makeups and murders are distinctly grisly and effective, especially Price's entire Dr. Death getup. And there are some really nice sequences counterpointing Price's actual past horror films with the murder and mayhem occurring to characters in the story.

Odd, but nicely done, and well worth a look. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Marry in Haste.....
"Crime of Passion" is a solid basic film noir. It lacks much of the dark exteriors, night shots, strange camera angles and gloomy interiors of a complete noir film but this is still the real thing. Barbara Stanwyck is a successful newspaper columnist in San Francisco. She impulsively marries an L.A. cop, Sterling Hayden. The suddenness of the marriage might signal some future "problems". The newlyweds settle down to a neat little suburban house, which would appear right at home on an "Ozzie and Harriet" set. Hayden is happy as a clam but not the Mrs! She wants more! She quickly becomes bored with the stilted little dinner parties and catty gossip of the other police wives. Who could blame her! Then Stanwyck over reaches! She has an affair with her hubby's boss. The intent was getting him a promotion. The guy is none other than Raymond Burr, the soon to be Perry Mason of 50s TV fame. Can we imagine Perry getting involved with a hot girl like Barbara? This reviewer is straining not to give away the ending, so I'll just reveal that matters start to unravel. At least one person winds up dead! The gossip columnist is out of her league. Her ploy does not exactly work. The hard-nosed ending is quite satisfying and in line with 40s and 50s cop/noir films. A star is subtracted for the rather sudden "resolution". 2 final notes: True crime fans may be appalled at one especially egregious example of shoddy police work. Does anyone remember the term "protection of evidence"? No wonder O.J. walked 35 years later! Silver and Ward's "Film Noir" states that CP was a prime example of the "malaise infecting suburbia" in the 1950s. While that does not apply to Hayden it certainly does to his conniving spouse. If only she had stayed in San Francisco!

"I hope all your socks have holes in them."
In the film "Crime of Passion", tough, successful career woman Kathy Ferguson (Barbara Stanwyck) abandons her newspaper column and a prestigious new job to marry LA police detective Bill Doyle (Sterling Hayden). She imagines a life of domestic bliss, and soon she's living in suburbia--along with all the other detectives' wives. Doyle is happy plodding along in his career, but Kathy really can't stand the life she finds herself in. The Doyle's social life is composed of dreary evenings with Doyle's co-workers. The men play card games, and the women chatter on about inane subjects. While no unpleasant words exit from the mouths of the detectives' wives, it's quite clear that a strict social hierarchy exists. In particular, one wife, Sara Alidos, is all too happy to carry on at length about her intimate friendship with the Police Commissioner Pope (Raymond Burr) and his wife. Kathy really doesn't belong with these other wives. Try as she might, she just doesn't fit in, and her own lack of conformity drives Kathy to the brink of a breakdown.

But then Kathy has an idea. In Kathy's mind, her husband is superior to the other detectives, and she is cleverer than the rest of the wives. And so Kathy sets out to use her brain to promote her dullard of a husband through whatever means are necessary.

Barbara Stanwyck is excellent in the role of Kathy--a woman who gives up her career and lives to regret it. Kathy is hard and tough, but when she meets Bill, she gives into romance, and in her case, this is a big mistake. Bill Doyle is a good, hard-working man, but Kathy doesn't respect him. Raymond Burr as Pope is the man who sees past Kathy's persona and sees the conniving woman underneath.

"Crime of Passion" contains some extremely interesting comments especially about the roles of women in the 50s. Some of the scenes and comments in the beginning of the film were very revealing. However, I don't think the film went quite far enough with Kathy's character, and so, ultimately, the film was a little disappointing. But for film noir fans, this is a film worth watching--displacedhuman

WHAT SCHEMES MAY COME....
Neat, tidy little B-picture about a woman who tries to push her husband up the ladder of success only to have it backfire on her. San Francisco newspaper writer Kathy Ferguson (Barbara Stanwyck) meets and quickly marries macho LA detective Bill Doyle (Sterling Hayden) and finds herself plopped down in the middle of suburbia. This is all well and good until she finds her role relegated to the living room with the brainless other wives while the "boys" play poker in the kitchen. Being from a newspaper, she's used to being one of the boys and not one of the "little women". She finally snaps after one too many of these evenings and starts scheming to move her husband up in the department so she can be proud of him and mingle intelligently with the upper crust where she feels they belong. Her plans go beautifully until she runs up against her biggest obstacle, Bill's boss police chief Raymond Burr. They become close and one night he shows up at Kathy's while Bill's away and confides that he needs to retire and is looking for a replacement. Kathy siezes the opportunity to sell Bill as the replacement and commits the ultimate sacrifice via a one-night-stand with Burr thinking she's cinched the "deal" for Bill. But Burr has other plans---leaving Kathy horrified and guilty over what she's done. Her next move will be murder. Stanwyck always excelled at portraying strong, driven, ambitious women and Kathy is no exception. But the film has an obvious feminist slant unusual for the time. The director and Stanwyck make it clear what motivates Kathy and why she she goes over the edge. She loves her husband enough to go all out for him but smart enough to know that she will benefit too. She's too strong a woman to just sit around and mindlessly gossip over dresses, diets and phony aspirations. Her aspirations are real because she knows what she wants for herself and her husband. And it doesn't include cream cheese and olives. For Stanwyck fans, this is an interesting addition to her gallery of headstrong women with an agenda. It's not a "great" film but it's good and worth watching.

Criminal Intent
This movie might have single-handedly brought on woman's lib. When middle-aged San Francisco reporter Kathy Ferguson (Barbara Stanwyck) meets hunky middle-aged LA cop (Sterling Hayden), she chucks her career for love. This lands her in the San Fernando Valley in the dining room listening to the unbearably grating chatter of her husband's cop buddies wives. Naturally, this drives Kathy completely bonkers (If I heard the words "cream cheese and olive" one more time, I might have gone bonkers with her), and she becomes determined to get her husband to the top at any cost! Naturally, mayhem ensues.

This movie is only saved by the performance given by Barbara Stanwyck. She manages to make Kathy Ferguson a real person; she shows the real longing, desire (Barbara eyes Sterling Hayden like the prime slab 'o beef he is, and makes her intentions very clear), and smarts this woman has, and how frustration at being sidelined by society can bring out fierce competition in someone (today she'd be called manic-depressive). What's funniest about this movie is that it's so subversive. On the surface, we are supposed to be shocked, shocked I tell you, that Kathy does what she does in the name of her husband's career. On the other hand, life in the valley in the 50's is painted as so soul-destroyingly vapid, you wonder how she managed not to go on a killing spree. A really seldom seen gem that any fan of film noir should check out.

crime of passion
Good Noir. Good Stanwyck. Middle-aged love affair that goes wrong. What can happen to someone from San Francisco, if they move to LA. Well the valley that is. Stanwyck plays Kathy Ferguson, a reporter for a major newspaper who gets married, and has only one ambition, to make her husband move up in the ranks of the LA police Dept. And she will do anything to do it. You know there will be trouble. The acting is crisp and the pace is quick and watchable. I beleive Raymond Burr gets his only screen kiss that I know of. Fay Wray is terrific in a supportive role. Its great to see her and Stanwyck together.

Watch this with chips and CreamCheese and Olive dip. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Funny take off on Star Wars and low budget T&A!
Great for Star Wars fans! Every cute girl in the world moves to Hollywood, then an earthquake knocks the whole state into the ocean. We're left with normal looking girls. Evil Ronald Reagan type guy decides to smuggle in "pleasure droids". Han Solo-type bounty hunter played by Mark Singer has to find the "pleasure droids" before it's too late. His boss makes him work with a plain-jane droid technician girl, and their quest takes them to this Jaba The Hut guy, to this cantina with a cat-woman stripper, to an under water city. It keeps making fun of the kind of fake-chested girls in bad T&A movies, because the "pleasure droids" may be beautiful but they are dumb. The plain-jane girl is smart, and Mark Singer falls in love with her. I laughed alot at the jokes, and the space battle was pretty cool, too! ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Good ingredients - shame about the script!
Susan Hayward comes to Hong-Kong, then a British Crown Colony, to search for her husband, a journalist, who entered China without a visa, and "disappeared". She meets Michael Rennie, who works for the water-guard: Hong-Kong is a den of vice, unprotected women are considered a fair game. She finds out that Clark Gable is the right man for the job, a charming smuggler with a heart of gold (he adopted three Eurasian children). In the meantime Hayward's husband stews in a chinese prison. He wanted just a picture-story for his newspaper and now his guards torture him and taunt him with the photo of his wife and the promise that she will lie in Gable's arms within a month! Hayward is taken in by an embezzler who promises to work as middleman but goes into hiding with her money. But Gable comes to her help. He bribes informers with wrist-watches, takes Rennie and his sampan (ship) hostage, finds the baddie, beats him up and rescues Hayward's husband (cruises & shootings).

And this is it, I fear. What sounds more like an expose of a film is actually the finished product. In retrospect this film seems to me like an endless succession of scenes that show Hayward being verbally abused in bars. A pity - with all those good ingredients: Gable at his most Rhett-Butlerish, Hayward at the height of her career, the scenery. Gable's scenes were shot on location, but since Hayward's ex-husband prevented her from taking her nine-year-old twin sons to Hong-Kong the film makers made use of rear-projections and a red-headed double. Gable's biographer, Warren C. Harris, wrote that Gable had a clause in his contract, that allowed him to quit at five - so that he could start drinking! He also noticed that Gable used to shake under tension, so director Edward Dmytrik (a onetime target of HUAC) cut his scenes down to three or four lines.

Tired melodrama
Jane Hoyt (Susan Hayward), a self-sacrificing, loyal wife, enlists the aid of Hank Lee (Clark Gable), a roguish gambler with a heart of gold, to find and rescue her missing husband from Communist China. Filled with stock characters (ie, the policeman who secretly admires the dashing criminal and helps him in the end, the comical drunken sailors who hate "dames") and stock situations (passions flare during a big storm). There is some nice photography, but it couldn't hold my interest.

Why no DVD?
Terrific score and Hong Hong scenery for this action film. All the dreck's on DVD, why not this excellent movie?

YOU ARE IN GOOD HAND'S, WITH THE KING.
THIS MOVIE'S PHOTOGRAPHY (HONG KONG, THE HARBOR, THE OCEAN, AND CLOSE UPS)WAS CUTTING EDGE IN 1955, AND IS STILL BREATHTAKING TODAY (WITH A GOOD VHS/TV). CLARK GABLE GIVES A GREAT PERFORMANCE AS A MAN'S MAN, READY TO HELP THE GREAT LOOKING (SUSAN HAYWARD), A STRONG LADY, SLOWLY WEAKENING TO "THE SOLDIER OF FORTUNE", BUT STILL HOLDING TRUE TO HER MISSING/PRISONER (GENE BARRY)HUSBAND. MICHAEL RENNIE PLAYS THE GOOD COP, WITH A SENSE OF ADVENTURE, AND THE REST OF THE CAST ARE EVIL, HUMOROUS, LOYAL, AND ENTERTAINING, IN THIS IS, A GREAT 1950'S, COLOR MOVIE.

Hong Kong in 1955
This movie has beautiful scenery! It's worth seeing for that alone. ... Read more

Amazon.com

The title says it all--the abominable Dr. Phibes is back and as ruthlessas ever. No longer content with merely avenging his wife's death, Phibes is now bent on her resurrection. Phibes and his mute assistant, Vulnavia, set off for Egypt, meting out bizarrely elaborate deaths--everything from clockwork snakes to a particularly severe exfoliation treatment--to all who stand in their way. This time Phibes has two competitors to race against, the trusty Inspector Trout and the renowned archaeologist Biederbeck, who has his own reasons for chasing Phibes. Like its predecessor, Dr. Phibes Rises Again adds dark wit and imaginative art direction to the mix. Vincent Price is once again in high form, playing his organ with swooping arms and adding dry comic touches with a delicately cocked eyebrow. A worthy successor to the classic original. --Ali Davis ... Read more

Reviews (22)

Badder and better
Unlike Vincent Price's the Fly and Dr. Goldfoot, this time the second one is better. The deformed and demented doctor is back to try and revive his beloved wife (Caroline Munro in an uncredited, non-speaking role). Instead of the revenge plot from the first film, this one has Phibes in a race with Biederbeck (Robert Quarry) to see who can find way to the river of life. This dark comedy is just a little better than the first due to a more interesting plot and a stronger supporting cast, although Peter Cushing only has a couple of lines and is still billed third. Price seems to really enjoy himself in the Phibes role and Robert Quarry is a very worthy advisary. In the late 60's -early 70's, Vincent Price did some really weak films like Scream and Scream again, the Oblong box and Cry of the Banshee that gave him top billing but gave him very little to do. So, it was great that he got to revive his horror career by doing some fine films like the the two Dr. Phibes films and Theater of Blood.

Excellent sequel to "The Abominable Dr. Phibes"
Vincent Price returns as Dr. Anton Phibes is this competent sequel, which has Phibes traveling to Egypt to get an elixer that will bring his deceased wife back to life. Phibe's antagonist Biederbeck (Robert Quarry) is also in search of the miracle drug. Phibes proceeds the eliminate the competition by picking off Biederbeck's crew with a grisly relish. Lots of fun that does justice to the original.

Give It To Me Straight Doctor, I Can Take It!
Yes, the good doctor (Vincent Price) has risen again, just as diabolical, just as obsessed with his beautiful, dead wife Victoria. He is now trying to get her to Egypt, where he plans on taking her down the secret "river of life" for her complete resurrection! Accompanied by the ever silent Vulnavia (Valli Kemp), Phibes must compete with archeologist / eternal-life seeker Beiderbeck (Robert "Count Yorga" Quarry) in a race to the land of the pharaohs for the expected murder-fest, and ultimate showdown. Lots of laughs and killings-a-plenty in this near perfect Phibes phollow up! Highly recommended...

Not quite as good as the original
The beauty of the original Dr. Phibes movie was that while the plot was fantastic and Phibe's schemes convoluted and almost impossible to pull off, there was always the sense that given a driven and malignant enough intelligence they could (emphasis on could) have happened. In other words in real life there could have been Dr. Phibes-like murders. In the second Phibes film, all pretense of reality is stripped away and the fantastic is embraced. The plot being that Phibes is racing against Robert Quarry's Biederbeck to locate the river of life in order to revive his long dead (yet remarkably perserved) wife, Regina. Whereas in the original, Phibes is merely out to avenge her 'murder' by killing the operating team that tried to save Regina's life. This is not to say this makes for a bad film, it just seems a little diminished when weighed against the original. Just how likely is that a man who can figure out how to survive years entombed with embalming fluid in his veins could not save his wife's life? And what exactly is Phibe's relationship with the conveinently ressurected Vulnavia? How is it that Phibe's tomb was never discovered but his safe was found and the house above him was completly leveled?

That being said, Dr. Phibes Rises Again is one heck of a fun, twisted movie to watch. Vincent Price is again at his campiest and the retro/deco sets are glorious to behold. Even the Egyptian sets are gorgeous and the outrageous props (like the elaborate tuba Phibes carts all the way to Egypt or his standard automated musicians) just add to the outlandish fun.

A number of the character actors from the original make appearances in this second installment including the dogged Inspector Trout and his bewildered Scottland Yard superior. Terry Thomas makes another cameo as a ocean liner booking agent (vs. his eventually bloodless Dr. Longstreet) and there is a wonderfull small appearance by Peter Cushing as an ocean liner captain.

Robert Quarry as Phibe's nemesis is as fun to watch as Price himself. Biederbeck's callous and casual egotism is almost as dehumanizing as Phibe's disregard for all those who get in his way (and many who don't). Phibe's dispatching of his victims is as vicious and mean spirited as in the original. His murder of Biederbeck's mute manservant is particularly innovative.

All in all this is a horror movie that is great fun not overly gory and outshines most of the horror films that followed it. There are plenty of humorous moments in the movie (most at the expense of the Scotland Yard detectives) to break up Phibe's sadistic scenes. The plot is somewhat plodding but lets be honest you don't watch Vincent Price horror films for Oscar quality plot elements (though the Phibes' plots are arguably more complex than say, Titanic's). You watch to see Price the horror master at work and he certainly earned his keep on this film.

oh no...you better watch out!!
You have to have seen the first film, "The Abominable Dr. Phibes", to really understand the "good" doctor's madness in his quest to find the river of life in Egypt. Phibes is totally dedicated to restoring life to his beloved wife, Victoria. So dedicated that he kills people who get in his way. In the first film he murders a lot of doctors and in this one he kills archeologists who are working for Biederbeck {he's played by Robert Quarry, the man who AIP was secretly planning to become their new horror star because Vincent was getting old and AIP felt that audience would turn away from an old man}. Biederbeck has a secret and he too is kept alive with serum but unlike Dr. Phibes, Biederbeck wants to find the youth river for himself. Phibes finds this apalling and he tricks Biederbeck into giving him back a key that unlocks the gate blocking the river of youth (it's in the bottom of a pyramid and resembles more like a stream than a river). Phibes paddles himself and the dead Victoria through the gates of life as Biederbeck slumps over watching the two sail off. Biederbeck's wife says something like "it's not the end of the world" and then we see Biederbeck turn into his true 110 year old self! The police force are once again on hand for comic relief (Inspector Trout and his superior are hilarious). This sequel is just as great as the 1971 original. ... Read more

Reviews (8)

not top notch, nut still worth seeing
This movie is often mentioned as a member of the great pantheon of classic race movies, and it does belong there but it is more of a bottom feeder compared to "Grand Prix" and certainly "Le Mans". It is not the quality of the race footage or the throughout great performances of Newman, Woodward, and a very junior Richard Thomas, impressive on his movie debut. It is more the script that is the problem, and the movie lacks crucial time in the beginning to develop the characters and their relationships. Robert Wagner is a weak link in this movie since he never establishes himself as the friend and rival of the Newman character Frank Capua, and the whole delivery of his part in the affair with Capua's wife is weak. Where "Le Mans" does very much with little words, this movie sometimes fails to establish the relationship drama in key scenes, yet is very touching at times.
The track drama on the other hand is captured flawlessly, and the viewer gets some very interesting impressions on how the Indy 500 were run in the late 60ies, just before the hayday of the snakepit. With the right level of expectation this is an enjoyable movie, and the quality of the DVD leaves nothing to desire.

Not as bad as Driven