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The Abominable Dr. Phibes/Dr. Phibes Rises Again

Blu ray

Kino Lorber

1971, 1972 / 1.85 : 1 / 94, 89 Min.

Starring Vincent Price, Joseph Cotten, Terry Thomas

Written by James Whiton, William Goldstein, Robert Blees

Directed by Robert Fuest

Though he thrived in light comedies and upmarket melodramas, Vincent Price didn’t really find himself till he found Henry Jarrod, the high strung sculptor-turned psychopath in 1953’s House of Wax. The role reinvented the Jekyll/Hyde story and gave Price the key to his long-lasting persona; the well-mannered fiend and the unhinged romantic merged into one tormented soul. Ticket buyers were both moved and terrified by Jarrod and the box office receipts reflected their fascination. Price was happy to dish up more of the same and though he would occasionally play no nonsense villains like the unambiguously evil Matthew Hopkins of 1968’s Witchfinder General, the actor rarely strayed too far from his comfort zone.

There was...

What is it about serpents and seduction? Is it the psychic residue of Sunday school and Adam and Eve, or is it that the ‘s’ sound is just so sexy? Not being much into organized anything leads me to believe the latter, and The Snake Woman (1961) bears this out in a short, simple way with surprisingly little in the way of exploitation; regardless, it’s a film that should leave viewers charmed (insert Gene Shalit gif here).

Released by United Artists in late April, The Snake Woman was a second biller in the U.S., riding the bottom end below Dr. Blood’s Coffin, released the same year from the same filmmaking team (producer George Fowler and director Sidney J. Furie). Costing under $20,000, it made money but not many friends, with critics deriding its barebones plot and poverty row budget; all true, but it also is something that most critics...

Brilliant photographer whose portraits were loved by international film stars

Cornel Lucas, who has died aged 92, was the doyen of still photography in the British film industry. Although his pictures were not destined for cinema screens, his artistry and technique were much respected by his film cameramen colleagues on both sides of the Atlantic.

During the 1940s, working at Denham Studios, in Buckinghamshire, Cornel became well known for his brilliant portraiture and as the master of a huge 12in x 10in plate camera, which gave a large negative area, capable of delivering unmatched image quality. When international superstars came to work on British productions, they were invariably photographed by Cornel to create the publicity stills.

When the film No Highway in the Sky was being made in 1948, a special session was arranged with Marlene Dietrich, resulting in a series of iconic photos. The success of the Dietrich work led to...