Written by Mr. Mouseburger 24th Mar 2006
Kindly submitted by Mr Briggs Inc.
Dr. Anton Phibes, to his mind, has killed all nine doctors that performed the unsuccessful operation on his wife resulting in her untimely death [although one doctor is still alive].
Using the ten biblical plagues to inspire him with his revenge, he has reserved the final plague for himself.
After he again applies his latex "face", he retreats to a deep secret passage under his lair, where he has stored his wife, Victoria's, mirrored coffin. Phibes hooks his wrist into a machine that pumps all his blood from his body and replaces it with a strange embalming fluid. While this is working, he climbs into a coffin with Victoria, a gigantic lid with a luminous depiction of an eclipse closes on them both and the darkness consumes him. "The final curse upon the land, to end forever the sleep of man."
The dozey inspectors do not realise it is a coffin (even though it is clearly a coffin, and even though they know one of the remaining plagues is "darkness" and the coffin lid has the aforementioned eclipse motif on it) and so they do not find Phibes' corpse, leaving the credits roll to the instrumental tune of "Over the Rainbow”.
was Anton Phibes the last doctor to remain alive or was it one of the 9 doctors?
Dr. Vesalius is the surviving doctor and hero of the film, (aside from Phibes himself, who I ended up cheering for!) along with the inspectors.
By the way, we should add Phibes to "Cheating Death" as the device was only meant to "kill him" for a while, as he returns in the sequel.
you also cheared for Trout also?and the other 8 doctors dead including Allen but not Vesalius?
I cheered for Trout, and Vesalius too! (This is one of those movies where everybody wins!) In the next film, I also cheered for Biederbeck.
I did not however, root for the other doctors, because, well face it, then we wouldn't have much of a movie!
Thanks for submitting these deaths, as I'd never heard of the film previously and have now finally watched it.
I found it a welcome change of pace and style from the Hollywood Creature Features I've been watching recently, and it is undeniably odd!
What was most notable was: a) the impressive amount of effort and planning Phibes took with each death. Most required complex machinery, perfect timing and a huge amount of sheer cheek; and b) the incredibly passive nature of virtually all of Phibes' victims. Most could easily have survived by means of simply walking away, waking up etc. Of course, this just adds to the fun!
[quote Mr. Briggs Incorporated]By the way, we should add Phibes to "Cheating Death" as the device was only meant to "kill him" for a while, as he returns in the sequel.[/quote]I agree. He reappeared in 'Dr. Phibes Rises Again', unleashed only a year later!
Cheating Death is not intended for people who appear in sequels.
We treat each film as an isolated entity, so if they are not shown rising up by the end of that film then they are considered dead.
Not to say he can't have another entry for the sequel if he dies in that of course!
What about Durant??