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Post by lukemorningstar on Oct 23, 2008 8:18:15 GMT
Whilst I'm on here it would be rude not to start off one of my typically trite and trivial posts! Having just re watched both the Phibes movies I'm going to risk sounding like those two characters from League Of Gentlemen who are always in the video shop ('How many killin's?') and ask what you think is the most gruesome / inventive method of despatch in both the films?
I'm going for Frog Mask (Abominable) and Scorpions (Rises Again)
I love the way that Phibes manages to get hold of all these elaborate props (giant gin bottle, unicorn catapult etc) at the drop of a hat! It's all part of the very high camp, fantasy element of the films.
Oh and I was going to ask which of the two Vulnavias you think is the fittest / sexiest, but I'm sure that's been discussed before, and I honestly cant make my mind up!
Colin
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Post by dem bones on Oct 23, 2008 10:10:48 GMT
Favourite death in Abominable ... is one of the least convincing - the rats in the plane episode (i have personal reasons, he said all mysteriously) but i'll go with you on the skull-crushing skull mask as grisliest. Frightened the life out of me, that! Saddest death? You bastards! You killed Vulvania!
Can't make a considered judgement on Rises Again as it's been too long since i've seen it.
Sexiest/ fittest Vulvania (classy name, classy lady!) is a question i ask myself at least twice an hour, and i have to say - it's a draw! Virginia North wins points for cheating by sneaking a crafty cheesecake dance into the first film (for the delectation of lecherous Terry Thomas: inspired casting!), whereas Valli Kemp, you could make the fatal mistake of thinking she was a lost little girl, in need of your big, manly protection. And then she'd hammer nails in your eyes.
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Post by Johnlprobert on Oct 23, 2008 10:17:46 GMT
Favourite death in Abominable:
The old unicorn through the door trick because it's so barmy
Favourite in Rises Again:
The scorpions because it's so horrible.
Favourite Vulnavia:
As Dem has already attested, this is a question most full-blooded early 70s horror loving men ask themselves at least twice an hour except on Sundays when there's more time to consider this particular conundrum,
But it's Valli Kemp. Oh yes. But then she was my first Phibes girl & you never forget your first.
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Post by carolinec on Oct 23, 2008 10:25:00 GMT
For me it has to be the frog mask in the first film too - I love the way it's shot as if you're looking through the victims eyes, getting dizzier and dizzier, and redder and redder (with the blood)! And I've always found masked ball scenes in films quite scary (same with clowns). I haven't watched Rises Again in ages, but I do remember the "clockwork snake on the billiards table" death. This one holds a particular fear for me as I'm petrified of snakes (and now I'm wondering if Dem has a similar fear of rats and/or flying given his comment above?). I don't think I'm qualified to comment on Vulnavia - but I'm sure Dem's mis-spelling of her name is a Freudian slip!  |
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Post by The Lurker In The Shadows on Oct 23, 2008 11:13:19 GMT
Favourite death in the first film is the catapulted unicorn, purely for the scene where they have to unscrew the victim. The death by Brussels Sprouts and locusts is pretty memorable too.
The scorpions in the second film make for a scene I find difficult to watch. Very nasty.
And Valli Kemp would be my Vulnavia of choice were I to embark on a madcap revenge-driven killing spree.
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Post by dem bones on Oct 23, 2008 11:19:24 GMT
I don't think I'm qualified to comment on Vulnavia - but I'm sure Dem's mis-spelling of her name is a Freudian slip! Oh, bloody hell!  And it would have to happen to me! Vulnavia! I meant Vulnavia!  Don't have any argument with rats at all. I'm fond of 'em, if not as much as I am bats and beautiful crows! Dunno about flying. Not really likely to be doing much of that this side of the grave. It's nothing more personal than that, as a kid i used to love playing in the spooky woods around Bentley Priory where it was filmed (there was a neat disused railway line too). So one night, i'm watching this weird horror film on TV and there's MY woods! Abominable ... also features a cameo from Highgate Cemetery: : it's where the 'dead' Phibes is supposed to be buried. So even the locations in Abominable ... are top notch. |
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Post by The Lurker In The Shadows on Oct 23, 2008 12:53:16 GMT
I love the way that Phibes manages to get hold of all these elaborate props (giant gin bottle, unicorn catapult etc) at the drop of a hat! Maybe he has an account with ACME, same as Wile E. Coyote? |
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And it would have to happen to me! Vulnavia! I meant Vulnavia! 