After watching the sublime THE ABOMINABLE DR PHIBES, I wanted to see the sequel and hoped that it would be as good and as original as the first flick. What I saw, instead, was one of the worst sequels I've ever seen. Everything that is so brilliant about the first film is completely missing in DR PHIBES RISES AGAIN. It's so bad that it's embarrassing. It's obvious that everyone agreed to do the sequel just because the first film was a success and they all wanted more money out of it. Terry-Thomas even returns for a totally useless, unfunny cameo. Of course, he doesn't play his character in the first film because he was killed. The script is bad: Dr Phibes and his new nemesis head for Egypt. Both of them travel on the SAME BOAT yet they never cross path on the ship. The whole project has a feeling of total desperation and cheapness to it that it's amazing. An average episode of THE AVENGERS has more quality and is better than this fiasco. It's just poor on every level.
Review of Dr. Phibes Rises Again
