Looking over the stats from this project, the Top 5 Actors who appear the most are Peter Cushing, Boris Karloff, Christopher Lee, Bela Lugosi and Vincent Price. In total, they appear 210 times, 80 times in the Top 1000 (which includes a number of films with more than one of them.) Peter Cushing is my favorite, simply a great actor in any genre. He is followed by Karloff, Lee, Price and then Lugosi. Vincent Price had the most range. Like Samuel L. Jackson he could surprise you by playing against type, but is best known for the films where he leans into his persona. And no film leans harder than The Abominable Dr. Phibes.
Price has one of the most distinct voices in cinema history. This film makes an interesting choice of having Phibes speak with mechanical assistance. That means Price never moves his mouth, but his voice echoes through the room loud and clear while his face makes silent film style expressions. There are several weird choices like that, seeping into the baroque sets and mannequin band. Besides placing high in They Shoot Zombies, the film appears on the BadMovies site and 366 Weird Movies. A little something for everyone who doesn’t take their Horror seriously.
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