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When the Disney strike of 1982 ended and the story artists returned to their respective work spaces in the animation building, "Basil of Baker Street" was still running along two sets of tracks. There were storyboards filled with gags and character bits, and boards filled with plot points.

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I love classic horror films.

I simply adore 1971's The Abominable Dr. Phibes. Vincent Price is at his grandiose and macabre best playing the titular character. A major spoiler warning to those who have not seen this vintage gem: this post is about endings--the vengeful doctor's in particular.

The plot of  The Abominable Dr. Phibes revolves around revenge. Dr. Phibes seeks vengeance for his wife's untimely death on a London operating table. His mode: Old Testament plagues of the pharohs: bats, locusts, boils, rats, hail...

And in true Weird Tales style, Phibes accomplishes his murders with style (if not reality).  Phibes has a flair for the  post-steampunk with his hail-making machine wired to a car's battery (the film is set in the mid 1920s). But this post is about endings...

And the end to the movie is inevitable: Dr. Phibes chases revenge as Scotland Yard closes in on him. In the final sequences, as he forces Dr. Vesalius (Joseph Cotten) to perform surgery on Vesalius's son (to retrieve a key implanted near the boy's heart--um, did Saw really allude to Phibes? Hell yeah.), you get a sense it was all inevitable.

Phibes, through an ingenious neck transmitter to gramophone device, claims nine will die. Barks as much in Vesalius's face during surgery, in fact.

And nine do die.  But here's the storytelling magic: the ninth isn't Dr. Vesalius's son--it's Phibes himself. As the police break into the house, Vesalius rescues his boy, and Phibes's assistant Vulnavia dies under an acid bath (but she was a clockwork, I think), Phibes attaches himself to a pump in his underground vault, lies down next to his wife's corpse, and fades away as the pump removes his blood and replaces it with formaldehyde.

Yeouch.

What can a storyteller learn? The ending, even when it seems inevitable, can still surprise an audience and be right. Even though Phibes is a heartless killer throughout the film, he does it with a style and charisma which leaves the viewer (at least this viewer) cheering in the end.  Phibes seals his tomb as he dies, leaving the police wondering how he escaped and the audience in on his little secret. He never planned on escape.

It's perfect. The writers didn't choose the easy ending: revenge on Dr. Vesalius (he did save his son) and no one expected Phibes to be the ninth to die. When is the last time the police never caught the baddie? Beautiful.

So writers, ask yourself at the end: choice A or B? And then choose C.



(Need I mention Phibes plays a bad-ass pipe organ?)

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Vincent Price Laugh

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I grew up in the village of Corrales, New Mexico. My friend Megan's mother owned the Molino Rouge, a popular restaurant across the street from our elementary school. I spent at least one weekend a month at Megan's house, and we often helped out at the Molino in the afternoon. That's where I met Vincent Price. He was having lunch with his son (who lived in New Mexico). Megan's mother, Jean, told us to ask Mr. Price if he would like tea or coffee. Megan had acquired a fit of giggles in the kitchen. I put on an apron and marched my ten year old self out to his table, and asked in my greatest attempt at maturity, "Would you like coffee, or tea?" He flashed the most alarming smile, and all I could think of was the Edgar Allan Poe piece about the raven. My mind kept repeating "never more, never more, sayeth the raven." By the time I got to the kitchen, Jean asked me what Mr. Price wanted, I had forgotten. I pretended he wanted a nice pitcher of ice water. I carried the ice water to him and he smiled again. He asked what grade I was in. I told him, still thinking about the raven. While pouring ice water into his glass, I spilled ice on his place setting. He laughed again. And then he reminded me that he would also enjoy some ice tea.
Tomorrow I am going to share some raven stories. I think they are remarkable intelligent birds. And by the way, Vincent Price was a remarkably nice person who was not perturbed by a child who poured ice water on him at a restaurant by the Rio Grande.

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