Dr. Phibes Rises Again

The incredible legends of

the abominable Dr Phibes

began a few short years ago. All

them are, unfortunately, true.

It was here, in London's

fashionable Maldine Square,

whence Phibes ventured out to

work his diabolical revenge

against those responsible for the

death of his beloved wife Victoria

and the destruction

of his own face,

making it necessary to talk through

an ingenious mechanism in his neck.

My wife existed only six minutes

on the operating table.

You murdered her.

When the acid reaches him, he

will have a face like mine.

The minds of Scotland Yard were

baffled as the murders continued,

each more fiendish than the last.

And in his basement of his mansion,

none could hear his flamboyant

songs of triumph and revenge,

played on his organ and by his

ingenious clockwork musicians.

We have got to find Phibes.

Only by a stroke of amazing luck did

the police seek out Maldine Square.

But the fiendish Dr Phibes was

prepared for such an emergency,

and, building his face anew,

he entered the crypt, where he

had enshrined his beloved wife,

incredibly maintained neither

alive nor completely dead.

And there Phibes placed himself

in suspended life, like her,

until it would be time for

Phibes to rise again.

It's as if he disappeared

off the face of the earth.

Phibes lay in darkness three

years, until the moon,

coming into proper conjunction

with the eternal planets,

shone upon the golden moon of the crypt,

pulsing with a fantastic life of its own.

Lifeblood then flowed

back into Phibes,

great wheels and motors

sprung into motion,

and Dr Phibes once more

walked upon the Earth.

Victoria, for three years

I have rested beside you.

Tonight, the glorious moon has

risen to the exact position

which last occurred

2,000 years ago,

signalling the opening

of this crypt

and the beginning of our

greatest adventure.

We shall embark to

the land of Egypt,

where, years ago, in a mountain

overlooking the Valley of the Pharaohs,

I did prepare for us

a wondrous shrine

unknown by any living man.

There, my beloved, awaits the

key to resurrection for you

and eternal life for both of us.

And, once again,

I call on you, Vulnavia.

Come one more time,

my trusted aide.

Join me and my beloved,

for we have work to do to

bring her back to life.

Thank you, my dear, for

answering my call.

Upstairs, in my safe, is a

most precious map of papyrus,

the way to a Pharaoh's tomb,

beneath which flows each 2,000

years the River of Life.

We must make haste and find

the river at its flood.

Let us go upstairs and

prepare for our journey.

No! No!

While I slept in sweet oblivion,

who dared destroy my house?!

The safe.

The safe!

Could it still be here?

There!

What fiend has taken it?!

Only one who seeks eternal

life as I do. Biederbeck!

The papyrus. And yet,

paradoxically, worthless.

Yes, Ambrose, worthless.

For without my interpretation of the

translation it has no value or significance.

Three years it took me to come upon

this grand and final realisation.

It was the one... the one piece

I had searched for my whole life.

May I, Biederbeck?

Ah.

So this is the papyrus that

I've read so much about.

I've made no secret of it.

When they demolished a

house in Maldine Square,

it came into the hands of a dealer who

contacted me, knowing of my interest.

This seems to be almost a matter

of life and death to you.

You're a strange man.

Acclaimed as one of the most brilliant

minds in the Western hemisphere,

- yet you seem obsessed with...

- Yes?

The spiritual, the

mythical aspect of life.

Of course I'm obsessed with life.

And somewhere in Egypt that

obsession will be answered.

This... This is all hypothesis.

Five years ago I

toured the whole area.

Indeed, Ambrose.

And nothing.

I remember looking down

upon the whole valley.

That, my friend, was

your greatest mistake.

You looked down. Did it never

occur to you to look up?

- The sky?

- Exactly.

That's where the answer lies.

The stars.

The moon.

The sky is the key.

While you look down, I look up. The rings

of Saturn, when were they discovered?

- Beginning of the 18th century.

- Exactly.

And yet, look here.

See? Plainly marked.

And that map is 5,000 years old.

And this.

Only a fragment, but

what significance!

It's a page from the log of a Phoenician

ship. Notice the positioning of the stars.

A chart more sophisticated than anything

we allowed for in our calculations.

And, finally, this.

The Temple of Ibiscus.

- That's where we're going.

- What do you hope to find?

If there's treasure, gold, it's yours.

I'm seeking something more.

- What more do you want?

- I like to think he wants me.

I can tell by your face, you've forgotten.

We're dining with Princess Rica.

I'm sorry. I'll go up and change.

Make Ambrose a drink, will you?

- When are you two going to?

- Get married? You'd better ask Darius.

Perhaps after this trip.

Sometimes it's like... as if he's

going to Egypt for my benefit.

Every day he grows more preoccupied with

something. I wish I knew what it was.

Oh, Ambrose, I don't want to go!

- But I thought you wanted to go.

- No, I wasn't talking about tonight.

Well, are we ready?

Here we go, then.

Huh! Come along, my dear.

At least the meal

should be interesting.

We should get a good

claret, anyhow.

Darius, we can't keep the princess

waiting. Blue blood, you know.

So, once more I have been forced

to kill for you, Victoria,

only that you may live again.

For here, where mystic

lines converge,

we'll find the door that separates

the living from the dead!

I see.

Has he any known relatives

in this country, sir?

It would seem most unlikely.

May I ask how long has he

been in your employment?

- That is academic. The papy...

- That may be...

Don't interrupt me!

It damned well is so.

The papyrus is missing, and that's all I'm

concerned about. Not this postmortem.

Now let's get our priorities right. A man

has been senselessly killed, murdered.

All right, so he has. But I

have been senselessly robbed.

Curious as that may seem, the latter is

all that I care about. Do you understand?

Find the papyrus, and that will lead you

to the killer. But find the papyrus first.

You have 24 hours.

Now, this papyrus, who exactly would

know that it was in your possession?

Any interested party. I made

no secret of its purchase.

But it would interest only a few scholars...

all, I assure you, above suspicion.

No, Trout, what you are looking for

is a common thief who was surprised.

A man who pierces the skull of

another man with a golden snake?

That's not a common

thief, sir. With respect.

- With respect, what are you suggesting?

- That it was a calculated act.

By a man who knows the

true value of the papyrus?

Yes, sir.

No force in all the

world can stop us now.

For in a mountain range

where Pharaohs once reside,

a palace I have built

beneath the stone.

And there we'll wait until the great

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