Tuesday, November 28, 2017

*****3,500th Post Celebration**** Fiction vs Fiction: The Abominable Dr. Phibes

It has been ages since I did one of these.  Oh well- it is my favorite Film ever as a Book!

Who will win in this battle of the greats?  Let's find out...
VS
What's the Same?
This is a bit of a tricky one, as you may have noticed that this Book is based on the Screenplay.  That was Co-Written by William Goldstein, the same guy who wrote the Book.

I'm still committed to this, so...

The Plot is still the same.  Phibes still kills a bunch of Doctors and his Clockwork Band is still great.

What's Different?
A big difference...in that there are many little ones.

Here's the big thing: the details.  The little details...but lots of them.

Here is one example...
In the Film, one Doctor is mentioned as being a target, the Police take him for security...and he's immediately-killed.

In the Book, you get a 3-4 page Backstory on him.  He loves pretending to be a rich Duke, hires a Prostitute to act it out and then falls in love with her.  He even runs up a debt renovating his place to look the right way....and then he gets pulled in by the Police and dies.
Which is better?
Your opinion may differ.  My opinion about yours will not.

For me, the Film moves at a better pace.  While I can appreciate the backstory and detail, I don't really need to know whether or not the guy killed in his Plane had a very smart and successful girlfriend.

Plus, the Film features the Art Direction and style of Robert Fuest.  A real winner.
Both are great.  Plus there's a third Phibes Story out there...
Given that I already own it, I probably should read it some day.

Next time, I plan to actually do this one a lot sooner.  How about the second/third Exorcist tale?  See you then...

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