The Phibes films are favorites of mine. I first saw them on "CBS Late Movie" airings so there were cuts. I know a lot of fans diss the sequel (and Vincent Price himself was very angry about it) but there are several elements in it I love, including VP's "mod" styled wig and the high Art Deco Egyptian sets. Also fun to have such folks as Fiona Lewis and Robert Quarry on hand. Terry-Thomas and Beryl Reid both have cameos that are amusing.
I really, really hope the Burton/Depp remake just falls through. But this time around I'm determined simply to ignore its existence if it is released.
The director of the Phibes films was Bob Fuest who died a couple of years ago and has, I believe, an odd connection to the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series. Fuest did a B movie called The Devil's Rain (filmed in Mexico, maybe?) that was really schlocky but was, I think, the first film to use the visual image of people possessed by the Devil/forces of darkness have eyes that turn black all the way through. When this showed up on BTVS I immediately thought of "The Devil's Rain."
My personal favorite Fuest film of all is the 1973 offbeat sci fi apocalyptic thriller, The Last Days of Man on Earth, aka The Final Programme. It's unfortunately practically impossible to find now.
G.