The Dr Mabuse series was revived in 1960 by none other than Fritz Lang(1000 Eyes Of Dr Mabuse).A total of six were released from 1960 to 1964.This is the fifth entry.
Dr Mabuse has taken over the mind of a professor.It's confusing as heck but Mabuse is dead.However his spirit keeps bouncing from body to body.Mabuse is plotting his next anarchist move against society.
Using his henchmen he steals an electronic device that can manipulate a person's will.Mabuse can control an army with this device.Testing it out he makes an innocent postman commit murder.A hangman commits suicide.The device is in perfect working order.
Mabuse plots to do no less than overthrow the English government.(He hasn't had much luck previously in Germany which may explain the move to England). Mabuse begins to subvert the will of many key government officials.Even Scotland Yard isn't immune to this fiendish device. Can anybody defeat Dr Mabuse or will England be his?
There is a flaw or two with this movie.You don't have to watch any of the previous movies to enjoy this one.However it would help.The comic relief is the hero's doddering old mother.She fancies herself as a detective.While she does provide some helpful answers you really would like to throttle her.
On the plus side this is a great plot.It moves along at a breakneck pace and is well directed.The photography is top notch.The acting is fine(or as fine as dubbing allows).This is a worthwhile entry in the series.
Keywords: lunatic asylummanipulationdr. mabuse
Plot summary
The spirit of the evil Dr. Mabuse takes over the body of a famous professor. The professor/Dr. Mabuse then begins a new crime wave that terrorizes the city.
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Dr Mabuse may just defeat Scotland Yard this time.
The eternal hunt for the criminal mastermind
"Scotland Yard jagt Dr. Mabuse" or "Scotland Yard in Pursuit of Dr. Mabuse" is a West German movie from the years 1963 and there are actually a handful more German and English titles for this one. The original language in the film is German and even if there are German films from the decades before that have color, this is still a black-and-white film. Like most of the other Mabuse films from the 1960s, this one runs for 90 minutes. The director is Paul May and two writers adapted the story by Bryan Edgar Wallace, son of the famous Edgar Wallace. The main character is not played by Gert Froebe this time, but by Peter van Eyck, who also should not be unknown to Mabuse film lovers. And there are more familiar faces such as Borsche, Peters, Windeck, Preiss and Klaus Kinski of course. The components in this film are the usual. It is once again police vs Mabuse as the title already says. They can never be sure where he is or if he is even alive. Technology plays a role in here and Mabuse also manages to control people's minds again, which is also a common occurrence in these crime films about him. As a whole, I cannot say I enjoyed the watch very much. Then again, I have never been the biggest fan of these Mabuse films and the absence of Froebe who I always like is not helping either. I do not recommend the watch.
The hunt for Dr. Mabuse continues.
It's a good thing they tried to change things around about and picked a different approach again. After all, this was the seventh Dr. Mabuse movie that was made, so everything had basically already been done before. It's not that the came up with a terribly originally concept are anything like that but at least they changed the settings and went along with different characters again, except for the villainous Dr. Mabuse of course, who is still as evil as ever and unfolds a new plan to take over the world, starting with London this time, using yet again mind controlling technologies.
The story is of course quite ridicules but at the same time it also works out rather well, also especially when being compared to some of the other '60's Dr. Mabuse movies. The whole crime/mystery elements of the movie are being handled quite well.
So out of all the Dr. Mabuse movies, this one really ain't among the worst, although it obviously also doesn't come noway close to the first three Dr. Mabuse movies, directing by Fritz Lang.
The acting in the movie really varies. The one moment it is great, the other its simple poor. The movie also features Klaus Kinski, in a quite early role and also yet AGAIN Werner Peters. He had appeared in 4 Dr. Mabuse movies before, each time in a totally different role, to which this movie also forms no exception. How confusing do you want things to be? Also Wolfgang Preiss reappears again in this movie as the villainous Dr. Mabuse again, for the fifth and last time, though only as the 'ghost' of Dr. Mabuse this time.
It's a quite funky movie. It has a typical funky '60's style, that all of the previous '60's Dr. Mabuse movies also had. Still the movie is shot in atmospheric black & white, which also provides the movie with a certain type of old fashioned atmosphere and overall style.
Yet another fine, perfectly watchable Dr. Mabuse movie entry.
7/10
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