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Mabuse Lives!
Vaerious (director)
Eureka Video (studio)
12 (certificate)
549 min (length)
31 March 2025 (released)
6 d
Arch villain Dr. Mabuse is Germany’s answer to Britain’s Professor Moriarty (or any Bond villain come to that) and it was legendary director Fritz Lang who first introduced him in his 1922 silent ‘Dr. Mabuse the Gambler’, followed by the 1933 talkie ‘The Testament of Dr. Mabuse’ - each film featuring Rudolf Klein-Rogge in the title role. Now, Eureka Video has just released the truly wonderful MABUSE LIVES! box set, containing six crime thrillers (all made between 1960 and 1964), often set during the era of Cold War paranoia and increasingly frightful weaponry.
Dr. Mabuse, a fictional character created by Luxembourgish novelist Norbert Jacques, is just as sadistic and cunning as Sax Rohmer’s Fu Manchu or Ian Fleming’s Blofeld, though in all fairness may not be as well known in English-speaking countries as the latter two. Thanks to MABUSE LIVES! this is about to change, as it introduces the criminal mastermind to a new generation of viewers, while fans of Fritz Lang’s originals get the chance to see the later works featuring Mabuse. All six movies are pacy with an international cast and a jazzy soundtrack and were made in the style of the hugely popular German Edgar Wallace ‘Krimis’, which turned out to be hugely successful in native cinemas throughout the 50s and 60s.
First up is ‘The Thousand Eyes of Dr. Mabuse’ (‘Die 1000 Augen des Dr. Mabuse’) from 1960, which was directed by Fritz Lang in what would be his final film. When a reporter gets killed in his car while on his way to work, Inspektor Kras (Gert ‘Goldfinger’ Fröbe) receives information from an acquaintance, blind fortune teller Peter Cornelius. As so often, Cornelius claims to have had a vision of the crime but cannot provide any clues regarding the culprit. Meanwhile, wealthy American industrialist Henry Travers (Peter van Eyck), who has hired a room in the Luxor Hotel, saves the life of suicidal hotel guest Marian Menil (Dawn Adams), who claims that she wants to end her life because she is fed up being threatened and bullied by her club-footed husband. However, Travers, who seems immediately smitten by Marian, senses that she hides something from him and his suspicion proves to be correct. At the same time, Inspektor Kras has not much to go by except further visions from Cornelius. One of the guests in the Luxor, a hotel ‘modified’ by the Nazis during WW2 for spying purposes, introduces himself as insurance salesman Hieronymus Mistelzweig but how come he always seems to either turn-up or is close-by whenever something dodgy happens? As Inspektor Kras is soon to find out, not only dodgy things are happening at rapid speed but more murders as well. Could this mean the return of the long-dead Dr. Mabuse (played in the current incarnation by Wolfgan Preiss) and if so, what is his agenda?
For ‘The Return of Dr. Mabuse’ (‘Im Stahlnetz des Dr. Mabuse’ - 1961) it was Harald Reinl who sat in the director’s chair. During his prolific career, Reinl directed many of the aforementioned German Edgar Wallace thrillers as well as some of the German Karl May Westerns - starring French actor Pierre Brice as Apache chief Winnetou and American actor Lex Barker as his blood brother Old Shatterhand. Lex Barker has a prominent role in this second Mabuse adventure as FBI agent Joe Como, who gets involved in a rather tricky case when a courier working for Interpol, who holds evidence that a notorious Chicago syndicate is planning a criminal collaboration with a European crime syndicate, is murdered while travelling on a train. This murders also puts a long-planned holiday for Inspector Lohmann (Gert Fröbe again) on hold, who soon finds himself in the thick of the action when more bodies pile up and the trail leads to a local prison, where Lohmann intends on asking prisoner Alberto Sandro (professional Austrian wrestler Ady Berber) some questions, much to the chagrin of the prison’s shady warden, Wolf (Fausto Tozzi). Soon, all hell breaks loose when female reporter Maria Sabrehm (Daliah Lavi) turns out to be the daughter of her brainwashed father Professor Julius Sabrehm (Rudolf Forster) but who is behind it all, and why does Joe Como always avoid questions about his persona? Could it be that Mabuse directs his latest reign of terror from a prison cell? The climax here is a complete cracker and this second film is easily among the best in the set.
Next up is ‘The Invisible Dr. Mabuse’ from 1962 (‘Die unsichtbaren Krallen des Dr.Mabuse’), also directed by Harald Reinl. Although hugely entertaining, the premise is somewhat pedestrian and concerns celebrated dancer Liane Martin (Karin Dor, who was married to Reinl at the time) being stalked by an invisible ‘admirer’. A lot of the action is set in Berlin’s Metropol Theatre and there’s plenty of Grand Guignol to relish (if that’s your thing). Lex Barker returns as Joe Como although Police Inspector Brahm is portrayed with wry humour by Siegfried Lowitz, while Wolfgang Preiss also returns (albeit briefly) as the dastardly mastermind. Who is behind ‘Operation X’ - what is behind ‘Operation X’ and how much does Bobo the Clown (Werner Peters) know? Things get stranger by the minute… Could it be that the heavily disfigured Professor Bardorf (Curd Pieritz), a scientist who has secretly been working on an apparatus that can make solid matter invisible, is held to ransom by Mabuse and if so, for what purpose?
‘The Testament of Dr. Mabuse’ (Director: Werner Klingler) is a re-imagined remake of Fritz Lang’s 1933 thriller and Gert Fröbe reprises his role as Inspector Lohmann, while Wolfgang Preiss’ Mabuse barely has any screen presence. The solid cast also features Senta Berger, Helmut Schmid, Walter ‘Wolf’ Rilla as professor Pohland and Charles Régnier as the dubious Mortimer.
‘Scotland Yard Hunts Dr. Mabuse’ (‘Scotland Yard jagt Dr. Mabuse’; 1963) was directed by Paul May and here, the premise is equally far-fetched, concerning Professor Pohland (Walter Rilla) who is manipulated by the ghost of Dr. Mabuse (Wolfgang Preiss) when, at the beginning of the film, the two faces merge (and that was it for Preiss’ screen appearance). Now possessed by Mabuse, Pohland is eager to ultimately dominate mankind via an invention which looks like a humble camera but projects the evil will of whoever operates it onto those who are photographed… It’s up to Major Bill Tern (Peter van Eyck), Inspektor Vulpius (Werner Peters) and Scotland Yard Inspector Joe Wright (Klaus Kinski, if you can imagine him in such a part) to put a stop to the ensuing mayhem. Would-be victim Nancy Masterson (Sabine Bethmann) plays Tern’s love interest and there’s plenty of action in this flick which ultimately, suffers from a flawed script - not helped by the fact that suave Major Bill Tern is still living with his mother Gwendolyn (Agnes Windeck) in their splendid country mansion. Too much screen time is wasted on banter between mother and son. Although we are supposed to believe that the action takes place primarily in London, we are never in London at all save for a few pickup shots. Still, it’s fun if you don’t compare it with the earlier offerings.
The final instalment, ‘The Death Ray of Dr. Mabuse’ (‘Die Todesstrahlen des Dr. Mabuse’) was directed by Hugo Fregonese in 1964 and is not only the weakest of the films in this set but also the odd one out, as it has the overall feel of a James Bond flick as opposed to the paranoid frenzy of the earlier Mabuse films. Supposedly set in Malta, it was shot entirely in Tuscany, Italy with a cast including Peter van Eyck (as Major Bob Anders), O. E. Hasse as Professor Larsen, Yvonne Furneaux as the seductive Gilda Larsen, Walter Rilla once more as Professor Pohland, Robert Beatty as Colonel Matson and Yoko Tani. Most perplexing of all, Wolfgang Preiss’ name is prominently displayed in the credits but he doesn’t appear in the film at all! As the title suggests, Mabuse attempts to hold the world to ransom with his latest invention - the death ray machine. The script is all over the place and rife with sexism while it’s all too obvious that the production team attempted to jump on the hugely successful James Bond wagon and thus we are treated to plenty of underwater scenes and frogmen but sadly, the concept doesn’t quite add up to expectations.
Produced by Artur Brauners’ CCC Films, this Limited Edition Blu-ray set (2000 copies only) is a ‘Must’ and comes with a plethora of hugely interesting background infos, audio commentaries, video essays, trailers, interviews and collector’s booklet! By the end of watching the lot, you will have become Dr. Mabuse!
Dr. Mabuse, a fictional character created by Luxembourgish novelist Norbert Jacques, is just as sadistic and cunning as Sax Rohmer’s Fu Manchu or Ian Fleming’s Blofeld, though in all fairness may not be as well known in English-speaking countries as the latter two. Thanks to MABUSE LIVES! this is about to change, as it introduces the criminal mastermind to a new generation of viewers, while fans of Fritz Lang’s originals get the chance to see the later works featuring Mabuse. All six movies are pacy with an international cast and a jazzy soundtrack and were made in the style of the hugely popular German Edgar Wallace ‘Krimis’, which turned out to be hugely successful in native cinemas throughout the 50s and 60s.
First up is ‘The Thousand Eyes of Dr. Mabuse’ (‘Die 1000 Augen des Dr. Mabuse’) from 1960, which was directed by Fritz Lang in what would be his final film. When a reporter gets killed in his car while on his way to work, Inspektor Kras (Gert ‘Goldfinger’ Fröbe) receives information from an acquaintance, blind fortune teller Peter Cornelius. As so often, Cornelius claims to have had a vision of the crime but cannot provide any clues regarding the culprit. Meanwhile, wealthy American industrialist Henry Travers (Peter van Eyck), who has hired a room in the Luxor Hotel, saves the life of suicidal hotel guest Marian Menil (Dawn Adams), who claims that she wants to end her life because she is fed up being threatened and bullied by her club-footed husband. However, Travers, who seems immediately smitten by Marian, senses that she hides something from him and his suspicion proves to be correct. At the same time, Inspektor Kras has not much to go by except further visions from Cornelius. One of the guests in the Luxor, a hotel ‘modified’ by the Nazis during WW2 for spying purposes, introduces himself as insurance salesman Hieronymus Mistelzweig but how come he always seems to either turn-up or is close-by whenever something dodgy happens? As Inspektor Kras is soon to find out, not only dodgy things are happening at rapid speed but more murders as well. Could this mean the return of the long-dead Dr. Mabuse (played in the current incarnation by Wolfgan Preiss) and if so, what is his agenda?
For ‘The Return of Dr. Mabuse’ (‘Im Stahlnetz des Dr. Mabuse’ - 1961) it was Harald Reinl who sat in the director’s chair. During his prolific career, Reinl directed many of the aforementioned German Edgar Wallace thrillers as well as some of the German Karl May Westerns - starring French actor Pierre Brice as Apache chief Winnetou and American actor Lex Barker as his blood brother Old Shatterhand. Lex Barker has a prominent role in this second Mabuse adventure as FBI agent Joe Como, who gets involved in a rather tricky case when a courier working for Interpol, who holds evidence that a notorious Chicago syndicate is planning a criminal collaboration with a European crime syndicate, is murdered while travelling on a train. This murders also puts a long-planned holiday for Inspector Lohmann (Gert Fröbe again) on hold, who soon finds himself in the thick of the action when more bodies pile up and the trail leads to a local prison, where Lohmann intends on asking prisoner Alberto Sandro (professional Austrian wrestler Ady Berber) some questions, much to the chagrin of the prison’s shady warden, Wolf (Fausto Tozzi). Soon, all hell breaks loose when female reporter Maria Sabrehm (Daliah Lavi) turns out to be the daughter of her brainwashed father Professor Julius Sabrehm (Rudolf Forster) but who is behind it all, and why does Joe Como always avoid questions about his persona? Could it be that Mabuse directs his latest reign of terror from a prison cell? The climax here is a complete cracker and this second film is easily among the best in the set.
Next up is ‘The Invisible Dr. Mabuse’ from 1962 (‘Die unsichtbaren Krallen des Dr.Mabuse’), also directed by Harald Reinl. Although hugely entertaining, the premise is somewhat pedestrian and concerns celebrated dancer Liane Martin (Karin Dor, who was married to Reinl at the time) being stalked by an invisible ‘admirer’. A lot of the action is set in Berlin’s Metropol Theatre and there’s plenty of Grand Guignol to relish (if that’s your thing). Lex Barker returns as Joe Como although Police Inspector Brahm is portrayed with wry humour by Siegfried Lowitz, while Wolfgang Preiss also returns (albeit briefly) as the dastardly mastermind. Who is behind ‘Operation X’ - what is behind ‘Operation X’ and how much does Bobo the Clown (Werner Peters) know? Things get stranger by the minute… Could it be that the heavily disfigured Professor Bardorf (Curd Pieritz), a scientist who has secretly been working on an apparatus that can make solid matter invisible, is held to ransom by Mabuse and if so, for what purpose?
‘The Testament of Dr. Mabuse’ (Director: Werner Klingler) is a re-imagined remake of Fritz Lang’s 1933 thriller and Gert Fröbe reprises his role as Inspector Lohmann, while Wolfgang Preiss’ Mabuse barely has any screen presence. The solid cast also features Senta Berger, Helmut Schmid, Walter ‘Wolf’ Rilla as professor Pohland and Charles Régnier as the dubious Mortimer.
‘Scotland Yard Hunts Dr. Mabuse’ (‘Scotland Yard jagt Dr. Mabuse’; 1963) was directed by Paul May and here, the premise is equally far-fetched, concerning Professor Pohland (Walter Rilla) who is manipulated by the ghost of Dr. Mabuse (Wolfgang Preiss) when, at the beginning of the film, the two faces merge (and that was it for Preiss’ screen appearance). Now possessed by Mabuse, Pohland is eager to ultimately dominate mankind via an invention which looks like a humble camera but projects the evil will of whoever operates it onto those who are photographed… It’s up to Major Bill Tern (Peter van Eyck), Inspektor Vulpius (Werner Peters) and Scotland Yard Inspector Joe Wright (Klaus Kinski, if you can imagine him in such a part) to put a stop to the ensuing mayhem. Would-be victim Nancy Masterson (Sabine Bethmann) plays Tern’s love interest and there’s plenty of action in this flick which ultimately, suffers from a flawed script - not helped by the fact that suave Major Bill Tern is still living with his mother Gwendolyn (Agnes Windeck) in their splendid country mansion. Too much screen time is wasted on banter between mother and son. Although we are supposed to believe that the action takes place primarily in London, we are never in London at all save for a few pickup shots. Still, it’s fun if you don’t compare it with the earlier offerings.
The final instalment, ‘The Death Ray of Dr. Mabuse’ (‘Die Todesstrahlen des Dr. Mabuse’) was directed by Hugo Fregonese in 1964 and is not only the weakest of the films in this set but also the odd one out, as it has the overall feel of a James Bond flick as opposed to the paranoid frenzy of the earlier Mabuse films. Supposedly set in Malta, it was shot entirely in Tuscany, Italy with a cast including Peter van Eyck (as Major Bob Anders), O. E. Hasse as Professor Larsen, Yvonne Furneaux as the seductive Gilda Larsen, Walter Rilla once more as Professor Pohland, Robert Beatty as Colonel Matson and Yoko Tani. Most perplexing of all, Wolfgang Preiss’ name is prominently displayed in the credits but he doesn’t appear in the film at all! As the title suggests, Mabuse attempts to hold the world to ransom with his latest invention - the death ray machine. The script is all over the place and rife with sexism while it’s all too obvious that the production team attempted to jump on the hugely successful James Bond wagon and thus we are treated to plenty of underwater scenes and frogmen but sadly, the concept doesn’t quite add up to expectations.
