Doctor Mabuse

Due to my love of the original Dark Shadows tv series and it's many actors, I came upon doing a deep dive into filmmaker Ansel Faraj's filmography the last few months.

Faraj having made this film at such a young age is extremely impressive! The mood and actors included are definitely the cherry on top! (DS alumni Jerry Lacy, Kathryn Leigh Scott and the beautiful Lara Parker!)

Going back to an early film like Mabuse was really exciting and rewarding to see what Ansel has been able to do in the years since this release! I highly recommend 2019's "Loon Lake" also starring DS alumni's, like David Selby and Kathryn Leigh Scott (once more!)

See this movie because Ansel Faraj has been able to do something new in a way that filmmakers twice to three times his age seemed to have never known how to do. Doctor Mabuse is a wholly original film and fearless while it's at it -- detailing a contemporarily rendered vision of fear, even if set in "period" times between the wars yet, as we are now, always in a state of war. Fear, paranoia, claustrophobia, conformity and the banality of evil combine in a visually arresting and mind-blowing way to tell a simply great and terrifying story. Jerry Lacy MAKES the film along with a cast turning in good to great performances that enhance Lacy's dark embodiment of evil. Part homage, part brand new vision and always an analogy for our times, Doctor Mabuse is not only a highly worthy and frightening story in and of itself but marks a serious entry into movie-making. Ansel Faraj means it!

as the movie began , I thought, hmmm...I am now in a theater, in Europe , in the early 30's...then i started looking for reference points, Ed Wood, David Lynch, Fritz Lang, Tarhovsky,Dan Curtis...but by then I was lost at sea with Mabuse and Ansal Faraj and I was scared. ..and amazed..I had never seen such a film!But I was captivated with the ever growing sense of DREAD, mind control, grief, and utter helplessness...aspects of my life were mirrored, all the actors were committed to the unfolding horror...a filmic Greek Tragedy...not for the faint of heart. Lacy, Scott, Parker , all excellent in their new reincarnations. It seems Dark Shadows lives again, in parallel time, in the brilliant fearlessness of young director, Ansal Faraj.

I bought the DVD because it featured several Dark Shadows actors. And it was nice seeing them again -- though I felt sorry for them that they'd been reduced to working in this mess.

This production has an ultra low-budget feel. Shot entirely on stage, indoors, with green screen backgrounds. The scenes are very talky and pointless. I couldn't follow the logic of the plot. Lots of babble, which only serves to pad a dramatically vapid production.

Lara Parker and Kathryn Leigh Scott were under-utilized, so there wasn't even the pleasure of seeing them so much. At least Jerry Lacy had a more substantive role.

As a fan of both Fritz Lang and the old Dark Shadows soap opera, I was eager to see Ansel Faraj's Doctor Mabuse. You could say I am the target audience, and I wasn't disappointed! Seeing Jerry Lacy, Kathryn Leigh Scott, and Lara Parker together again is a treat in and of itself. As always, they are terrific! Newcomer Nathan Wilson has a lot of on screen charisma too. Faraj creates a noirish atmosphere which draws the viewer in. The lighting is particularly effective. I was surprised to learn that the director was only 21 years old when he made this film. Given his age and budget he had to work with, I am quite impressed. I am looking forward to seeing more of Faraj's work in the future. The movie and the director are definitely worth watching!