F.B.I. contro dottor Mabuse

This film has had more titles than some folks have shorts.No matter what the title we do have a nifty follow up to the classic 1000 Eyes Of Dr Mabuse.

A man is murdered on a train which brings in Inspector Lohmann.In a rather gruesome scene a woman representing the Chicago Mafia is roasted alive by a flame thrower in a truck.This brings in Joe Como,FBI agent.Or is he really Nick Scapio from the Chicago mob?

Dr Mabuse wants to make a deal with the Chicago gangsters for some undisclosed reason.He has a chemical which makes a person a slave to the will of Dr Mabuse.Mabuse intends to take over and destroy a nuclear power plant in the city as a show of good faith.Cleverly using prisoners from the local prison Mabuse intends to create mass havoc & terror.

This film is never dull and will keep you guessing right until the end.It also has one of the more paranoid endings in the Dr Mabuse series.If you can find it enjoy it!

One of the better Mabuse-films of post-war West-Germany. Of course, none of these films came even close to the famous Mabuse original from the 20-ies. Dr. Mabuse is a mad scientist who uses his power to control and manipulate other minds. He is difficult to track and has the unpleasant feature of killing someone or lancing a coup in the most unexpected places and times. Usually, he uses devices as electronic mind-manipulators or hypnosis and has a gang of criminals at his disposal who carry out his orders and usually don't even know that their leader is the feared Mabuse. In the Dr.-Mabuse-sequels he was killed or hunted down several times but only to escape with mad genius and to appear another time. What makes this film interesting is the style and the scenic decoration with which the dark emotion and the mysteriousness are displayed that Dr. Mabuse implies. Supporting the mysterious atmosphere is that the film is made in black-and-white and the use of light has more effect on the atmosphere, although it is sometimes to theatralic. Some creepy details are remarkable for example masks or busts standing in a psychiatrist's office that contribute to the morbide background. Mabuse should be perceived like an unstoppable ghost - a task that has been very well accomplished. It has some kind of psycho-atmosphere - you can trust no one (maybe Mabuse has just manipulated your girlfriend's mind or a bling beggar is killing you on the street). The actors of this film are fairly unimpressive especially the unbearable Lex Barker who doesn't fit in this movie at all. The sole exception is the grummy Gert Froebe who plays the commissar once again and (for native-germans) can work with his saxonian dialect as well as putting his large body in police-like behaviour that is fun for anyone to watch as he is the only serious actor in this movie. Measured with international standards this film is a mediocre and unimpressive work and certainly not remarkable. But for german cinema it has a traditional connection with the Edgar-Wallace-movies that appeared at the same time. The Doktor-Mabuse-films use the same methods to create mystery, crime and psychological fear. Almost all of them are made in black-and-white and share the same pool of german actors that emerged in the 50-ies and 60-ies. This film is more interesting for someone who likes these pseudo-thrillers (as me) as for someone who wants to watch a serious movie. This film distinguishes itself as it is one of the more serious of the Mabuse-series with the plot being more conclusive and the solution of the case being more believable. And Gert Froebe's acting is noteworthy as it enriches this more or less pale movie.

Own laws are valid for criminal-genious Dr. Mabuse ( Wolfgang Preiss ). Inspector Gert Fröbe is being helped or disturbed by Lex Barker. The team, director H. Reinl and Lex Barker continued their work at Winnetou. The Westgerman-criminal-era started in the late 1950ies up to 1970. Famous were the many Wallace-criminals, but Dr. Mabuse is more unique with great Preiss and contains action and disport.

If you see that a big truck is following you, run as fast as you can, you are in danger of being set on fire with a flamethrower, crushed against a wall or thrown a substance that will put you to sleep and then kidnap you. All this and many other fascinating things happen in this film, it's a successful one from the Mabuse series. Harald Reinl, the director, was as good as Fritz Lang. We have a very young and beautiful Daliah Lavi in the role of a very curious reporter and at the same time the daughter of a scientist, we have the natural and very convincing Gert Fröbe as Kommissar Lohmann and Lex Barker as a FBI agent and the excellent experts in villainous roles Werner Peters as Böhmler and Wolfgang Preiss as Dr. Mabuse. And Peter Sandloff's music is good, he being also the author of the music for "Die unsichtbaren Krallen des Dr. Mabuse" (1962).

Second part of the new Doctor Mabuse series

As a competitor to the successful Edgar Wallace film adaptations, producer Artur BRAUNER brought old Mabuse out of obscurity with his CCC. The American Tarzan actor Lex BARKER, whom BRAUNER met in Rome at the premiere of THE SWEET LIFE, joined the cast of the German shocker.

In a city with the license plate P (filmed in Berlin), bizarre murders occur again, including a female FBI spy (Laura SOLARI). This brings Joe Como (BARKER) from America onto the scene. But Inspector Lohmann (Gert FRÖBE), who actually wanted to go fishing, is also investigating. The attractive Maria Sabrehm (Daliah LAVI / GOLDEN GLOBE nomination for TWO WEEKS IN ANOTHER CITY) is also bustling around the crime scene as a frenzied reporter. The investigation soon focuses on a church whose pastor (Rudolf FERNAU) writes obscure books about the devil, and a prison whose warden (Fausto TOZZI) is soon murdered. Doctor Mabuse is back at it again...

Director Harald REINL (OSCAR nomination for MEMORIES OF THE FUTURE) brings new impetus to the series. This is also ensured by the lively Lex BARKER, who was already able to warm up for the role of Old Shatterhand. Other standard actors from the German horror thriller appear: Werner PETERS, Ady BERBER, Wolfgang PREISS. Daliah LAVI from Israel, who later became very successful as a pop star, also cuts a good figure. Incidentally, Hans-Jürgen KIEBACH (OSCAR for CABARET) was responsible for the production design. 2.483 million visitors wanted to see the film in West German cinemas. Sequel follows! The series could continue!