Doctor Mabuse

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.

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!

An absolutely terrible, amateurish, silly take on the old Dr. Mabuse character with virtually no redeeming value. Okay, the blue screen look of the film is occasionally striking, but this is a mess when it comes to a solid script, strong characters, suspense, tension, or any coherent excitement. I felt sorry for the old "Dark Shadows" actors, of which only Kathryn Leigh Scott gives a memorable performance in a laughably under-written role.

I can only imagine that somebody got their relatives or people who worked on the film to write these rave reviews. The new Spielberg? Come on!

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.

Bad acting, no plot, stationary cameras with green screens. Don't waste your time. The great reviews must have been from people on drugs or paid by the film maker.