Purely Joyful Movie!

Absolutely amazing

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Director Harald Reinl(The Torture Chamber of Dr. Sadism)helms this solid, complex Krimi, another entertaining entry in the Dr. Mabuse series starring Gert Fröbe(..the great Bond villain, Goldfinger)as an inspector, Lohmann, investigating a case in regards to several murders connected to a crime syndicate. Lohmann soon discovers that the murders are connected to a prison ran by Warden Wolf(Fausto Tozzi)with certain prisoners, hypnotized and operating at another's orders, willing to kill for the mastermind over their control, that being Dr. Mabuse himself. Along for the ride are Lex Barker, as a double agent, Joe Corno/Nick Scappio and reporter Dahlia Lavi(..as Maria Sabrehm). As the mystery unravels, Maria is actually daughter to a brilliant chemist unjustly sent to prison, Professor Julius Sabrehm, who has reluctantly provided the chemical agent which removes the humanity of prisoners, which conditions them to follow orders at the will of their controller. Werner Peters is Böhmler, whose responsibilities are to keep the prisoners in line, and secretly reports to Mabuse. Rudolf Fernau is Pfarrer Briefenstein, a suspicious priest, who may also be part of Mabuse's network, operatives using his church as a base. The movie's plot stays busy, keeping your mind occupied, as Lohmann attempts to tear apart the syndicate with Mabuse quietly orchestrating a plot to attack an atomic power plant using the zombie prisoners. Characters like Joe Como and Maria have their own agendas, so the film often keeps you guessing as to the characters' motivations and who Lohmann can trust. It was neat seeing Fröbe in the detective role, trying to uncover the truth as to where Mabuse is located(..if it is even Mabuse;he's supposed to be dead)and how to stop him. Lavi is just to die for, positively gorgeous, with those wonderful curves..what a fine specimen. I thought RETURN OF DR MABUSE was quite atmospheric with a fine detective story that maintains interest, even if you can figure out the mastermind of the operation. I liked the mad science aspects as to how Mabuse commands his zombie soldiers and watching Lohmann's response to the diabolical criminal..the cat-and-mouse between the two always keeps the plot interesting. I also liked how Lohmann isn't the most perfect inspector, sometimes outwitted by Mabuse(..of course, he does put together the pieces of the puzzle, but Mabuse, at times, gains the upper hand).Intriguing idea regarding Mabuse's use of criminals, his main base of operations being a prison..talk about thumbing your nose to the police!

The style and direction of the movie reminded me of the later British Hitchcock films as well as some of the Sherlock Holmes flicks of the 1930's and '40's, even though this German movie was made in 1961. The quality of the print I viewed also seemed to place it as an older film by a couple of decades, but in that regard it added to the atmosphere of the story. I'm not familiar with the prior Mabuse films as most of the other posters on this board are, so my review isn't influenced by those other works.Of course the mystery lies in the identity of the title character, regularly mentioned but never seen, with hints of his previous demise and possible after life as a ghost of some sort. The voice of Mabuse makes contact at various times with Inspector Lohmann (Gert Frobe) and a mysterious contact who could be an undercover policeman or a mob contact from a Chicago based syndicate. It's not enough that Lex Barker goes by Joe Como and Nick Scappio, but later takes on a third guise as Bob Arco. I thought Mabuse figured out his identity just a little too easily with the Maria hostage ruse; I would have thought the character would be more wary of a trick like that.I was a bit surprised to see that gruesome flamethrower death scene near the beginning of the story, particularly involving a woman. When a similar apparatus appeared later on with Maria (Dahlia Lavi) as a target I caught myself wincing a bit. I would have hated to see her go out like that.The story takes enough twists and turns to make it rather hard to follow as it nears the finale, and the payoff as to the identity of Mabuse came off as a downer actually since he wasn't a character introduced earlier in the story. There was enough mis-direction in the picture to suggest Mabuse as any number of people like Warden Wolf, the creepy Bohmler, or even Maria's father the Professor. Come to think of it, the Professor said he WAS Mabuse, and you kept watching for that to play itself out to no avail. So having Mabuse show up as someone else altogether was a bit of a disconnect for me. I did come away though wondering, as did Lohmann, that perhaps Mabuse found a way to escape his fate in a way that Sherlock Holmes' nemesis Professor Moriarty managed to do on more than one occasion.

This was another good entry in the Dr. Mabuse series, and a good German mystery movie in general. Gert Frobe is excellent as Lohmann, and Lex Barker is a welcome addition with his character, who keeps us on our toes by never really letting us know his true allegiances until late in the film. Once again though, a lot of traps and salient plot points are recycled from some of the previous Mabuse movies. The addition of the "Chicago Syndicate" element looks to have been added to make the movie more reachable to US audiences, but the film does manage to keep the unique verve that most German cinema had back in the fifties and sixties.

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!