Limerculer A waste of 90 minutes of my life

Beystiman It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Keeley Coleman The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Curt Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

Scarecrow-88 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!

Boba_Fett1138 The previous Dr. Mabuse movies were mostly mystery thrillers but this movie is more of a crime thriller, also with some certain '60's funkiness added to it all. The movie is more starting to head into the 'James Bond' sort of direction with this entry, also by having some silly gadgets in it, used to murder people with. It also all means that the story is less believable and even a bit silly, compared to the previous Dr. Mabuse entries. In the movie it's also kept a mystery for long who Dr. Mabuse is and he's mostly featured in shadows and underneath masking clothes, though if you've seen the previous "Die 1000 Augen des Dr. Mabuse", which got released only just one year before this movie, you already know who Dr. Mabuse is and how he looks like, so it just seems a bit silly all and in some ways this movie is just basically more of the same, compared to the previous Dr. Mabuse entries, especially the last one "Die 1000 Augen des Dr. Mabuse". There unfortunately also are some unnecessary plot lines and characters. Or differently put; some characters and plot lines we just don't care about!All of the action and especially the editing of it all looks by todays standards terribly outdated and clumsy. But who can really blame them. Action movies and action-style was basically still non-existent in 1961. Then again, the movie also isn't too action filled. The movie at least doesn't lay its emphasis on it and rather relies on its script and the thriller and mystery elements in it.The overall style and atmosphere is great. It has a sort of dark, mysterious atmosphere, that is being enhanced by the fact that the movie was shot in black & white. Perhaps the only true thing that all of the Dr. Mabuse movies have in common (with the exception of "Dr. M schlägt zu" that was shot in color). Because lets face it, the Dr. Mabuse movies from the '20's, '30's and '60's are all quite different in style, approach and overall execution of it all, simply because of the different time periods the movies got made in. Also the character of Dr. Mabuse changed and the Mabuse in this movie does not operate the same as the one from the '20's and '30's. But that's OK all. It sort of gives each Dr. Mabuse movie its own identity and also makes sure that all of the movies are still filled with surprises. The character of Dr. Mabuse himself also doesn't get any weaker because of it.The presence of the character of Dr. Mabuse of course really uplifts the movies and makes the movie much better than just any other average thriller from the same period. It's a great villainous, classic crime character, with lots of power over people.Gert Fröbe is not as great in this movie as he was in "Die 1000 Augen des Dr. Mabuse" and it's of course also a bit weird and confusing that he this time plays a totally different character as he did in the previous entry "Die 1000 Augen des Dr. Mabuse" (same goes for some other actors within this movie, such as for instance Werner Peters). But of course that doesn't take away that he still gives away one fine performance. Wolfgang Preiss reprises his role from the previous Dr. Mabuse movie again and does a good job at it, though I was his role was bigger.Not that great when compared to the previous 3 Dr. Mabuse movies but on its own this is simply a good and certainly enjoyable early crime thriller.7/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

Vigilante-407 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.

evilskip 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!