Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse (1962)

User Rating:

5.4/10   

Director:

Werner Klingler

Writers:

Ladislas Fodor (writer)
Robert A. Stemmle (writer)

Release Date:

1965 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Plot Keywords:

Remake | Character Name In Title

Cast

Gert Fröbe	...	Kriminalkommissar Lohmann
Senta Berger	...	Nelly
Helmut Schmid	...	Jonny Briggs
Charles Régnier	...	Mortimer
Wolfgang Preiss	...	Dr. Mabuse
Harald Juhnke	...	Kriminalassistent Krüger
Leon Askin	...	Flocke
Anneli Sauli	...	Wackel-Heidi (as Ann Savo)
Zeev Berlinsky	...	Gulliver
Albert Bessler	...	Paragraphen-Joe
Arthur Schilsky	...	Halseisen-Toni
Claus Tinney	...	Jack, der Fingerbrecher
Alain Dijon	...	Augapfel-Rolf
Alon D'Armand	...	Franky
Rolf Eden	...	Jeton-Eddi

Also Known As:

Terror of the Mad Doctor (USA) (reissue title)
The Last Will of Dr. Mabuse
The Terror of Doctor Mabuse (USA)
The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (USA)

Runtime:

Germany:88 min

Country:

West Germany

Language:

German

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

West Germany:12 (nf) (re-rating) | West Germany:16 (nf) (original rating) | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Bellevue S-Bahn Station, Tiergarten, Berlin, Germany

Company:

Central Cinema Company Film (CCC)

Movie Connections:

Spin off Dr. M (1990)

Unescary remake but luckily Gert Fröbe is back again!

This movie is not bad but it's a too simple entry in the Dr. Mabuse movie franchise.

It's part of the long running Dr. Mabuse franchise and a remake of the 1933 movie with the same title, directed by Fritz Lang. It's a bit weird that they decided to do a remake this time, as if they ran out of original ideas of its own. But then again, can you really call this a remake? It changed quite a lot, including the characters. It doesn't have an awful lot to do plot-wise with the 1933 movie and only a few sequences are similar. It also almost exactly copies the car chase in the finale of the movie but it of course can't beat the brilliant original.

The movie is not really mysterious since it show Dr. Mabuse and his intentions pretty early on in the movie. In the original version it was still kept a mystery for long that Dr. Mabuse was still alive and that he still was just as much in control as always. This movie chooses a far more simplified approach of things.

The movie is instead now often more silly than really tense or mysterious. It has some certain clumsiness's and silliness's in it, which makes the movie feel far more outdated than its 1962 year of production would normally suggest it is. And even though it's not a slow or boring movie, it just isn't a very exciting one either really.

At least a real positive thing was that Gert Fröbe returned again in his role as Kriminalkommissar Lohmann. The same role he had played before in "Im Stahlnetz des Dr. Mabuse". And what he great actor he was! Also Wolfgang Preiss reprises his role of Dr. Mabuse once more, for the fourth time already. Luckily his role in this movie is much larger again and he is better than ever before in this movie.

It's OK to watch, if you also liked the previous Dr. Mabuse movies.

6/10