A remake of the 1933 Fritz Lang film, this finds Dr. Mabuse (Wolfgang Preiss) in Hannibal Lecter mode — I get it, Lecter was in Mabuse mode because this comes first, but let me get back to writing this — and trapped in an asylum where Inspector Lohmann (Gert Frobe) keeps visiting, wanting to know how he’s communicating with criminals despite being locked away.
There’s also a boxer named Jonny Briggs (Helmut Schmid) who becomes part of Mabuse’s gang of henchpeople. Maybe he should just not live this life of crime and spend more time with his girl, Nelly. That’s because she’s played by Senta Berger (The Ambushers, When Women Had Tails), and that’s way cooler than being a hood for a mysterious mastermind, but what do I know?
I like how these films are gradually becoming more Eurospy. Here, the last film—The Invisible Dr. Mabuse—leads directly into this one. As no one in the U.S. knew who Dr. Mabuse was—or so they say, despite nearly all of the CCC movies coming out here—this was released as The Terror of the Mad Doctor. This time around, Werner Klingler directs.

The Eureka box set Mabuse Lives! includes this movie, an introduction by genre film expert and Video Watchdog founder Tim Lucas, a new 1080p presentation from a 2K restoration of the original film elements undertaken by CCC, a commentary track by film historian and author David Kalat, and an alternate ending. You can get it from MVD.
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