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.

One of the better Mabuse-films of post-war West-Germany. Of course, none of these films came even close to the famous Mabuse original from the 20-ies. Dr. Mabuse is a mad scientist who uses his power to control and manipulate other minds. He is difficult to track and has the unpleasant feature of killing someone or lancing a coup in the most unexpected places and times. Usually, he uses devices as electronic mind-manipulators or hypnosis and has a gang of criminals at his disposal who carry out his orders and usually don't even know that their leader is the feared Mabuse. In the Dr.-Mabuse-sequels he was killed or hunted down several times but only to escape with mad genius and to appear another time. What makes this film interesting is the style and the scenic decoration with which the dark emotion and the mysteriousness are displayed that Dr. Mabuse implies. Supporting the mysterious atmosphere is that the film is made in black-and-white and the use of light has more effect on the atmosphere, although it is sometimes to theatralic. Some creepy details are remarkable for example masks or busts standing in a psychiatrist's office that contribute to the morbide background. Mabuse should be perceived like an unstoppable ghost - a task that has been very well accomplished. It has some kind of psycho-atmosphere - you can trust no one (maybe Mabuse has just manipulated your girlfriend's mind or a bling beggar is killing you on the street). The actors of this film are fairly unimpressive especially the unbearable Lex Barker who doesn't fit in this movie at all. The sole exception is the grummy Gert Froebe who plays the commissar once again and (for native-germans) can work with his saxonian dialect as well as putting his large body in police-like behaviour that is fun for anyone to watch as he is the only serious actor in this movie. Measured with international standards this film is a mediocre and unimpressive work and certainly not remarkable. But for german cinema it has a traditional connection with the Edgar-Wallace-movies that appeared at the same time. The Doktor-Mabuse-films use the same methods to create mystery, crime and psychological fear. Almost all of them are made in black-and-white and share the same pool of german actors that emerged in the 50-ies and 60-ies. This film is more interesting for someone who likes these pseudo-thrillers (as me) as for someone who wants to watch a serious movie. This film distinguishes itself as it is one of the more serious of the Mabuse-series with the plot being more conclusive and the solution of the case being more believable. And Gert Froebe's acting is noteworthy as it enriches this more or less pale movie.