A criminal mastermind and master of hypnosis continues to operate his terror based criminal enterprise through telekinesis from his insane asylum cell. Fritz Lang's The Testament of Dr Mabuse, a sequel to a work that launched his career a decade earlier and a character he would revisit years later, is highly influential (so much can be seen from it in subsequent noirs and mysteries) and upset the recently empowered National Socialists so much with its parallels they saw fit to ban it in Germany. The film is a bizarre criminal procedural, made with breakneck pace, frenzied editing, and fantastic special effects. Otto Wernicke is fun as Inspector Lohmann, who played the role prior in Lang's M.
*** 1/2 out of ****
*** 1/2 out of ****
