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Poster for The Testament of Dr. Mabuse

The Testament of Dr. Mabuse

Madman? Monster? Murderer? Scientist?

1933 · 2h 2m · Not Rated Crime, Mystery, Thriller
Directed by Fritz Lang

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Overview

After a detective is assaulted by thugs and placed in an asylum run by Professor Baum, he observes the professor's preoccupation with another patient, the criminal genius Dr. Mabuse the hypnotist. When Mabuse's notes are found to be connected with a rash of recent crimes, Commissioner Lohmann must determine how Mabuse is communicating with the criminals, despite conflicting reports on the doctor's whereabouts, and capture him for good.

Director and cast

Critics on Rotten Tomatoes

Top critics, in their words

All reviews
86%
Tomatometer
Rotten

The story is very long-winded and even an ingenious director like Fritz Lang could not prevent its being rather slow-moving in places.

Variety Staff, Variety
Fresh

It is a hallucinating and horrifying story, depicted with great power and the extraordinary beauty of photography that Lang has led his admirers to expect.

Herbert L. Matthews, New York Times
Fresh

The movie captures an air of dread, despair, and individual impotence -- a political atmosphere that meshed perfectly with Lang's raging paranoia.

Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader
Fresh

By 1932, the character had become rather more than just king villain of the serials: Testament finds him mouthing undisguised Nazi slogans from his asylum prison.

Time Out

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