The Invisible Dr. Mabuse Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.0

The Invisible Dr. Mabuse Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman April 1, 2025

Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of the Mabuse Lives! set from Eureka! Entertainment.

The infamous Dr. Mabuse made his literary debut in 1921, one which made such a considerable impact that barely a year later the inimitable Fritz Lang offered a (silent) film adaptation with Dr. Mabuse: The Gambler. That film actually presaged such later blockbuster efforts like Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, or alternatively The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2, by unspooling in two parts (unlike the foregoing more contemporary features, Lang's two related 1922 Mabuse entries were released only a month apart). The film was such a sensation that Lang revisited the source property in 1933 for a sound film called The Testament of Dr. Mabuse*. Lang, who had famously become an expat due to the rise of Hitler (some aver the 1933 Mabuse is a thinly veiled commentary about Hitler), was coaxed back to his native Germany in the late fifties by producer Arthur Brauner, for whom Lang made his last three films, The Tiger of Eschnapur, The Indian Tomb (another "diptych" from Lang available on Blu-ray as part of the Film Movement release Fritz Lang's Indian Epic), and The Thousand Eyes of Dr. Mabuse, which saw Lang wrapping up his career by returning to arguably the most redolent character (and/or characters) of his filmography, and in so doing launching a whole new series of Mabuse films (albeit without Lang's continued involvement). This new "franchise" was fashioned to compete with or at least appeal to the same demographic as first Rialto Films' krimi productions, and then the somewhat later Wallace Krimi at CCC films, itself rather interesting since CCC produced these films. (The link points to a nice looking upcoming release from Eureka that may well serve as a companion piece to the Dr. Mabuse set). Also kind of interestingly just as this Dr. Mabuse cycle was close to coming to an end, another property which is mentioned in some of the supplements in this collection as featuring a sort of companion character to Mabuse resurfaced as part of a resurgent Fantomas series which began in 1964, almost exactly as the Mabuse films were ending (Jess Franco took up the veritable mantle in 1970 for The Vengeance of Dr. Mabuse, but for purposes of this review, the "official" original reboot series was over by 1964).

*Note: The link points to a Region B release.

As is addressed in some of the supplements on this disc, this film sees the Dr. Mabuse series kind of echoing the classic Universal horror canon by including elements in this story that are obviously modeled on both The Invisible Man (probably unsurprisingly, given the film's title) and perhaps even more saliently Phantom of the Opera. The result is kind of unavoidably a mishmash of sorts, but the film still manages to deliver some intrigue along the way.

As perhaps alluded to above with regard to the Gaston Leroux story, this is a "backstage" murder mystery with some extremely bizarre characters. Joe Como (Lex Barker) is perhaps improbably (given what happened in the last film) back on the scene investigating things, and the fact that at least one character is walking around in a gonzo clown outfit and makeup the entire way is just one potential clue that "Dr. Mabuse" may be hiding in plain sight. According to the really wonderful interview with Alice Brauner included on this disc as a supplement, the first three Dr. Mabuse films were incredibly successful, and that would have included this one, but for all its out there plotting and characterizations, there's probably a distinct quality drop off after the first two films.

The Invisible Dr. Mabuse Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Invisible Dr. Mabuse is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Eureka! Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.66:1. For all of its general excellence with its releases, Eureka tends not to provide much technical information, and in that regard the only real mention is some J card verbiage which states "1080p presentations of all six films from 2K restoration of the original film elements undertaken by CCC". This film has some understandable downturns in clarity and fine detail with attendant uptick in grain during several optical effects sequences involving things like binoculars being utilized by invisible hands and the like, but otherwise this is another rather nice looking presentation overall. I might argue that things are just a bit on the dark side at times, but generally speaking contrast is solid and grayscale very nicely modulated. Once again fine detail on props and costumes is commendable. Grain resolves without any issues. Age related wear and tear is minimal.

The Invisible Dr. Mabuse Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Invisible Dr. Mabuse features LPCM 2.0 Mono audio in either German or English. As with the other films in this set, you can hear just the slightest bit of crackle during the Brauner masthead music, but otherwise both of these tracks offer solid support for a film that probably has more scoring courtesy of its opera setting than some of the other Mabuse entries. The English track is just very slightly louder and bit more full bodied than the German track. Both tracks offer all spoken material cleanly and clearly. Optional English subtitles are available.

The Invisible Dr. Mabuse Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Eureka! Entertainment has packaged The Return of Dr. Mabuse and The Invisible Dr. Mabuse together on one disc with the following supplements:

The Return of Dr. Mabuse

• Introduction by Tim Lucas (HD; 8:55) is accessible as either a standalone supplement or under the disc's Play Menu for this feature, where it's authored to lead directly into the film.


• Audio Commentary by David Kalat

The Invisible Dr. Mabuse

• Introduction by Tim Lucas (HD; 6:28) is accessible as either a standalone supplement or under the disc's Play Menu for this feature, where it's authored to lead directly into the film.


• Audio Commentary by David Kalat

(General)

• Mabuse Lives at CCC (HD; 15:54) is a fantastically engaging interview with Alice Brauner, daughter of Arthur. She gives some biographical background on her Dad and the formation of CCC, as well as a good overview of the production of the Mabuse films and Arthur Brauner's sometimes strained relationship with Fritz Lang. Subtitled in English.


• Trailers
  
  
  • The Return of Dr. Mabuse German Trailer (HD; 3:33)
  
  
  • The Phantom Fiend (The Return of Dr. Mabuse) US Release Trailer (HD; 1:37)
  
  
  • The Invisible Dr. Mabuse German Trailer (HD; 2:41)
  
  
  • The Invisible Horror (The Invisible Dr. Mabuse) US Release Trailer (HD; 2:08)

The Invisible Dr. Mabuse Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Despite drawing upon such venerable properties as outlined above, The Invisible Dr. Mabuse starts to show signs of this series' attrition and diminishing returns. There are still some fun elements at play here, and this has generally solid technical merits and appealing and informative supplements, for anyone who may be considering making a purchase.