Dr. M | |
---|---|
Directed by | Claude Chabrol |
Screenplay by | Claude Chabrol Sollace Mitchell |
Story by | Thomas Bauermeister |
Based on | Doctor Mabuse der Spieler by Norbert Jacques |
Produced by | Hans Brockmann François Duplat Christoph Holch |
Starring | Alan Bates Jennifer Beals Jan Niklas |
Cinematography | Jean Rabier |
Edited by | Monique Fardoulis |
Music by | Mekong Delta Paul Hindemith |
Production companies | N.E.F. Filmproduktion und Vertriebs Ellepi Films Italian International Film Cléa Productions Solyfic ZDF Telefilm Saar GmbH La Sept |
Release date |
|
Running time | 111 minutes |
Countries | West Germany France Italy |
Language | English |
Dr. M. is a 1990 crime film co-written and directed by Claude Chabrol. The film is loosely based on the plot of Fritz Lang's Dr. Mabuse the Gambler , which was in turn based on Mabuse der Spieler by Norbert Jacques. [1]
This article needs an improved plot summary.(July 2017) |
In 1999, there is an outbreak of suicides in Berlin. While some of the suicides involve a person just killing themselves, other cause several casualties. With this "epidemic" causing hundreds of deaths, panic starts to creep in both sides of the Berlin Wall. In West Berlin, Lt. Claus Hartman, whose wife killed herself years before the outbreak after finding out she was pregnant, suspects that the suicides are really caused by a lone madman, Dr. Marsfeldt, who is using a form of mass hypnosis. His investigations lead him to a woman whose image is being used to manipulate the populace.
Actor | Role |
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Alan Bates | Dr. Marsfeldt / Guru |
Jennifer Beals | Sonja Vogler |
Jan Niklas | Lt. Claus Hartman |
Andrew McCarthy | The Assassin |
Hanns Zischler | Moser |
Benoît Régent | Stieglitz |
Alexander Radszun | Engler |
Daniela Poggi | Kathi |
William Berger | Penck |
Michael Degen | Reimar von Geldern |
Wolfgang Preiss | Kessler |
Jean Benguigui | Rolf |
Isolde Barth | Mrs. Sehr |
Béatrice Macola | Anna |
This section may need to be rewritten to comply with Wikipedia's quality standards.(July 2017) |
Steve Simels of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a C−:
[T]his is a standard-grade, low-budget European B movie. The plotting is absurd (with anachronistic elements; though the film is set in the future, the Berlin Wall has not yet come down); the stars — including the still fetching Jennifer Beals and the usually cool Alan Bates (doing what seems like an eccentric imitation of Albert Finney doing Hercule Poirot) — either overact or sleepwalk; and the pacing is lethargic verging on comatose. [2]
Jackson Adler of TV Guide gave the film 3 out of 4 stars:
Club Extinction is something of a mishmash. But it's a mostly engaging mishmash with Chabrol operating in a satirically sinister mode that should come as no surprise to his devotees... In contrast to many American genre pictures, the problems with Club Extinction stem from aiming too high rather than too low... [M]ostly to Chabrol's credit, the going never gets boring, no matter how many times one views it. Club Extinction is an absorbing and even amusing thriller with brains--even if it does take more brains than should be necessary to follow its helter-skelter plot. [3]
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The film was released in the United States as Club Extinction on VHS. [4]
Friedrich Christian Anton Lang, better known as Fritz Lang, was an Austrian-born German-American film director, screenwriter, and producer who worked in Germany and later the United States. One of the best-known émigrés from Germany's school of Expressionism, he was dubbed the "Master of Darkness" by the British Film Institute. He has been cited as one of the most influential filmmakers of all time.
Claude Henri Jean Chabrol was a French film director and a member of the French New Wave group of filmmakers who first came to prominence at the end of the 1950s. Like his colleagues and contemporaries Jean-Luc Godard, François Truffaut, Éric Rohmer and Jacques Rivette, Chabrol was a critic for the influential film magazine Cahiers du cinéma before beginning his career as a film maker.
The Testament of Dr. Mabuse, also called The Last Will of Dr. Mabuse, is a 1933 German crime-thriller film directed by Fritz Lang. The movie is a sequel to Lang's silent film Dr. Mabuse the Gambler (1922) and features many cast and crew members from Lang's previous films. Dr. Mabuse is in an insane asylum where he is found frantically writing his crime plans. When Mabuse's criminal plans begin to be implemented, Inspector Lohmann tries to find the solution with clues from gangster Thomas Kent, the institutionalized Hofmeister and Professor Baum who becomes obsessed with Dr. Mabuse.
Timecop is a 1994 American science fiction action film directed by Peter Hyams and co-written by Mike Richardson and Mark Verheiden. Richardson also served as executive producer. The film is based on Timecop, a story created by Richardson, written by Verheiden, and drawn by Ron Randall, which appeared in the anthology comic Dark Horse Comics, published by Dark Horse Comics. It is the first installment in the Timecop franchise.
The Cry of the Owl is a 1987 French-Italian psychological thriller film, adapted from the 1962 novel The Cry of the Owl by Patricia Highsmith. The film was directed by Claude Chabrol and stars Christophe Malavoy, Mathilda May and Virginie Thévenet.
Wolfgang Preiss was a German theatre, film and television actor.
C.H.U.D. II: Bud the C.H.U.D. is a 1989 zombie comedy film, directed by David Irving, written by M. Kane Jeeves and stars Brian Robbins, Tricia Leigh Fisher, Bianca Jagger, and Gerrit Graham in the title role.
Dr. Mabuse the Gambler is the first film in the Dr. Mabuse series about the character Doctor Mabuse who featured in the novels of Norbert Jacques. It was directed by Fritz Lang and released in 1922. The film is silent and would be followed by the sound sequels The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933) and The Thousand Eyes of Dr. Mabuse (1960).
Crazy as Hell is a 2002 psychological film that is based on the 1982 novel Satan: His Psychotherapy and Cure by the Unfortunate Dr. Kassler, J.S.P.S. by Jeremy Leven and follows Dr. Ty Adams, an aggressive and overconfident psychiatrist producing a documentary film about a nearby state-run mental hospital. While treating a new patient who claims to be Satan, Dr. Adams begins to question his own perceptions.
Legionnaire is a 1998 American drama war film directed by Peter MacDonald and starring Jean-Claude Van Damme as a 1920s boxer who wins a fight after having been hired by gangsters to lose it, then flees to join the French Foreign Legion. The cast includes Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Daniel Caltagirone, Nicholas Farrell and Steven Berkoff. The film was filmed in Tangier and Ouarzazate, Morocco.
Les Cousins is a 1959 French New Wave drama film directed by Claude Chabrol. It tells a story about two cousins, the decadent Paul, played by Jean-Claude Brialy, and the naïve Charles, played by Gérard Blain. The film won the Golden Bear at the 9th Berlin International Film Festival.
Les Biches is a 1968 drama film directed by Claude Chabrol. It depicts a tortured love triangle between characters portrayed by Stéphane Audran and Jacqueline Sassard; Jean-Louis Trintignant also stars. Audran won the Silver Bear for Best Actress at the 18th Berlin International Film Festival. The film had a total of 627,164 admissions in France.
Return of the Living Dead 3 is a 1993 romantic horror film directed by Brian Yuzna and written by John Penney. It is the third film in the Return of the Living Dead film series, following Return of the Living Dead Part II (1988).
Masks is a 1987 French mystery thriller film directed by Claude Chabrol. It was entered into the 37th Berlin International Film Festival.
The Color of Lies is a 1999 psychological mystery film co-written and directed by Claude Chabrol. The film was entered into the 49th Berlin International Film Festival.
The Twist is a 1976 film co-written and directed by Claude Chabrol. Its title in French is Folies bourgeoises.
The Horse of Pride is a 1980 rural drama film directed by Claude Chabrol. Its title in French is Le cheval d'orgueil. It is based on Le cheval d'orgueil, an autobiography by Pêr-Jakez Helias. The film takes place in the Bigouden area south of Quimper.
The Return of Doctor Mabuse is a 1961 black-and-white crime film/thriller made in West Berlin. It was a West German/French/Italian international co-production directed by Harald Reinl that was the second of the 1960s CCC Films Dr. Mabuse film series, being the sequel to Fritz Lang's The Thousand Eyes of Dr. Mabuse (1960). It starred Gert Fröbe, Daliah Lavi and in his first German film, Lex Barker. The film was co-written by Ladislas Fodor and, in his first screenplay, Marc Behm. They created a science fictional plot that would be followed in the other films in the series.
"The Nine Lives of Dr. Mabuse" is the debut single by German new wave/synth-pop band Propaganda. The song was produced by Trevor Horn and was released on his label, ZTT in 1984. It appears on the debut album A Secret Wish. It was a moderate chart hit in the UK and Switzerland, peaking at numbers 27 and 14, respectively. In Germany, the song reached the top 10, peaking at No. 7.
La venganza del Doctor Mabuse is a 1972 film directed by Jesús Franco. The film is about the character Dr. Mabuse, a who is plotting a comeback from his secret base in the United States. Mabuse has learned how to control the minds of others through a form of radiation emitted by samples of moon rocks.