Dr. M (film)

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Dr. M
Dr. M film.jpg
French theatrical release poster
Directed by Claude Chabrol
Produced by Hans Brockmann
François Duplat
Christoph Holch
Screenplay by Claude Chabrol
Sollace Mitchell
Story by Thomas Bauermeister
Based on Mabuse der Spieler
by Norbert Jacques
Starring Alan Bates
Jennifer Beals
Jan Niklas
Music by Mekong Delta
Paul Hindemith
Cinematography Jean Rabier
Edited by Monique Fardoulis
Production
company
N.E.F. Filmproduktion und Vertriebs
Ellepi Films
Italian International Film
Cléa Productions
Solyfic
ZDF
Telefilm Saar GmbH
La Sept
Release dates
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  • 24 May 1990 (1990-05-24)
Running time
 111 minutes
Country West Germany
France
Italy
Language English

Dr. M. is a 1990 film co-written and directed by Claude Chabrol. The film is a remake of 1922's Fritz Lang's Dr. Mabuse the Gambler, which was in turn based on Mabuse der Spieler by Norbert Jacques.[1]

Plot

In the near future, a deadly epidemic is infecting people throughout West Berlin, leading to people taking their own lives to avoid catching it. All the media reports seem like unusual propaganda. No one knows what to do or how to help, except for one police officer who suspects that the suicides are really caused by a lone madman. His investigations lead him to a beautiful, enigmatic woman and the revelation of a sinister plot to manipulate the population through mass hypnosis.

Cast

Actor Role
Alan Bates Dr. Marsfeldt / Guru
Jennifer Beals Sonja Vogler
Jan Niklas Lt. Claus Hartman
Andrew McCarthy 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

Critical reception

Steve Simels of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a C-:

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[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:

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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]

Availability

The film was released in the United States as Club Extinction on VHS.[4]

See also

References

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External links

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