British distributors Eureka Entertainment have officially announced and detailed their upcoming release of Fritz Lang's The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933). The film will be available in a standard Dual Format and limited SteelBook editions. Street date is September 24th.
Special Features:
HD transfer of the film presented in its original aspect ratio, in 1080p on the Blu-ray
Optional English-language subtitles
Feature-length audio commentary by film scholar and Fritz Lang expert David Kalat
Lavish booklet featuring the words of Fritz Lang, rare archival imagery, and more
With the etching onto glass of a single word – "MABUSE" – Berlin reawakens into a nightmare. Fritz Lang's electrifying Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse [The Testament of Dr. Mabuse] is the astonishing second instalment in the German master's legendary Mabuse series, a film that puts image and sound into an hypnotic arrangement unlike anything seen or heard in the cinema before – or since.
It's been eleven years since the downfall of arch-criminal and master-of-disguise Dr. Mabuse (Rudolf Klein-Rogge), now sequestered in an asylum under the watchful eye of one Professor Baum (Oskar Beregi). Mabuse exists in a state of "catatonic graphomania", his only action the irrepressible scribbling of blueprints that would realise a seemingly theoretical "Empire of Crime". But when a series of violent events courses through the city, police and populace alike start asking themselves with increasing panic: "Who is behind all this?!" The answer borders on the realm of the impossible…
In the USA the Mabuse ( & Edgar Wallace for that matter) films arent big sellers, but I for one am a happy collector of them. I have just about all the Dr Mabuse titles that Criterion, Retromedia etc, put out and they are a lot of fun.
I've had the steelbook version of The Testament of Dr. Mabuse on preorder for some time now. I'm looking forward to receiving it as an import to the US, adding one more film to my little Fritz Lang collection.
Sweet, I'll be importing this one. Sorry Criterion but EUREKA has become my favourite film distributor. Can't wait for The Passion of Joan of Arc this fall.
It's good Eureka are around - can finally get a bit of payback for years of Region A Criterion torment! Either way, on whatever side of the pond you are, a multi-region Blu-ray player is an absolute necessity!!!
