A Berlin journalist dies mysteriously, which Inspector Kras (Gert Frobe) ties to a series of unsolved murders. All the victims stayed at the Luxor Hotel shortly before their death - a hotel occupied by sundry shady figures, including a seedy insurance agent (Werner Peters) and blind clairvoyant Cornelius (Wolfgang Preiss). Its latest visitor is American businessman Travers (Peter Van Eyck), who saves a depressed heiress (Dawn Addams) from suicide and falls for her. But Kras suspects Travers is the murderer's next target - a murder whose crimes resemble the long-dead Dr. Mabuse.
Lang has little difficulty updating Norbert Jacques's super-villain to the '60s. Where Dr. Mabuse the Gambler (1922) and The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933) play on Weimar doomsaying, Eyes encapsulates Cold War paranoia. Hence the technological voyeurism (Mabuse's intricate surveillance system, the hotel's double mirrors) and improbably advanced weaponry, closely prefiguring James Bond. Lang leavens this with dependably slick direction and baroque touches (a club-footed henchmann, Cornelius's German shephard), climaxing in a breathtaking gunfight that ends Eyes on a high note.
But Eyes too often echoes other Mabuse adventures. Lang recycles set pieces from Gambler and Testament, namely the opening murder and the convoluted attacks on Krass. Lang's story doesn't hang together, relying on silly red herrings and subplots which dissipate Mabuse's meance. Worse, this Mabuse's motives are fuzzier and less compelling than before; rather than ruling or destroying the world, he seeks to bilk a few millionaires. So much for the "Empire of Crime."
Wolfgang Preiss (The Train) relishes his mystery man role, all understated menace and preening arrogance. Preiss's Mabuse proved so popular he reprised it for several sequels. Gert Frobe's gruff Inspector makes a fine match. In future installments, Frobe became Inspector Lohmann, Otto Wernicke's character from Testament. Werner Peters is agreeably slimy and Rene Koldehoff (The Damned) has a showy bit. But Peter Van Eyck and Dawn Addams (Young Bess) provide stiff protagonists; Eyes drags to a crawl whenever they're onscreen.
The Thousand Eyes of Dr. Mabuse isn't bad for a polished B Movie. But it's a disappointing capper on Fritz Lang's remarkable career, merely rehashing his finest work. Who'd have thought a megalomaniac supervillain could feel stale?