Werner Herzog directs Klaus Kinski, Eva Mattes and Willy Semmelrogge in this filmed play about a small town soldier driven mad by his local doctor’s experiments and his wife’s infidelity.

A monolithic performance by a committed Kinski makes this worthwhile. Herzog’s usual concerns about decaying society are present and correct, but the narrative is a little too loose and too didactic to buttress Kinski’s terrifying mania.

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