Synopsis

Shot in stark black and white, the video follows Claudia Brucken through a shadowy, expressionist world of abandoned churchyards, fog, cloaked monks, and ominous stone interiors. She appears to be pursued by Dr. Mabuse, played by Vladek Sheybal, whose sinister presence turns the setting into a waking nightmare. The band members emerge as mysterious figures within the same gothic landscape, while a ghostly hand menaces unsuspecting characters. The result is less a conventional performance clip than a compressed film-noir horror story.

Factoids & Trivia

• Polish actor Vladek Sheybal plays Dr. Mabuse. He was already familiar to international audiences through roles in films including *From Russia with Love*.

• The video draws on the visual language of German Expressionist cinema and the earlier screen versions of Dr. Mabuse, particularly the films associated with Fritz Lang.

• The stark black-and-white presentation was unusual for a major 1984 pop release. ZTT reportedly viewed the choice as a risky move, especially while the label was building a highly stylized commercial image.

• Two promotional versions exist. The better-known version is the atmospheric black-and-white story set around Mabuse's pursuit of Claudia Brucken. A second version is more studio-based and includes Michael Mertens and the band's drummer, Weet.

• The song itself refers to the fictional criminal mastermind from Norbert Jacques' novels and the subsequent film series. Its subtitle, "A Paranoid Fantasy," reinforces the track's cinematic concept.

• An instrumental version titled "Abuse" was used in the opening credits of John Hughes' 1987 film *Some Kind of Wonderful*. The sequence features Mary Stuart Masterson's character drumming along to the track.

• Near the end of the song, the apparently meaningless vocal passage is actually a German sentence: "Warum schmerzt es, wenn mein Herz den Schlag verpasst?" It translates roughly as "Why does it hurt when my heart misses the beat?"