The Blood of Fu Manchu (1968)

User Rating:

4.5/10   

Director:

Jesus Franco

Writers:

Sax Rohmer (novels)
Harry Alan Towers (story)

Release Date:

24 September 1969 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Crime | Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Programmed to kill!

Plot:

Fu Manchu inoculates ten women with poison, to kill ten world leaders. |

Plot Keywords:

Poison | Fu Manchu | Death | Blind Man | Assassin

Cast

Christopher Lee	...	Fu Manchu
Richard Greene	...	Nayland Smith
Howard Marion-Crawford	...	Dr. Petrie (as Howard Marion Crawford)
Götz George	...	Carl Jansen
Maria Rohm	...	Ursula Wagner
Ricardo Palacios	...	Sancho Lopez
Loni von Friedl	...	Celeste
Frances Khan	...	Carmen
Tsai Chin	...	Lin Tang
Isaura de Oliveira	...	Yuma
Shirley Eaton	...	Black Widow

Also Known As:

Against All Odds (USA) (video title)
Der Todeskuß des Dr. Fu Manchu (West Germany)
Fu Manchu and the Keys of Death
Fu Manchu and the Kiss of Death
Fu Manchu's Kiss of Death (International: English title) (literal title)
Fu-Manchú y el beso de la muerte (Spain)
Kiss and Kill (USA)
Kiss of Death (USA) (video title)

Runtime:

92 min | Germany:82 min | USA:94 min (DVD)

Country:

Spain | West Germany | UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M | UK:15 (uncut version, re-rating) | Singapore:M18 | Argentina:16 | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 (cut) | USA:M (original rating) | USA:PG | West Germany:18 | USA:Unrated (DVD uncut version)

Filming Locations:

Madrid, Spain

Company:

Ada Films

Trivia:

'Richard Greene' replaced Douglas Wilmer.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Fantastic Fantasy Fright-o-Rama Show Vol. 1 (1996) (V)

Lacklustre effort from Franco and Lee

In spite of the fact that this is the 4th (I think) entry in Christopher Lee's Fu Manchu "series" (I'm assuming they don't all follow on from each other), it's the first one I've seen and if the rest of them are anything like this; I hope it's the last! I can't profess to know a great deal about this series having only seen one film in it; though I am familiar with the character Fu Manchu after having seen the 1932 Boris Karloff film. Christopher Lee is a great actor, but here he looks like he couldn't really be bothered; for a start, Fu Manchu is meant to be an oriental character, and Lee doesn't even try to put on an oriental accent! The plot follows Fu Manchu's quest for world domination and focuses on his bright idea of filling up a load of women with poison and using them to seduce ten of the most powerful men in the world. It actually doesn't sound like that bad a springboard for a decent film, adding in the jungle setting and a super villain, you'd really be forgiven for thinking that this film is going to be a lot better. Jess Franco takes the directors chair and it seems, as is often the case, he cared more about his paycheck than the film as it lacks suspense and excitement, the characters are mostly dull and the situation is not made the best of. Overall, this film may do something for fans of the series; but personally it hasn't made me want to see more of these films!