The Castle of Fu Manchu (1969)

User Rating:

2.3/10   

Director:

Jesus Franco

Writers:

Jaime Jesús Balcázar (dialogue: Spanish version)
Manfred Barthel (screenplay)

Release Date:

1972 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Crime | Horror

Tagline:

He's Back!!! The World's Most Evil Man with a Fiendish Plan of Conquest

Plot:

An evil Chinese mastermind plots to freeze the Earth's oceans.

Plot Keywords:

Chinese | Interpol | Fu Manchu | MST3K | Super Villain

Cast

Christopher Lee	...	Fu Manchu
Richard Greene	...	Nayland Smith
Howard Marion-Crawford	...	Doctor Petrie (as Howard Marion Crawford)
Günther Stoll	...	Curt (as Gunther Stoll)
Rosalba Neri	...	Lisa
Maria Perschy	...	Marie
José Manuel Martín	...	Omar Pashu (as Jose Manuel Martin)
Werner Abrolat	...	Melnik (as Werner Aprelat)
Tsai Chin	...	Lin Tang

Also Known As:

Sax Rohmer's The Castle of Fu Manchu (UK) (USA)
Assignment Istanbul
Die Folterkammer des Dr. Fu Man Chu (Germany)
El castillo de Fu-Manchu (Spain)
Fu Manchu's Castle
Il castello di Fu Manchu (Italy)
The Torture Chamber of Fu Manchu

Runtime:

Germany:85 min | Spain:92 min | USA:92 min | USA:98 min (DVD version)

Country:

West Germany | Italy | Spain | UK | Liechtenstein

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:PG | Singapore:NC-16 (DVD rating) | Singapore:PG | Australia:M | USA:PG | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Estudios Cinematográficos Balcázar, Esplugues de Llobregat, Barcelona, Cataluña, Spain

Company:

Balcázar Producciones Cinematográficas

Trivia:

All of the footage at the beginning of the movie featuring a large ocean liner striking an iceberg and sinking is all stock footage from the famed 1958, British Titanic film, A Night to Remember (1958).

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Despite being set in the 1920s, a 1960s-style car can be seen on the harbor in Istanbul during the sequence where Lin Tang is having her secret meeting on the ferry.

Quotes:

Lin Tang: Even Nayland-Smith cannot touch you now, father.
Fu Manchu: I wish that he would try.

Movie Connections:

Features A Night to Remember (1958)

I like it!

I watched the Blue Underground DVD of CASTLE OF FU MANCHU and enjoyed it. The print is excellent. The extras are superb. The movie itself isn't on par with the first four in the series, but it's not the completely awful movie it's often been said to be. It's cheap yet entertaining. There's stock footage upon stock footage in the opening scenes. It's low low budget, but that's part of it's charm. I had a blast! Blue Underground's DVD treatment of CASTLE OF FU MANCHU is extraordinary. There are superb galleries of posters, stills, and promotional materials. There's also a well written informative history of Fu Manchu and Sax Rohmer. I especially enjoyed the interviews with Christopher Lee, Tsai Chin, Jesus Franco, and writer/producer Harry Alan Towers. It's all great stuff. Blue Underground's CASTLE OF FU MANCHU DVD is fantastic fun.