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The Fu Manchu Cycle 1965-1969: Limited Edition – Indicator Series (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Dates: UK, 1965 (The Face of Fu Manchu), UK, 1966 (The Brides of Fu Manchu), UK, 1967 (The Vengeance of Fu Manchu), Spain/West Germany/UK/USA, 1968 (The Blood of Fu Manchu), West Germany/Italy/Spain/UK/Liechtenstein, 1969 (The Castle of Fu Manchu)
Directors: Don Sharp (The Face of Fu Manchu, The Brides of Fu Manchu), Jeremy Summers (The Vengeance of Fu Manchu), Jess Franco (The Blood of Fu Manchu, The Castle of Fu Manchu)
Cast: Christopher Lee, Tsai Chin, Nigel Green, Joachim Fuchsberger, James Robertson Justice, Karin Dor, Douglas Wilmer, Tony Ferrer, Wolfgang Kieling, Horst Frank, Tsai Chin, Maria Rohm, Rupert Davies, Heinz Drache, Marie Versini, Howard Marion-Crawford, Burt Kwouk, Richard Greene, Götz George, Ricardo Palacios, Loni von Friedl, Frances Khan, Isaura de Oliveira, Shirley Eaton, Richard Wyler, George Sanders, Marta Reves, Elisa Montés, Walter Rilla, Beni Cardoso, Herbert Fleischmann

Release Date: November 2nd, 2020
Approximate running times: 96 Minutes 3 Seconds (The Face of Fu Manchu), 94 Minutes 16 Seconds - No Prolog, 94 Minutes 55 Seconds With Prolog (The Brides of Fu Manchu), 91 Minutes 17 Seconds (The Vengeance of Fu Manchu), 93 Minutes 39 Seconds (The Blood of Fu Manchu), 92 Minutes 15 Seconds (The Castle of Fu Manchu)
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC (The Face of Fu Manchu), 1.85:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC (The Brides of Fu Manchu), 1.66:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC (The Vengeance of Fu Manchu, The Blood of Fu Manchu, The Castle of Fu Manchu)
Rating: 15 (UK)
Sound: LPCM Mono English (The Vengeance of Fu Manchu), DTS-HD Mono English (The Face of Fu Manchu, The Brides of Fu Manchu, The Blood of Fu Manchu, The Castle of Fu Manchu)
Subtitles: English SDH (All Films)
Region Coding: Region B
Retail Price: OOP (Limited edition box set of 6,000 numbered units)

The Face of Fu Manchu: "After faking his own execution, Fu Manchu (Christopher Lee, The Terror of the Tongs) returns to the criminal underworld to realise his latest dastardly scheme for world domination: harnessing the power of a rare Tibetan flower, the Blackhill poppy, to mass-produce a deadly poison gas. Detective Nayland Smith (Nigel Green, Sword of Sherwood Forest, Play Dirty) and his stalwart sidekick Dr Petrie (Howard Marion-Crawford, Gideon’s Day) must race against the clock to stop the evil genius from unleashing his weapon of mass destruction on London." - synopsis provided by the distributor

The Brides of Fu Manchu: "criminal mastermind Fu Manchu (Christopher Lee, I, Monster) and his evil offspring Lin Tang (Tsai Chin, You Only Live Twice) kidnap the daughters of several world-famous scientists. His plan is to force their fathers to develop a powerful death ray with which he will bring the world to its knees. Only Scotland Yard's finest, Nayland Smith (Douglas Wilmer, The Golden Voyage of Sinbad), and his right-hand man Dr Petrie (Howard Marion-Crawford, Gideon’s Day) can save the day…" - synopsis provided by the distributor

The Vengeance of Fu Manchu: "The Sino-super villain Fu Manchu (Christopher Lee, The Gorgon) has retreated to his mountain lair to plan the destruction of his arch-nemesis Nayland Smith (Douglas Wilmer, Octopussy). This time, his demented plan employs plastic surgery to create a new race of killer doppelgängers… and the first looks exactly like Scotland Yard’s top policeman!" - synopsis provided by the distributor

The Blood of Fu Manchu: "Directed by the prolific Spaniard Jesús Franco (The Awful Dr. Orloff, Oasis of the Zombies), The Blood of Fu Manchu sees the Oriental overlord operating from a laboratory deep within the South American jungle. With the help of his sadistic daughter Lin Tang (Tsai Chin, The Virgin Soldiers), Fu Manchu connives to create a deadly pandemic by deploying ten beautiful women whose lips are laced with killer venom… Nayland Smith (Richard Greene, The Adventures of Robin Hood) becomes infected, but his ever-loyal Man Friday Dr Petrie (Howard Marion-Crawford, Gideon’s Day) leads the international efforts to find an antidote, and bring down Fu Manchu." - synopsis provided by the distributor

The Castle of Fu Manchu: "Jesús Franco (Vampyros Lesbos, Lorna the Exorcist) is back in the director’s chair for The Castle of Fu Manchu, a delirious tale of eco-terrorism. Christopher Lee (The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll) again stars as the diabolical antagonist who plots with his sadistic daughter Lin Tang (Tsai Chin, Casino Royale) to control the weather and freeze the world’s oceans using a special chemical compound. Nayland Smith (Richard Greene, The Adventures of Robin Hood) and Dr Petrie (Howard Marion-Crawford, Gideon’s Day) are dispatched by Interpol to trace the evil mastermind. They travel to Istanbul where they encounter a local opium kingpin Omar Pashu (José Manuel Martín, The Sinister Eyes of Dr. Orloff) and his beautiful female bodyguard Lisa (Rosalba Neri, The French Sex Murders, Amuck!), before uncovering Fu Manchu’s lair in Anatolia, where a deadly confrontation ensues…" - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4.5/5 (The Face of Fu Manchu, The Brides of Fu Manchu, The Vengeance of Fu Manchu), 4.25/5 (The Blood of Fu Manchu, The Castle of Fu Manchu)

Here’s information given about these transfers, “New restoration from a 4K scan of the original negative”.

The Face of Fu Manchu comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 43.4 GB

Feature: 25.3 GB

The Brides of Fu Manchu comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 41.3 GB

Feature: 25.5 GB

The Vengeance of Fu Manchu comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 44 GB

Feature: 25.2 GB

The Blood of Fu Manchu comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 42.3 GB

Feature: 24.9 GB

The Castle of Fu Manchu comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 42.1 GB

Feature: 24.3 GB

The sources for all five films are in excellent shape; colors are nicely saturated, image clarity and black levels look solid throughout; there are no issues with compression and the grain retains an organic look. It should be noted that the source used for The Bride of Fu Manchu’s prolog is not of the same quality as the rest of the transfers.

Here’s additional information about the presentations of these films. The Brides of Fu Manchu come with two presentations: the original UK theatrical version and the original US theatrical version with a unique prologue. The Blood of Fu Manchu comes with two presentations; the original The Blood of Fu Manchu title sequence and the alternative Kiss Me to Death title sequence. The Castle of Fu Manchu comes with two presentations; the original The Castle of Fu Manchu title sequence and the alternative Assignment Istanbul title sequence.

Audio: 4/5

Each film comes with one audio option. The Face of Fu Manchu, The Brides of Fu Manchu, The Blood of Fu Manchu, and The Castle of Fu Manchu come with a DTS-HD mono mix in English, and The Vengeance of Fu Manchu comes with a LPCM mono mix in English. All of the audio mixes are in great shape; there are no issues with distortion or background hiss, the dialog comes through clearly, and everything sounds balanced. Range-wise, all the audio mixes sound very good considering the limitations of their mono sources. Included with this release are removable English SDH subtitles for all the films.

Extras:

Extras for The Face of Fu Manchu include an image gallery (97 images – stills/lobby cards/other promotional materials/posters), UK theatrical trailer (2 minutes 34 seconds, LPCM mono English, no subtitles), German theatrical trailer (3 minutes 3 seconds, Dolby Digital mono German with English subtitles), French theatrical trailer (2 minutes 33 seconds, Dolby Digital mono French with English subtitles), silent super 8mm black & white version of The Face of Fu Manchu divided into two parts, The Horror of Fu Manchu and The Face of Fu Manchu (16 minutes 8 seconds, Dolby Digital mono with burnt-in English subtitles), alternate title sequences: U.S. titles (1 minute 38 seconds, Dolby Digital mono), Le masque de Fu Manchu French opening and closing titles (2 minutes 38 seconds, Dolby Digital mono) and El regreso de Fu-Manchú Spanish titles (1 minute 38 seconds, Dolby Digital mono), an interview with Christopher Frayling titled Underneath the Skin (48 minutes 32 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an introduction by Vic Pratt (6 minutes 48 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an archival interview with actor Christopher Lee (3 minutes 54 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English with removable English subtitles), an archival audio recording with cinematographer Ernest Steward titled The BEHP Interview with Ernest Steward – Part One: The BIP Years (96 minutes 3 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an archival audio recording with director Don Sharp titled The BEHP Interview with Don Sharp – Part One (96 minutes 3 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles) and an audio commentary with film critics Kim Newman and Stephen Jones.

Extras for The Brides of Fu Manchu include an image gallery (76 images – stills/lobby cards/other promotional materials/posters), a TV spot (22 seconds, LPCM mono English, no subtitles), a theatrical trailer (2 minutes 25 seconds, LPCM mono English, no subtitles), an interview with Kim Newman titled Pages of Peril (20 minutes 37 seconds, LPCM stereo English, no subtitles), an introduction by Vic Pratt (6 minutes 37 seconds, LPCM stereo English, no subtitles), The Guardian interview with Christopher Lee (86 minutes 49 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an archival audio recording with Ernest Steward titled The BEHP Interview with Ernest Steward – Part Two: From Teddington to ‘Carry On’ (93 minutes 50 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an archival audio recording with director Don Sharp titled The BEHP Interview with Don Sharp – Part Two: A Director of Substance (94 minutes 55 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles) an audio commentary with film historians Kevin Lyons and Jonathan Rigby.

Extras for The Vengeance of Fu Manchu include an image gallery (66 images – stills/lobby cards/other promotional materials/posters), a theatrical trailer (2 minutes 28 seconds, LPCM mono English, no subtitles), alternate Philippine title sequence (3 minutes 20 seconds, LPCM mono), an interview with first assistant director Anthony Waye titled The Cheque’s in the Post (5 minutes, LPCM stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with film historian Jonathan Rigby, author of English Gothic, on the early career of Christopher Lee titled Tall, Lean and Feline (49 minutes 18 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an introduction by Vic Pratt (7 minutes 1 second, LPCM stereo English, no subtitles), an archival audio recording with director Jeremy Summers titled The BEHP Interview with Jeremy Summers (71 minutes 47 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles) and an audio commentary with film historians Kevin Lyons and Jonathan Rigby.

Other extras include a project that Jeremy Summers co-directed for the Children’s Film Foundation titled The Ghost of Monk’s Island (92 minutes 29 seconds, 1.33:1 aspect ratio, LPCM mono English with removable English SDH subtitles).

Extras for The Blood of Fu Manchu include an image gallery (88 images – stills/lobby cards/other promotional materials/posters), U.S. theatrical trailer under the title Kiss and Kill (1 minute 40 seconds, LPCM mono English, no subtitles), UK theatrical trailer under the title The Blood of Fu Manchu (2 minutes 57 seconds, LPCM mono English, no subtitles), color tests (45 seconds, footage silent), alternate title sequences: pre-release titles Kiss Me To Death (1 minute 37 seconds, DTS-HD mono), U.S. video titles Against All Odds (1 minute 31 seconds, LPCM mono), Fu Manchú y el beso de la muerte Spanish opening titles (1 minute 32 seconds, LPCM mono), an interview with clapper loader Ray Andrew titled Any Way to Save Money (10 minutes 58 seconds, LPCM stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with author Stephen Thrower titled The Men Who Killed Fu Manchu? (41 minutes 5 seconds, LPCM stereo English, no subtitles), an introduction by Vic Pratt (7 minutes 13 seconds, LPCM stereo English, no subtitles) and an audio commentary with critics and authors David Flint and Adrian J Smith.

Other extras include an episode from the original silent serial titled The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu: ‘The Fiery Hand’ (36 minutes 18 seconds, 1.33:1 aspect ratio, DTS-HD stereo with English intertitles). This film can-be viewed with a score or without sound.

Extras for The Castle of Fu Manchu include, an image gallery (39 images – stills/lobby cards/other promotional materials/posters), a theatrical trailer (2 minutes 27 seconds, LPCM mono English, no subtitles), alternate title sequences: pre-release titles Assignment Istanbul (2 minutes 9 seconds, DTS-HD mono) and El castillo de Fu-Manchu Spanish opening titles (2 minutes 9 seconds, LPCM mono), an archival interview with Harry Alan Towers (44 minutes 43 seconds, LPCM stereo English, no subtitles), an introduction by Vic Pratt (6 minutes 53 seconds, LPCM stereo English, no subtitles) and an interview with actress Rosalba Neri titled From Alicante to Istanbul (13 minutes 10 seconds, LPCM stereo Italian with removable English subtitles).

Other extras include an episode from the original silent serial titled The Further Mysteries of Dr. Fu-Manchu: ‘The Coughing Horror’ (30 minutes 31 seconds, 1.33:1 aspect ratio, DTS-HD stereo with English intertitles). This film can-be viewed with a score or without sound.

Rounding out the extras is a double-sided poster, five replica production stills, and a 120-page book with cast and crew information for The Face of Fu Manchu, The Brides of Fu Manchu, The Vengeance of Fu Manchu, The Blood of Fu Manchu, and The Castle of Fu Manchu, an essay titled "The World Shall Hear From Me Again!": The Fu Manchu Films of the 1960s written by Tim Lucas, an essay titled Towers of Liechtenstein: The Colorful Career of Harry Alan Towers written by Jeff Billington, and Sax Rohmer: Fu Manchu's Pen, Fu Manchu and Company, Fu Manchu's Return, The Exploitation of Fu Manchu, Dublin’s Famous Jail Becomes The Imperial Palace of Shanghai!, The Cast of Fu Manchu, The Directors of Fu Manchu, Critical Response, The Ghosts of Monk’s Island cast & crew information, an essay titled "Of Ghosts and Goats" written by Jeff Billington, The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu: ‘The Fiery Hand’ and The Further Mysteries of Dr. Fu-Manchu: ‘The Coughing Horror’ cast & crew information, an essay titled The Silence of Fu Manchu written by Nathalie Morris, and information about the restorations and transfers.

Summary:

Sax Rohmer‘s Fu Manchu is a popular fictional character that’s been adapted for radio, television, and film. Fu Manchu made its film debut in a pair of British series made in 1923, The Mystery of Dr. Fu Manchu and The Further Mysteries of Fu Manchu, made in 1924. The first feature film adaptation would not come until 1929, when Warner Oland would take on the role of the fiendish Dr. Fu Manchu in the film The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu.

In the 1960's, producer Harry Alan Towers would produce five Fu Manchu films: The Face of Fu Manchu, The Brides of Fu Manchu, The Vengeance of Fu Manchu, The Blood of Fu Manchu, and The Castle of Fu Manchu, all films starring Christopher Lee in the iconic role of Fu Manchu.

Harry Alan Towers would also produce several other films featuring characters created by Sax Rohmer, like The Million Eyes of Sumuru and The Girl from Rio. And besides working as a producer, Harry Alan Towers was a prolific writer. He wrote the screenplays for many of the films that he produced under the pseudonym Peter Welbeck.

The Face of Fu Manchu: After faking his own death, Fu Manchu returns with his latest scheme to conquer the world. Fu Manchu has discovered that a rare poisonous berry found only in Tibet can be used to make a chemical that will kill every man, woman, and child on Earth. In order to complete his goal, Fu Manchu kidnaps a world-renowned chemist, whom he blackmails into helping him with his fiendish plot. Nayland Smith A detective from Scotland Yard who captured Fu Manchu once before has been given the dubious task of putting an end to Fu Manchu’s reign of terror once and for all.

The Brides of Fu Manchu: After narrowly escaping death, Fu Manchu emerges once again with a new diabolical scheme. This time around, Fu Manchu kidnaps the daughters of prominent scientists, who are forced to help design a powerful laser that can destroy whole cities instantly. Once again, Scotland Yard detective Nayland Smith is given the task of tracking down Fu Manchu and putting an end to his quest for world domination.

The Vengeance of Fu Manchu: Irritated by Scotland Yard detective Nayland Smith’s constant interfering with his plans of world domination, Fu Manchu comes up with the perfect plan to get rid of his enemy once and for all. Fu Manchu kidnaps a plastic surgeon, whom he blackmails into making another man look like Nayland Smith. Once the operation is completed, Fu Manchu’s double steps in for Nayland Smith, who's been abducted by Fu Manchu’s henchmen. From there, Nayland Smith gets framed for murder when his body double kills his housekeeper.

Don Sharp (Psychomania) directed the first two films, The Face of Fu Manchu and The Brides of Fu Manchu. Sharp’s direction is very even-handed and at times stylish. He takes full advantage of his locations, especially the UK-based ones. The third film, The Vengeance of Fu Manchu, would see a change in the director’s chair, with Jeremy Summers (Five Golden Dragons) taking over for Don Sharp. Visually, Jeremy Summers does a solid job directing the third film that keeps with the style already established by Don Sharp.

The narratives for The Face of Fu Manchu, The Brides of Fu Manchu, and The Vengeance of Fu Manchu are all very similar. Each film centers around Fu Manchu's quest to conquer the world and Nayland Smith, the Scotland Yard detective who always foils Fu Manchu's plans. Despite the similarities and simple nature of the plots, this never takes away from one's enjoyment of these films. The level of violence would increase as the series progressed. The Vengeance of Fu Manchu features one of the more inventive and interesting plots in this series. In this film, Fu Manchu’s main focus is more on eliminating Nayland Smith, while taking over the world is only secondary.

These three Fu Manchu films have a pulp sensibility about them that is never too vulgar or sexual, so they can be enjoyed by film-goers of all ages. Unlike the following two Fu Manchu films, The Blood of Fu Manchu and The Castle of Fu Manchu, both directed by Jess Franco and advancing the series with more mature content, the most fun of these three films is The Brides of Fu Manchu, while The Vengeance of Fu Manchu is the darkest of the three. Fu Manchu in these films likes to torture his enemies and those who defy him. These torture scenes are extremely tame, and they appear to have been made decades ago. If these films were made in the 1940’s instead of the 1960's, then the torture scenes would make more sense.

The performances of Christopher Lee (Horror Express) in the role of Fu Manchu and Tsai Chin (Memoirs of a Geisha) in the role of Fu Manchu’s daughter Lin Tang are the most memorable parts of these films. Nigel Green plays Nayland Smith in the first film, The Face of Fu Manchu, and in the second, The Phantom of the Fury. In the next two films, The Brides of Fu Manchu and The Vengeance of Fu Manchu, Douglas Wilmer would take over the role of Nayland Smith. Douglas Wilmer’s portrayal of the Nayland Smith character is the more satisfying of the two. Nigel Green’s performance comes off as too rigid. Besides Christopher Lee and Tsai Chin, the only other actor to appear in all five Harry Alan Towers Fu Manchu films was Howard Marion-Crawford in the role of Dr. Petrie, Nayland Smith’s best friend and sidekick in these adventures. Howard Marion-Crawford as Dr. Petrie provides these films with their comic relief.

Some other notable performances include Karin Dor (You Only Live Twice) as Maria Muller Janssen, a chemist’s daughter in The Face of Fu Manchu. In the role of Fu Manchu’s right hand man is Burt Kwouk, who most film fans will remember as Chief Inspector Jacques Clouseau’s manservant, Kato, from the Pink Panther films. Burt Kwouk appeared in these Fu Manchu films: The Brides of Fu Manchu, The Vengeance of Fu Manchu, and The Castle of Fu Manchu. And the third film in the series, The Vengeance of Fu Manchu, would feature strong performances from Horst Frank (the Grand Duel) and Maria Rohm (Venus in Furs).

The Blood of Fu Manchu: Fu Manchu uses ten women whose lips he has turned into weapons to kill ten world leaders.

The Castle of Fu Manchu: Fu Manchu creates a chemical weapon that can freeze all of the oceans of the world.

There had been three films directed by two other directors before Jess Franco put his imprint on a series of Fu Manchu films produced by Harry Allan Towers. Out of the two films directed by Jess Franco, The Blood of Fu Manchu is the more structured of the two, and this may be due to this being the first Jess Franco/Harry Alan Towers production. With the fifth and last film in the series, The Castle of Fu Manchu, being more representative of the mishmash nature of many of Jess Franco’s films made during the late 1960’s and early 1970’s.

And though there are many flourishes in both of these films that are undeniably Jess Franco, these two films also keep the pulp cinema vibe that was prevalent in the previous three films. And performance-wise, when discussing these two films, one must not look further than Christopher Lee (The Wicker Man) in the role of Fu Manchu. His performance has just the right amount of gravitas and menace. Other performances of note include Tsai Chin (Casino Royale-2006) in the role of Lin Tang, the daughter of Fu Manchu, and Maria Rohm (Eugenie... the Story of Her Journey into Perversion), who delivers another enchanting performance in The Blood of Fu Manchu.

This release is an exemplary release that not only gives all five films their audio/video presentations to date, but this release comes with a wealth of extra content that these films leave no stone unturned. Overall, Powerhouse Films The Fu Manchu Cycle 1965–1969 was one of the best releases of 2020, highly recommended.

Note: Though this box set is now OOP, you can still purchase each film individually.