The Blood of Fu Manchu: A Typically Silly Outing for the Evil Criminal Genius (4K/Blu-ray)

The Film:

English author Sax Rohmer's notoriously evil criminal mastermind, Fu Manchu, made his first appearance well over 100 years ago in the short story "The Zayat Kiss" before going on to be featured in a multitude of additional short stories and novels that would span nearly 50 years. With the character's immense popularity, it's no surprise that he made his way into films as early as 1923, with Harry Agar Lyons taking on the role in a series of silent shorts.

Other actors to take on the part included Warner Oland, known to many for playing Charlie Chan, and Boris Karloff, whose 1932 film "The Mask of Fu Manchu" was highly controversial at the time. However, the most well-known portrayal is arguably that of Sir Christopher Lee, who played the maniacal genius in a series of five films from 1965 to 1969. To celebrate the legend's turn as the infamous villain, Blue Underground is releasing new 4K restorations of two films from his series, beginning with "The Blood of Fu Manchu" from 1968, so let's go back and see what it was that made these films so popular, and if they truly are worth bringing to light nearly 60 years later.

As the film opens, we find Fu Manchu (Christopher Lee) and his daughter Lin Tang (Tsai Chin) developing a new scheme from their hidden lair deep in the jungle. The evil doctor has concocted a plan that involves injecting deadly snake venom into ten women and having them kiss ten of his worst enemies around the world, a kiss of death that first renders them blind and then kills them in a matter of weeks. However, one of the victims, Nayland Smith (Richard Greene), is able to get on his trail with the help of an archeologist named Carl Jansen (Götz George), eventually leading to a confrontation that reveals Fu Manchu's bigger and even more sinister master plan.

When it came to Fu Manchu and his evil plots, there always seemed to be some silly or over-the-top aspects about them that were somewhat reminiscent of something a Bond villain might do (or even the kind of goofy plan Brain from "Pinky and the Brain" might come up with). That said, it does give them a mildly entertaining appeal, assuming you're able to shrug off the rather nonsensical parts of it (All of the women happen to be immune to the incredibly deadly snake venom? All of them were able to get close to their high-profile targets with hardly an issue?). Basically, don't dig too deep into the details of his evil schemes or else your chances of having any fun at all with these films drastically reduces.

As far as "The Blood of Fu Manchu" goes, it does indeed have a rather silly plot that doesn't make a whole lot of sense, which is a good starting point for one of these films. However, it's rather sad to see that it really doesn't do a whole lot with it over the course of these 90 minutes, focusing quite a lot on simply trying to get to Fu Manchu's lair, and even getting heavily distracted by a bandit subplot that doesn't add much of anything to the film, which forces one to conclude that it was merely thrown in as padding to get this simply-plotted outing to feature length.

It's always a pleasure to see the great Sir Christopher Lee on screen, no matter what role he's playing, though it's a shame that his total screen time here felt like it amounted to no more than 5-10 minutes, a rather strange circumstance for the star & title character of the film. Still, his commanding presence does lend the film some gravitas among its sillier elements, providing an intriguing counter-balance, and helping elevate it just a little higher than it would otherwise be without it.

Overall, while it's difficult to say that this entry in the series is a good film, it's hardly a terrible one either. It doesn't take itself too seriously, which gives it an enjoyable lightness, and you can even get some good laughs from its absurdity, all while basking in another iconic performance from Christopher Lee. However, it all makes you wish that they had tried just a little harder with the plot. The aforementioned elements can take you a long way, but as always, if the writing isn't up to snuff, the entire film will suffer the consequences.

Video/Audio:

This edition comes with the film on both 4K (2160p, UHD) and Blu-ray (1080p, HD) in 1.66:1 transfers of outstanding quality. The new 4K restoration from the uncut original camera negative looks marvelous throughout its entire 94-minute duration, highlighting its gorgeous & exotic locations. Likewise, the 1.0 DTS-HD audio track is fantastic, giving you all of the dialogue, sound effects, and music in excellent quality. Overall, Blue Underground has done a great job in both areas for the film's new restoration.

Special Features:

Commentary with Film Historians Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thompson

The Rise of Fu Manchu (15 Minutes): Interviews with director Jess Franco, producer Harry Alan Towers, and stars Christopher Lee, Tsai Chin, and Shirley Eaton

Sanguine-Stained Celluloid (28 Minutes): An interview with Stephen Thrower, Author of "Murderous Passions: The Delirious Cinema of Jesus Franco."

RiffTrax Edition (77 Minutes): A shorter version of the filmed that's riffed by Mike Nelson, Bill Corbett, and Kevin Murphy.

Conclusion:

Jess Franco's "The Blood of Fu Manchu" has a fair amount to like about it, including a rather silly plot that provides a light tone and a few laughs along the way, as well as an iconic performance from the legendary Sir Christopher Lee, but unfortunately rather weak writing that doesn't do much with the padded-out story ultimately makes this fourth entry in the series a mostly forgettable one.

Score: 2.5/5

Available on 4K/Blu-ray starting today.

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