The Castle of Fu Manchu: A Final Entry That Ends the Series on an Improved Note (4K/Blu-ray)

The Film:

When last we saw fiendish criminal mastermind Dr. Fu Manchu, his plot to spread a deadly poison around the world was thwarted by his top enemy Nayland Smith in "The Blood of Fu Manchu," an outing that had a number of elements to like about it, including an amusing level of over-the-top silliness, gorgeous filming locations, and an enjoyable performance from Sir Christopher Lee, but which suffered a little too much from its weak & distracted writing. Now we come to Lee's final turn as the evil genius in "The Castle of Fu Manchu," the second of two entries that Blue Underground is releasing in a new special 4K restoration. Will this last sequel in the series bring it to a close on a high note, or will it merely repeat the same unfortunate drawbacks as before?

This time around, Fu Manchu (Christopher Lee), with the help of his daughter Lin Tang (Tsai Chin), concocts a scheme in which he threatens to freeze the oceans of the world using a crystalline substance derived from opium unless his demands are met. However, in order to carry out his threat, he needs the help of a professor (Gustavo Re), whom he kidnaps, only to discover that he has a failing heart, causing Fu Manchu to also kidnap his doctor (Günther Stoll) and his assistant (Maria Perschy) so they can carry out a heart transplant. Meanwhile, his nemesis Nayland Smith (Richard Greene) is hot on his trail. Will he be able to find the criminal genius before he's able to carry out his terrible threat?

From the outset of Sir Christopher Lee's final outing as the notorious villain, we once again find that his scheme is rather nonsensical, nor is it particularly practical. However, just like in the previous entry, it doesn't really behoove the viewer to examine the details of his plots too deeply simply because they're meant to be wildly over-the-top & outlandish, giving the film a slight tone of silliness from which a fair amount of entertainment can be extracted. In this case, we have Fu Manchu threatening to freeze the oceans unless he's given control of the world, making it come off as a kind of extreme temper-tantrum if he doesn't get his way, which only adds to the film's mildly-goofy tone.

As mentioned previously, the last entry in the series ran into a problem with getting heavily distracted from its main plot, and while this final entry gets a little distracted as well with the odd subplot of the kidnapped professor needing a heart transplant, it at least manages to have a lot more to do with the film's actual story. That said, it still felt like it was thrown in there as mere padding in order to get the film to feature length, as well as a rather noticeable excuse to bring the doctor and his assistant to the castle, but again, they were able to integrate it into the film in a much better fashion.

On top of its pleasantly silly nature, you also get more gorgeous filming locations and, of course, more of the great Sir Christopher Lee, who luckily gets a lot more screen time in this entry. Overall, while this final outing is another one where it's difficult to call it a particularly good movie, it at least does a slightly better job than the previous one. You may not be able to say that the series went out on a high note, but it definitely went out on an improved one, and that's certainly worth something.

Video/Audio:

This edition comes with the film on both 4K (2160p, UHD) and Blu-ray (1080p, HD) in 1.66:1 transfers of excellent quality. Just like the previous film, the new 4K restoration looks marvelous, once again highlighting the film's gorgeous filming locations. Likewise, the 1.0 DTS-HD audio track is fantastic, giving you all of the dialogue, sound effects, and music in outstanding quality. Overall, Blue Underground has done another wonderful job cleaning up the film for this new remastered release.

Special Features:

Commentary with Film Historians Nathaniel Thompson and Troy Howarth

The Fall of Fu Manchu (14 Minutes): Interviews with director Jess Franco, producer Harry Alan Towers, and stars Christopher Lee & Tsai Chin.

Castle of Carnage (21 Minutes): An interview with Stephen Thrower, author of "Murderous Passions: The Delirious Cinema of Jesus Franco."

RiffTrax Edition (75 Minutes): A Shorter version of the film riffed by Mike Nelson, Bill Corbett, and Kevin Murphy.

Conclusion:

Jess Franco's "The Castle of Fu Manchu" offers another amusingly-goofy scheme from the criminal genius, more gorgeous filming locations, and one last intriguing turn from the great Sir Christopher Lee in the titular role. The plot may still get a bit distracted with another unnecessary detour, but at least it's integrated into the film a little better, making for a final entry that sends the series out on an improved note.

Score: 3/5

Available on 4K/Blu-ray starting today.

Follow me on Twitter @BeckFilmCritic.