Review: The Fu Manchu Cycle, 1965-1969 – LE

Blu-ray: The Fu Manchu Cycle (1965-1969)

I love watching anything with Christopher Lee in it, going back to being a child in the early 1970’s and watching old Hammer horror movies on the television. He has a certain screen presence which I always find captivating, and while the movies he is in vary in quality, you can always be assured of a great performance from the man himself.

The Fu Manchu movies are ones I haven’t watched in many years, so this glorious Indicator box set raised a few whoops of delight when it arrived at 60MW Towers for review.

It includes: THE FACE OF FU MANCHU (1965), THE BRIDES OF FU MANCHU (1966), THE VENGEANCE OF FU MANCHU (J1967), THE BLOOD OF FU MANCHU (1968), THE CASTLE OF FU MANCHU (1969) as well as the usual array of entertaining and informative special features that are always a part of an Indicator release.

As already stated, the movies of Christopher Lee vary in quality, and the Fu Manchu cycle is a prime example of this, with budgetary restraints, rewritten scripts, and different directors all playing a part in what finally appeared onscreen, and which ones were more well received by a waiting audience.

The first, as is most often the case in a movie franchise, is the best of the bunch, setting up the character of Fu Manchu as evil incarnate who wants ultimate power in the world and doesn’t care who, or what, he destroys in the process.

The following movies all follow a similar theme, with Fu Manchu coming up with a different plan for world domination, then ultimately being blown up in a huge explosion before declaring in an end of movie voice over that he will return again…even saying it in the final entry in the series The Castle of Fu Manchu.

While the movies themselves vary in quality, each is well worth watching in their own right, especially when accompanied by the wealth of special features associated with each of them.

The introductions to each movie by Vic Pratt are an essential watch before dipping into the main feature, setting up not only the story, but also giving a fascinating insight into what was going on in the background as far as production issues were concerned. These short introductions give an enhanced appreciation of the movie as you watch it.

When you’ve watched the movies themselves, then the commentary tracks, making of featurettes and archival interviews flesh out the background stories even more.

Also included are other related movies, including 2 shorts from the 1920’s which are absolutely fascinating, my favourite being The Further Mysteries of Dr. Fu-Manchu: ‘The Coughing Horror’ (1924, 31 mins) which culminates in a half man/half monkey attack that I had to immediately skip back and watch again!

The new 4K restorations from the original negatives give picture and sound quality which make them look like they were made yesterday…except for the decidedly dodgy 60’s fashion which occasionally appears and destroys the period setting of the movies.

This is the definitive box set for any Fu Manchu fans out there, as well as being a superb purchase for all Christopher Lee fans and cinephiles. The movies themselves might not be consistently be the best quality, but the wealth of amazing special features that accompany them most definitely are.

Grab this while you can as the limited edition box set of only 6000 numbered units is sure to sell out before too long.

Includes an exclusive poster only available with direct orders from the Powerhouse Films website (poster features the famous FU MANCHU FOR MAYOR design, originally printed to coincide with the 1965 mayoral elections in New York, see image on this page).

INDICATOR LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY BOX SET SPECIAL FEATURES

THE FACE OF FU MANCHU

• New restoration from a 4K scan of the original negative
• Original mono audio
• Audio commentary with genre-film experts, critics and authors Stephen Jones and Kim Newman (2020)
• The BEHP Interview with Don Sharp – Part One: From Hobart to Hammer (1993, 96 mins): archival audio recording, made as part of the British Entertainment History Project, featuring Sharp in conversation with Teddy Darvas and Alan Lawson
• The BEHP Interview with Ernest Steward – Part One: The BIP Years (1990, 96 mins): archival audio recording of an interview with the respected cinematographer, made as part of the British Entertainment History Project
• Archival interview with Christopher Lee (1965, 4 mins): extract from the Irish television programme Newsbeat, filmed during location shooting in Dublin
• Vic Pratt Introduces ‘The Face of Fu Manchu’ (2020, 7 mins): appreciation by the BFI curator
• Underneath the Skin (2020, 49 mins): broadcaster, educationalist and author of The Yellow Peril: Dr Fu Manchu & The Rise of Chinaphobia, Christopher Frayling, examines the origin, history and reputation of Sax Rohmer’s works
• Alternative titles and credits
• Super 8 versions: cut-down home cinema presentations with original vinyl soundtracks
• Original UK, German and French theatrical trailers
• Image gallery: promotional and publicity material
• New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
• World premiere on Blu-ray
  
  

THE BRIDES OF FU MANCHU

THE VENGEANCE OF FU MANCHU

THE BLOOD OF FU MANCHU

THE CASTLE OF FU MANCHU

• New restoration from a 4K scan of the original negative
• Two presentations of the film: with the original The Castle of Fu Manchu title sequence, and the alternative Assignment Istanbul titles
• Original mono audio
• Vic Pratt Introduces ‘The Castle of Fu Manchu’ (2020, 7 mins): appreciation by the BFI curator
• From Alicante to Istanbul (2020, 13 mins): actor Rosalba Neri remembers Jesús Franco, Maria Rohm and the making of The Castle of Fu Manchu
• An Interview with Harry Alan Towers (2008, 45 mins): far-reaching personal account of the intrepid producer’s life in radio, TV and film
• The Further Mysteries of Dr. Fu-Manchu: ‘The Coughing Horror’ (1924, 31 mins): Fu Manchu torments Nayland Smith with a terrifying creature in this silent serial sequel, presented with an optional new score by the band Peninsula
• Alternative title sequences
• Original theatrical trailer
• Image gallery: promotional and publicity material
• New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
• UK premiere on Blu-ray
  
  

• Limited edition exclusive 120-page book with a new essay on the Fu Manchu cycle by Tim Lucas, a look at the career of producer/screenwriter Harry Alan Towers, an examination of the work of Fu Manchu creator Sax Rohmer, new writing on The Ghost of Monk’s Island and the Stoll Pictures’ Fu Manchu silent serials, archival newspaper articles on the films, extracts from the films’ pressbooks, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and film credits
• Limited edition exclusive double-sided poster and five replica production stills
• UK and World premieres on Blu-ray 
• Limited edition box set of 6,000 numbered units

Review by Dave from discs kindly supplied by Powerhouse Films.