The Brides of Fu Manchu

If you recall, Lee's vicious Oriental supervillain was blown to smithereens at the end of the first entry in this series, THE FACE OF FU MANCHU. However, he's back in the best of health in this, the first sequel, with no explanation of how he escaped! THE BRIDES OF FU MANCHU has almost exactly the same structure as the first film: the characters are introduced; minor characters are killed off; there are lots of fights; Fu Manchu develops a new weapon. People are even strangled with Tibetan Prayer Scarves again! This is definitely one of those popcorn films. While satisfying on a purely visual level, after watching it you realise that there isn't any real substance underneath. THE BRIDES OF FU MANCHU does such a good job of being entertaining though, that you can't really criticise it. All of the ingredients are there, including numerous fights, car chases, enemy bases, kidnappings and radio messages, so there's something for everyone, whether you're an adventure fan or a simple thrill seeker. The spy, crime and adventure genres intermingle so seamlessly that you don't even realise it most of the time.

There are lots of things worth watching the film for, almost too many for me to point out (but of course I'll have a go). You've got some classic '60s machinery with flashing lights which doesn't do anything; you've got women in low cut revealing dresses; you've got a cast of extras including soldiers from the foreign legion; there's the tea-drinking British hero who dresses up as a prototype Indiana Jones; some satisfying explosions and lots and lots of fight scenes.

These fights are just as good as the ones in the first film, with men fighting for hours but not getting a single scratch or ruffled hair! I love these cheesy kind of fights and there's a lot to enjoy in these bits. Also, how can you not love a film where the heroes cooperate with the BBC to fight the yellow peril? At the end of the film there are even some genuinely exciting moments. There's a varied cast all going through their paces in this film. Christopher Lee is the rather wooden Fu Manchu, given little to do except be a face behind the evil this time around, but he's still fun and looks great in the role. Tsai Chin is wonderfully sinister and evil as his daughter. Douglas Wilmer plays Nayland Smith this time around, he's no Nigel Green but he's adequate enough in a square-jawed hero type of way. Burt Kwouk has a small role as an unlucky assistant, while familiar face Rupert Davies (DRACULA HAS RISEN FROM THE GRAVE), also appears playing a Frenchman, complete with comedy French accent! A pleasing alternative to the James Bond series, the Fu Manchu films are always entertaining, even if they are bad. This one is strictly average, but it's enjoyable and I had a lot of fun with it, as you can probably guess from reading the above. Lee's final words are "the world shall hear from me again", and guess what, he was right, appearing in the follow year's THE VENGEANCE OF FU MANCHU.

Sequel to "The Face of Fu Manchu", "Brides..." is even better if you look movies just to be entertained. It's the kind of silly, funny, absurd, kinky time capsule movie that never loses his charm. Of curse, plot holes and mistakes are a plenty (it's in the 20's but girls looks very 60's) but Lee's terrific performance and a good cast full of familiar faces (even Pink Panther's Cato is here!) helps to sustain interest. Nayland Smith and Dr. Petrie are a later version of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, but Fu Manchu is the main character here, cruel, sadistic and totally evil, probably the best villain ever, sadly forgotten today due to his racial connotations. The franchise will continue on three more films, but "Face..." and "Brides..." (both directed by Don Sharp) are the real thing. By the way, the 5 films are available now in a box set released in Spain by Manga Films (region 2), but beware: the last 2 movies (by Jesus Franco) are in Spanish without subtitles.

Second entry in Fu Manchu-Christopher Lee series set in London and based on Sax Rohmer's characters . At the film there are action, adventures, thrills, sadism and atmospheric outdoors filmed in London . Produced , as always, in average budget by Harry Allan Towers and also written under pseudonym of Peter Breck . Christopher Lee returns in this second chapter as the evil powerful Fu Manchu , the ominous genius who doesn't give up easily, and is out to destroy world or bent on conquering it . This time has designed a fantastic scheme , kidnapping scientific's daughters (Marie Versini , Carole Gray , among others) forcing them to develop a deadly ray gun . The beautiful girls are tortured by Fumanchu and his nasty daughter . Inspector Nayland Smith of Scotland Yard Nayland is his perennial adversary and arch-nemesis , he takes the center of attention when undergoes the dangerous mission. When Nayland Smith is assigned the case along with his assistant Dr. Petrie(Howard Marion Crawford) go into the action . Nayland Smith enlists the help a German scientist named Franz (Heinz Drache) against evil-doer emperor Fu.

This is a bizarre blending of thriller , suspense , action , intrigue and fantastic adventure . This exciting , diverting picture is full of Chinese killers, British adventurers , abducted scientists and megalomaniac villains . Christopher Lee with his usual stoic acting as Fu displays efficiently his abilities and killing mercilessly people . Fine 1920s atmosphere with good sets and old vehicles . Not as nice as ¨Face of Fumanchu¨-also by Don Sharp- still amusing and entertaining. Good performance by Douglas Wilmer as Nyland Smith who in previous and subsequent episodes was interpreted by Nigel Green , and Richard Greene , as always supported by Dr. Petri from ministry of Interior played by Howard Marion Crawford . The villain T Sai Chin stand out as Fu Manchu's daughter . International and cosmopolitan cast formed by European actors from diverse countries as British as Douglas Wilmer ,Rupert Davies , Carole Gray ; German as Heinz Drache , Haralz Leipnitz ; French as Marie Versini , Roger Hanin ; Chinese as Eric Young and Burt Kwouk who played the Peter Sellers's contender in Pink Panther series.

The best installments were ¨Face of Fu Manchu(1965, Don Sharp)¨, and ¨Brides of Fu Manchu( 1966, Don Sharp)¨ , followed by the inferior ¨Vengeance of Fu Manchu (1967 by Jeremy Summers ) and most critics felt the outing ¨Blood of Fumanchu¨ was one of the weakest entries along with ¨The castle of Fu Manchu¨, both of them directed by Jess Frank with similar casting , plenty of stock-shots and a Z-series style. Rating : 5,5 , average .

Evil Oriental mastermind Fu Manchu (CHRISTOPHER LEE) abducts ten beautiful girls from around the world whose fathers are distinguished scientists and engineers. He then forces them to construct a "death ray", which generates phenomenal energy through radio waves. First he uses his new weapon to destroy "The Windsor Castle", an ocean liner, which was carrying several VIP's in order to show the world the extent of the damage he could do unless his demands are met. His next intended target is London's "St Paul's Cathedral" where an international arms conference is to take place. Nayland Smith (DOUGLAS WILMER) must locate his arch enemy's new installation and destroy the weapon, but in such a way that the lives of the girls will not be threatened.

THE BRIDES OF FU MANCHU was the first sequel to the popular FACE OF... (1965), which went into production at the legendary Bray studios (once the home of the Hammer horror factory) on 12 January 1966 while its predecessor had barely completed its run of the UK's cinemas. The film also came with a huge publicity stunt, in which Lee would travel around different countries in Europe and select ten suitable girls (not necessarily an actress) to be Fu Manchu's brides in the film.

THE BRIDES OF FU MANCHU is in no way as stylish as its predecessor, but its not bad as sequels go with the James Bond style plot carrying a little more weight than any of its subsequent successors. Director Don Sharp was wisely retained in the director's chair along with Cinematographer Ernest Steward whose lighting did so much for the first film. Between them they still brilliantly recreate the period atmosphere of 1920's London giving it a Conan Doyleish edge. The main problem with the film is that the script places more emphasis on torture and sadism here (one of the faults in subsequent entries) like when Fu Manchu forces one of the girls (in a state of trance) to throw another into his snake pit so the light-heartedness of the original is gone. A more explicit version filmed for overseas audiences apparently exists and Douglas Wilmer who was very popular on British television at the time as Sherlock Holmes is a disappointing substitute for Nigel Green as Nayland Smith.

In summary, though by no means a perfect film, The Brides Of Fu Manchu is still the last of the good Fu Manchu's. From this point on the series was to sadly degenerate into shambling nonsense with lacklustre scripts, lower budgets and poor overall execution.

This is the sequel to 'The Face Of Fu Manchu'. Once again Harry Alan Towers is the writer/producer, Don Sharp is the director, and Christopher Lee plays the fiendish Dr Fu Manchu, criminal mastermind. Fu Manchu's arch enemy Nayland Smith is played this time around by Douglas Wilmer ('The Vampire Lovers'), replacing Nigel Green. I miss Green but Wilmer is pretty good and Lee is terrific as always. Smith's Watson-like sidekick Dr. Petrie is once again played by Howard Marion-Crawford, and Tsai Chin returns as Fu Manchu's evil daughter Lin Tang. Horror buffs will get a kick out of seeing Heinz Dracher ('Circus Of Fear') as Franz and Rupert Davies ('Witchfinder General') as Jules Merlin. Also keep an eye out for Burt "Kato" Kwouk as Fu Manchu's assistant Feno. The plot concerns Fu Manchu's development of a death ray with which he plans to dominate the world. He kidnaps beautiful girls from various countries who are the daughters of prominent scientists or politicians to force them to cooperate. But Nayland Smith (who is kind of Sherlock Holmes to Fu Manchu's Moriarty) is soon onto his scheme and it becomes a race against time to stop Fu Manchu from taking over the world. I always thought that Sax Rhomer's Fu Manchu was a terrific villain, but in these politically correct times it's unlikely we'll see him return to our movies screens. Even the recent comic adaptation 'The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen' left his character out. Lee makes a perfect Fu Manchu even if he is sometimes let down by a mundane script and budgetary limitations. 'The Brides Of Fu Manchu' is just as entertaining as 'The Face Of Fu Manchu', so if you enjoyed the first movie you'll have fun watching this one. There were three more movies in the series and it is generally thought that each was progressively worse than the last, so proceed with caution...