The Castle of Fu Manchu 4K Review (Blue Underground)

The Castle of Fu Manchu is a 1969 crime thriller directed by Jesus Franco (Jailhouse Wardress, Golden Temple Amazons, Faceless, House of Cruel Dolls, Zombie Lake, Barbed Wire Dolls, Countdown to Esmeralda, Angel of Death, Diamonds of Kilimandjaro, Panther Squad, Dracula Prisoner of Frankenstein, Night of the Blood Monster, The Blood of Fu Manchu, and Sinfonía Erótica). It’s based on book series from author Sax Rohmer. It was co-written and produced by Harry Alan Towers (The Face of Fu Manchu, The Brides of Fu Manchu, The Vengeance of Fu Manchu, The Million Eyes of Sumuru, House of 1,000 Dolls, 99 Women, Count Dracula, Night of the Blood Monster, The Mangler, Gremlins 2: The New Batch, The Man with the Golden Gun, and Ten Little Indians). It was co-written by Manfred Barthel (Der Maulkorb, The Bible As History, and Mysteries of the Gods). This crime franchise included 4 other movies such as The Brides of Fu Manchu, The Vengeance of Fu Manchu, The Vengeance of Fu Manchu, and The Blood of Fu Manchu!!!! Fu Manchu (played by: Christopher Lee from the Fu Manchu franchise, Star Wars franchise, Dracula franchise, The Lord of the Rings franchise, and The Wicker Man) and his psychotic daughter Lin Tang (played by: Tsai Chin from Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Casino Royale, Psycho-Circus, Fu Manchu franchise, Blow-Up, and You Only Live Twice) creates a new dangerous chemical weapon that will turn the seas into a giant block of ice. Fu Manchu’s archenemy Nayland Smith (played by: Richard Greene from Tales from the Crypt, The Hound of the Baskervilles, Island of the Lost, and The Blood of Fu Manchu) tracks down the madman’s trail of kidnapping, murder and massive global destruction. He gets himself trapped in this brutal lair of cruelty. Other secret agents try to stop the crazy terrorist from ruining and destroying everything. Will they stop him? or Is it all over???? The Castle of Fu Manchu definitely lives up to it’s reputation, it’s so bad that it’s good. Director Jesus Franco really delivered on The Blood of Fu Manchu but The Castle of Fu Manchu feels more like a quick cash grab trying to capitalize on it’s previous success. He uses some stock footage to fill up it’s running time. The script comes back to another terrorism situation. It just comes off so random and weird at times. The legendary Christopher Lee returns as the infamous Fu Manchu but it’s a much smaller role compared to all of the others. It takes a little bit for him to really show up here, earlier scenes he’s even shaded in. He’s still the best thing in The Castle of Fu Manchu but he’s more of a supporting role for this sequel. I do like that a few of the original cast members come back for this follow up. The supporting cast includes Tsai Chin, Richard Greene, Howard Marion-Crawford (The Blood of Fu Manchu), Günther Stoll (The Bloodstained Butterfly), Rosalba Neri (The Arena), Maria Perschy (House of Psychotic Women), José Manuel Martín (The Sinister Eyes of Dr. Orloff), Werner Abrolat (Night of the Blood Monster(, and Jesús Franco (Bloody Moon). I know they were planning to do another sequel for the Fu Manchu franchise but it never happened because this didn’t make an impression when it was originally released everywhere. It doesn’t have enough action or violence compared to all of the others. It has an awkward pace and flow to it, it could have been cut down by 10 minutes to avoid some of the filler moments. This actually feels more like a legit Jess Franco feature compared to the superior The Blood of Fu Manchu. I’m guessing that the cult director got a little more creative control for this and it ended up backfiring for the franchise. It does looks beautiful and almost all of the departments showed up in quality. It’s still decent but it had so much more potential. It remains entertaining and fun for the most part despite being the weakest one from all of Christopher Lee Fu Manchu films. It’s currently streaming on Tubi and a few other spots if you are curious about this one!!!! Let’s discuss this high definition presentation and special features from Blue Underground! This 2160p (1.66:1) unrated transfer with Dolby Vision and HDR10 is from a brand new 4K restoration from uncensored camera negative. It’s a major improvement compared to all of the older versions plus it’s fully uncut. It looks much better than expected after all these years. It has an English: DTS-HD Master Audio Mono track on the UHD. The audio pops out during it’s limited action and chaos. All of the dialogue is crystal clear, the terror is elevated, and the music has a nice boost to it. It has English SDH, French, and Spanish subtitles. It has a brand new exclusive “Audio Commentary” with critics Nathaniel Thompson and Troy Howarth. It’s very similar to most of their previous commentaries. Lots of information and inside stories related to this production. It has the “International Trailer”. These are the only extras located on the UHD, the rest is on the blu ray. It has the hilarious “RiffTrax Edition” with Mike Nelson, Bill Corbett and Kevin Murphy. This version is funny as hell and it adds a whole new level of comedy to this. It has the brand new exclusive little over 21 minute “Castle of Carnage”. It’s an interview with historian, critic, and author Stephen Thrower. He doesn’t hold back here, he gives his real opinions and thoughts on this Fu Manchu entry. He chats about how strange it is and it wasn’t a favorite of critics. He brings up the positives of it and defends the production in this. It has the brand new exclusive little over 2 minute “Poster and Still Gallery” from Blue Underground’s own Gregory Chick. All kinds of promotional material shows up in this extended version. It has little over 14 minute “The Fall of Fu Manchu” directed by David Gregory (Blood and Flesh: The Reel Life and Ghastly Death of Al Adamson, What’s in the Basket?, Ban the Sadist Videos!, Forget Everything You Have Ever Seen: The World of Santa Sangre, Texas Chain Saw Massacre: The Shocking Truth, The Joe Spinell Story, The Theatre Bizarre, Tales of the Uncanny, Enter the Clones of Bruce, Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley’s Island of Dr. Moreau, and Plague Town). It has interviews with Jess Franco, Harry Alan Towers, Christopher Lee and Tsai Chin. It’s in French and English with subtitles when needed. Franco jokes that he thought he was getting pranked when he was originally offered these movies. They all share their experiences on working on the franchise. They are very honest and blunt about it. They even mention not paying much attention to the script before they started filming it. There’s some really good personal stories here. It comes with a slipcover, reversible artwork, and a blu ray copy. It’s available everywhere right now, CHECK IT OUT!!!!