The Face Of Fu Manchu

Christopher Lee in his second most famous role
The talented Christopher Lee only occasionally involved himself in a long running character in his movie roles and of course his brilliant portrayal of Dracula in a series of films for Hammer Studios has gone into movie folklore. Another character that he portrayed in a series of films and made his own was the evil oriental mastermind Dr. Fu Manchu.

Made famous in the 30's by Boris Karloff and by a long running series in the 40's here Christopher Lee puts his own original stamp on the evil doctor who was always bent on taking over the world by some fiendish method involving torture, deadly weapons and mind games. "The Face Of Fu Manchu" was the first of the films in this new series and was by far the best. It not only offers a wonderfully sinister character for Lee to sink his teeth into (no pun intended) but offers a lavish production with wonderfully recreated 1920's atmosphere, excellent costumes and a fine supporting cast of veteran performers like Nigel Green in the role of Sir...

The best in the series...thanks for region-free DVD players
So far only available on VHS in Region 1, I picked up the Region 2 DVD release of `Face of Fu Manchu' recently and blessed my region-free DVD player for every wonderful fun-filled moment of this enjoyable fantasy romp.

Based on the character originally envisioned by British author Sax Rohmer, Christopher Lee made a total of five appearances in the 1960s as arch villain Fu Manchu. This entry (the first in the series) is by far the best, closely followed by the second `Brides of Fu Manchu' (another Region 2 only DVD release).

What makes this entry so enjoyable is the wonderful Nigel Green as Fu Manchu's greatest nemesis - Nayland Smith of Scotland Yard. In fact it is in the opening minutes of this movie that we see Smith invited by the Chinese government to witness the execution of Fu Manchu.

Fast forward a couple of months and Smith is sturdy in his belief that Fu Manchu survived and is behind a series of grisly crimes in western Europe. Then when a...

One of the best Fu films
This is a review of the Warner Archive burn on demand DVD.

Fu Manchu plans to dominate the world through the use of the poisonous extract of a rare Tibetan poppy. The only problem is that the extract is unstable above the freezing point. Fu threatens to torture the daughter of a scientist unless he finds a way to stabilize the poison. With Nayland Smith (Nigel Green) on the case, time is running out. This may be the best of the five Christopher Lee Fu Manchu films -- though "The Brides of Fu Manchu" is a very close second.

The film is widescreen (2.35:1) and in very good condition. The DVD comes in a case with a printed cover just like a regular DVD. However, there are absolutely no extras -- the only menu choice is "play"!

Recommended.

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