The Films (Blood 3/5, Castle 2.5/5)

Christopher Lee plays the Sax Rohmer master criminal for two final times, this time for world cinema’s Wildman Jess Franco. In BLOOD OF FU MANCHU (1968), Fu Manchu and his daughter Lin Tang (Tsai Chin), plot to destroy the world with a group of beautiful women who now harvest a deadly poison in their blood. When kissed by one of these ladies, sudden blindness and death occur.

In CASTE OF FU MANCHU (1969), Fu Manchu plots to freeze the world’s oceans and lakes, with the aid of a drug ring. But things go sour when Manchu double crosses them and leaves them for death. While this gang war goes on, Scotland Yard agent Nayland (Richard Green) is hot on Manchu’s trail, leading to an underwhelming ending to the series.

Sax Rohmer’s supervillain Fu Manchu has been around cinema since the silent days and soon became a movie serial favorite. By the 1960’s, Spy fever had taken over thanks to the James Bond films, and many similar adventure series like OSS 117, Pink Panther, Fantomas, and so on. So, Producer Harry Alan Tower soon bought the rights to character and released a five-film series. The first three being FACE OF FU MANCHU (1965), BRIDES OF FU MANCHU (1966), and VENGEANCE OF FU MANCHU (1967). For the last two entries budgets were cut down, and Jess Franco (VENUS IN FURS, AWFUL DR ORLOFF) was hired to direct. While these two films are dirt cheap and poorly paced, that doesn’t mean there still not entertaining.

BLOOD is the more polished of the two and CASTLE is a confusing mess, which lead to it being featured on Mystery Science Theater 3000. BLOOD has a flow and a low rent style to it. In many ways a jungle movie, the action is fast and silly. CASTLE on the other hand, is bizarre and confusing. There’s huge plot gaps and the use of stock footage makes the film look embarrassingly cheap.

The casting of the two films is full of euro cult favorites. Christopher Lee does what he can with the super criminal, even with the handicap of bad yellow face. The eye makeup is especially cringe worthy even by 1960’s standards. Tsai Chin, who played one of the assassins at the beginning of YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE (1967), fairs better in BLOOD, but is overall a fun performance that avoids a lot of Asian stereotypes. Richard Green (tv’s Robin Hood), makes a likeable hero. He is also a dead ringer for Ray Millad. Franco favorite Maria Rohm (VENUS IN FURS) is having a blast as the adventure’s daughter, and in CASTLE we get a minor fez wearing appearance by LADY FRANKENSTIEN herself, Rosalba Neri.

Audio/Video (4/5)

Both features come with 1.0 English Master Audio tracks. Both films have lovely sound mixes, with BLOOD having a crisper sounding soundtrack and effects. Dialogue is the only weak point, as the mix sometimes dives down in volume for a few seconds. The Daniel White scores are B movie gold, with thrilling sections. English subtitles are included for both films.

The 1080p HD transfers are almost fantastic. CASTLE is overall the better of the two. Since Jess Franco wasn’t as worried about staying focused during scenes, some elements are just from the filmmaking itself. But the transfers themselves are good upgrades from the previous Blue Underground DVDS. Colors are vivid and there’s almost no actual print damage.

Extras (4/5)

We get two featurettes on the films. First up is The Rise of Fu Manchu, which has interviews with Director Jess Franco, Christopher Lee, Producer Harry Alan Towers, Tsai Chin, and Shirley Eaton. This making of is mostly a retrospective of all five of the Fun Manchu pictures and their origins. Shirley Eaton is on hand to discuss her “stolen” cameo in BLOOD, which was supposed to be included in THE GIRL FROM RIO. The second, titled The Fall of Fu Manchu, is focused on the two Franco directed films and the ending of the series. Rounding out the package are trailers, and a poster gallery.

Overall (3.5/5)

While not good movies, the two Franco Fu Manchu films are highly entertaining popcorn films for a lazy Saturday. Recommended for Franco fans.