THE CASTLE OF FU MANCHU (1969)
4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray
Label: Blue Underground
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 91 Minutes 54 Seconds
Region Code: Region-Free
Video: Dolby Vision HDR 2160p Ultra HD Widescreen (1.66:1), 1080p HD Widescreen (1.66:1)
Audio: English: 1.0 DTS-HD MA with Optional English Subtitles (English SDH, Français, Español)
Director: Jess Franco
Cast: Christopher Lee, Tsai Chin, Richard Greene, Maria Perschy, Rosalba Neri
Just a year after The Blood of Fu Manchu Jess Franco (Vampyros Lesbos) and Christopher Lee (The Bloody Judge) returned to Fu Manchu series with the fifth and final entry, the near universally loathed The Castle of Fu Manchu (1960). Also returning are the villainous daughter Lin Tang (Tsai Chin, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) and his nemesis Nayland Smith (Richard Greene, Sword of Sherwood Forest) and his sidekick Dr. Petrie (Howard Marion Crawford, The Blood of Fu Manchu). As promised at the end of the last film, despite his lair having been blown sky high, he has returned, and with a new diabolical plan, 'natch. This time he's figured out a way to transform bodies of water into ice, which he uses to threaten travel and commerce throughout the world. It begins with a demonstration of his new found toy, causing an iceberg to appear and sink a luxury cruiser in the Caribbean! The plot is not too far removed from what one would expect of a fiendish 007 villain, but the execution is hackneyed, not only does it recycle scenes from the previous film peppered throughout, but it also used no less than footage from two other films, including a lengthy blue-tinted scene from the black and white Titanic disaster opus A Night to Remember (1958) right at the start of the film!
Again we have an overly busy series of sub plots involving an opium dealer, a professor, and his sexy assistant (Maria Perschy, Night of the Seagulls), there's also a heart transplant and of course Nayland Smith and Dr. Petrie are again hot on the trail of the diabolical Fu Manchu to put a stop to his fiendish plot for world domination, and at least this time they have more to do, especially Nayland Smith who was largely waylaid in the previous film. While the movie is seriously weak sauce it does have a few fun moments, particularly for fans of Franco with some attractive lensing with cool colored lighting, some okay atmosphere, and more of the generally poorly choreographed action and fighting sequences, including some rubbery bayonet action, but hey, it's good pulpy fun!
Franco himself shows up as an inspector, which is fun, and he gets more screen time than in the last film, too, plus there's a cool female assassin for hire played by euro-ult goddess Rosalba Neri (Lady Frankenstein) that help pass the time quite nicely, dressed up like a butch gangster from '20s, Perhaps not surprisingly it's a bit of ramshackle effort, and was to be the last of the Towers produced Fu Manchu films. Again, horror icon Christopher Lee is an imposing figure, he does what he can with the material, he certainly elevates it to a degree, but as the saying goes, you cannot polish a turd, but apparently you can wrap in in the low-budget trappings of a yellow-peril action/adventure film... this is probably one of the worst films in Christopher Lee's filmography, but the same cannot be said for Jess Franco, while I love a lot of his stuff he definitely made worse movies than this! Another strike against it would be the absence any nudity and the sleaze, as where the last film was ripe with it, and the score this time around is considerably less swanky! Once again, the film ends with Fu Manchu possibly dying in an explosion, once more uttering the words "the world shall hear from me again", but nope, that didn't happen folks, we wouldn't see Fu Manchu reappear for over 20 years with The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu (1980), with Peter Sellers reviving the character in a send-up comedy.
Audio/Video: The Castle of Fu Manchu (1969) arrives on region-free 4K Ultra HD in 2160p UHD with "brand-new 4K restoration from the original camera negative in Dolby Vision HDR". The fim was previously issued on Blu-ray from Blue Underground as a double-feature with the sequel The Blood of Fu Manchu, and that release was heavily DNR'd and looked less than stellar. Now in 2025 Blue Underground revisited both titles with stand alone 4K UHD/BD upgrades, this new restoration really looks fantastic. The source is flueless, it has naturally filmic appearance with lush fine film grain, and the texturing and fine details are terrific with plenty of detail in close-ups of faces, hair and and clothing textures . The Dolby Vision HDR color-grade is very pleasing, the colors are warm colors, skin tones appear natural, and the primaries have a nice blush to them, the film has a lot of colored-gel lighting and these scenes looks absolutely radiant, with deep, inky blacks. The accompanying Blu-ray also features the new restoration without the benefit of the Dolby Vision HDR color-grade, but is still leaps and bounds over the previous release in every respect. The sole audio option is a newly restored English DTS-HD MA 1.0 dual-mono track. The track is clean and well-balanced, no issues with hiss or distortion, dialogue is clear and precise, and the score hits sounds terrific.
The extras on the UHD disc include an excellent and in-depth Audio Commentary with Film Historians Nathaniel Thompson and Troy Howarth, the dynamic euro-cut duo
get into the pleasures of this imperfect film, how the international set sequences in Turkey and Scotland are most just Barcelona stand-ins, the use of recycled sets from Jess Franco's previous film Justine, and how Franco was sort of known for ending franchise and acting careers, They also get into the cast and crew, with plenty of Rosalba Neri appreciation, and making some comparisons to howw Franco's film's compare to the earlier Don Sharp directed films in regard to period, style, and execution. On the UHD we also get the 2-min International Trailer.
Disc two is a Blu-ray, and it too features the commentary and trailer, as well as a host of new and archival extras.
New stuff includes the 21-min Castle of Carnage – Interview with Stephen Thrower, Author of “Murderous Passions: The Delirious Cinema of Jesus Franco”, another delightful appraisal by the Franco expert, he talks about how the movie that has garnered much scorn through the years, but that he enjoys it, how we get more of Lee and Franco in this entry, how Franco repurposes well-known landmarks and and historic locations in Barcelona and Istanbul as set pieces, as well as the use of recycled footage from both A Night To Remember (1958) and Campbell’s Kingdom (1957), also noting that it's quite tame for a Franco-flick, and Franco's opinion of Lee, and Christopher Lee's opinion of Franco. Another nice add is the 75-min RiffTrax Edition – The Castle of Fu Manchu Riffed by Mike Nelson, Bill Corbett and Kevin Murphy, which is chock full of fun puns and observations. The last of the extras are a 14-min archival featurette The Fall of Fu Manchu - Interviews with Director Jess Franco, Producer Harry Alan Towers, and Stars
Christopher Lee & Tsai Chin, all of whom have since passed except for Tsai Chin who is now 92, plus a Newly Expanded Poster & Still Gallery.
The 2-disc UHD/Blu-ray release arrives in an oversized dual-hubbed, black keepcase with a Reversible Wrap featuring both a fantastic new illustration as well as original illustrated movie poster artwork. The first pressing also includes a Slipcover with the new artwork that has embossed elements on logo on the front, back and spine.
Special Features:
Disc 1 (4K UHD Blu-ray) Feature Film + Extras:
- NEW! Audio Commentary with Film Historians Nathaniel Thompson and Troy Howarth
- International Trailer
Disc 2 (Blu-ray) Feature Film + Extras:
- NEW! Audio Commentary with Film Historians Nathaniel Thompson and Troy Howarth
- The Fall of Fu Manchu - Interviews with Director Jess Franco, Producer Harry Alan Towers, and Stars
Christopher Lee & Tsai Chin (14:01)
- NEW! Castle of Carnage – Interview with Stephen Thrower, Author of “Murderous Passions: The Delirious Cinema of Jesus Franco” (21:21)
- International Trailer (2:26)
- NEWLY EXPANDED! Poster & Still Gallery (2:19)
- NEW! RiffTrax Edition – THE CASTLE OF FU MANCHU Riffed by Mike Nelson, Bill Corbett & Kevin Murphy
(75:05)
Screenshots from the Blue Underground Blu-ray (2025):
Buy it!
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