Christopher Lee is good enough reason to see anything. Not everything he has been in has been good, then again that is true for most actors, but he was/is never less than watchable and at his very best he was magnetic. He was my main reason for seeing 'The Vengeance of Fu Manchu', or any of the five films he starred in for that matter, and if it weren't for him there would have been no knowledge of the films or any incentive in watching them.
The best of the five films by far is the first one, 'The Face of Fu Manchu'. Not my definition of a great film but the only mind to me that was above average and in enough aspects pretty good. Afterwards, the series declined with each sequel, from above average, to watchable, to lacklustre at best to rock bottom. Of the four sequels, 'The Vengeance of Fu Manchu' is the second best after 'The Brides of Fu Manchu'. Not to say that is much of an endorsement though, because neither were particularly good, but worse followed. Found this to be lacklustre and at times barely mediocre, at the same it was not unwatchable.
Lee oddly enough is not the main thing that stops 'The Vengeance of Fu Manchu' from being a disaster. Actually found the best thing of the film to be Tsai Chin, who again is deliciously nasty with the evil dripping off her. Although underused and there was the sense that his enthusiasm was lessening Lee is still very powerful and charismatic, the character appropriately fiendish as ought.
Also found 'The Vengeance of Fu Manchu' to have moments of eerie style and atmosphere and the sets don't look too cheap although clearly not authentic. The film started okay.
Despite saying that there were moments visually, that is not saying that 'The Vengeance of Fu Manchu' was a good looking film. Like 'The Brides of Fu Manchu', the editing looked incomplete and the photography fairly erratic. Again the music occasionally had haunting moments, but was even more ill-fitting and intrusive here and furthermore had a couple of cheap-sounding and poorly sung nightclub numbers that added absolutely nothing and were really out of place. The sound quality was similarly pretty poor at times and betrayed the locations' lack of authenticity. Douglas Wilmer was serviceable in 'The Brides of Fu Manchu', but to me was bland and stiff here and the rest of the cast have far too little to do.
Maria Rohm stands out the most in this respect but that is in no way meant as a good thing, quite the contrary. This is also the first film in the series to not be directed by Don Sharp and the difference in quality is incredibly glaring, Jeremy Summers' directing here came over as heavy-handed and half-hearted, especially in any scene containing any kind of torture. Half-hearted is another good way to sum up the film. The script is even more of a tonal muddle than previously to the point of confusion, due to trying to do too much, and is also very limp. The story is this time round very tedious in pace and often uneventful in what was going on, and the complete lack of suspense, creepiness and surprises replaced by useless padding (the nightclub numbers especially), gratuitous over-emphasis on torture and senseless further hurt it.
In summary, lacklustre but not an insult. 4/10
The best of the five films by far is the first one, 'The Face of Fu Manchu'. Not my definition of a great film but the only mind to me that was above average and in enough aspects pretty good. Afterwards, the series declined with each sequel, from above average, to watchable, to lacklustre at best to rock bottom. Of the four sequels, 'The Vengeance of Fu Manchu' is the second best after 'The Brides of Fu Manchu'. Not to say that is much of an endorsement though, because neither were particularly good, but worse followed. Found this to be lacklustre and at times barely mediocre, at the same it was not unwatchable.
Lee oddly enough is not the main thing that stops 'The Vengeance of Fu Manchu' from being a disaster. Actually found the best thing of the film to be Tsai Chin, who again is deliciously nasty with the evil dripping off her. Although underused and there was the sense that his enthusiasm was lessening Lee is still very powerful and charismatic, the character appropriately fiendish as ought.
Also found 'The Vengeance of Fu Manchu' to have moments of eerie style and atmosphere and the sets don't look too cheap although clearly not authentic. The film started okay.
Despite saying that there were moments visually, that is not saying that 'The Vengeance of Fu Manchu' was a good looking film. Like 'The Brides of Fu Manchu', the editing looked incomplete and the photography fairly erratic. Again the music occasionally had haunting moments, but was even more ill-fitting and intrusive here and furthermore had a couple of cheap-sounding and poorly sung nightclub numbers that added absolutely nothing and were really out of place. The sound quality was similarly pretty poor at times and betrayed the locations' lack of authenticity. Douglas Wilmer was serviceable in 'The Brides of Fu Manchu', but to me was bland and stiff here and the rest of the cast have far too little to do.
Maria Rohm stands out the most in this respect but that is in no way meant as a good thing, quite the contrary. This is also the first film in the series to not be directed by Don Sharp and the difference in quality is incredibly glaring, Jeremy Summers' directing here came over as heavy-handed and half-hearted, especially in any scene containing any kind of torture. Half-hearted is another good way to sum up the film. The script is even more of a tonal muddle than previously to the point of confusion, due to trying to do too much, and is also very limp. The story is this time round very tedious in pace and often uneventful in what was going on, and the complete lack of suspense, creepiness and surprises replaced by useless padding (the nightclub numbers especially), gratuitous over-emphasis on torture and senseless further hurt it.
In summary, lacklustre but not an insult. 4/10