Evil genius Fu Manchu (Christopher Lee once again playing the role) plots the death of his arch rival, Inspector Nayland Smith of Scotland Yard. A surgeon that Fu has abducted is forced into surgically turning one of Fu's henchmen into a Smith lookalike (quite amazing considering they are of different races and he was only given 48 hours to carry out the procedure!). "The face of Nayland Smith, the mind of a murderer" says Fu. In London Smith is abducted and shipped to China, at the same time his clone commits and is executed for murder. Far fetched yes but I really liked this part of the plot. Back to the start of the film we see three men executed at Fu's fortress, his equally cruel daughter is allowed to decide their deaths. These are rather gruesome, including a beheading, maybe not suitable for young viewers. More violence is seen throughout including a woman being branded on her back, torture and plenty of martial art fighting. This is hardly Bruce Lee standard but it's fun to watch none the less. Female glamour comes in the form of the beautiful Maria Rohm as Ingrid, in real life she was married to producer Harry Alan Towers. In this day and age I can't imagine a white actor being made up to play a non-white character and I can't help but snigger a little at the sight of Lee in Oriental make up but he plays it well. I have seen all of the Fu Manchu movies in this franchise starring Lee and found this entry to be one of the better ones. The plot is gripping, exaggerated yes but not as badly as some of the others, and perhaps this one has a bit more shock value too.
Review of The Vengeance of Fu Manchu
