Clevercell Very disappointing...

Cortechba Overrated

Moustroll Good movie but grossly overrated

Odelecol Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

GusF The first of five films starring Christopher Lee as the Chinese criminal mastermind created by Sax Rohmer, this is enormous fun from start to finish. I have to admit that I was slightly apprehensive before watching the film as Fu Manchu is the archetypal Chinese character of the Yellow Peril era but I need not have worried. Yes, the character is played by a man whose only remotely Chinese attribute is his surname but both Lee's performance and the strong script manage to prevent Fu Manchu from devolving into a racist caricature. The film is very well directed by Hammer veteran Don Sharp and there are some great action scenes and some very memorable visuals.Lee, one of my absolute favourite actors, is never less than completely compelling as Fu Manchu, who is such a frightening figure in part because he never raises his voice. The truly powerful do not need to shout and scream to have their way. He is an amoral genius who wishes to use the poisonous solution that can be obtained from the black hill poppy, which grows only in Tibet, to gain control of Britain and eventually the world. He is a great villain of the old mould. Nigel Green is excellent in the role of his arch-nemesis Denis Nayland Smith and it is a shame that he did not return for any of the sequels, being replaced by Douglas Wilmer in the second and third films and Richard Greene in the fourth and fifth.The film has a very strong supporting cast overall: Joachim Fuchsberger as Carl Jannsen, Karin Dor as Maria Muller, Walter Rilla (the father of "Village of the Damned" director Wolf Rilla) as her father Professor Muller, Tsai Chin as Fu Manchu's daughter Lin Tang, Howard Marion-Crawford as Dr. Petrie and James Robertson Justice as Sir Charles. Like Lee, Chin and Marion-Crawford appeared in all five films. Unlike Hammer's 1961 film "The Terror of the Tongs", there were several actors of Chinese descent who had speaking roles in the film and I appreciated that. Lee played a similar character in that film but I am glad to say that he toned down his performance on this occasion.It was filmed in Dublin and the neighbouring countryside and I recognised a few of the streets. I was on the lookout for street signs in Irish or other things that would give away that it was filmed in Ireland but I couldn't spot any, unfortunately. Unless, of course, you count the inclusion of Irish actors such as the great character actor Jim Norton in one of his first on screen roles and Joe Lynch, who is little known outside Ireland but is well known in the country for his role as Dinny in the long-running soap opera "Glenroe".Overall, this is a hugely enjoyable old fashioned thriller which I enjoyed far more than I expected.

Glen McCulla Sax Rohmer's fiendish menace from the Orient, the diabolical Dr. Fu Manchu, springs to life on the silver screen embodied by the decidedly European Christopher Lee in this, the first of five fiendish flicks of fright.I find it very hard to take these films seriously, coming back to them after Steve Coogan and Mark Gatiss' superb parody in "Dr. Terrible's House of Horrible". I almost expected the legendary Mr. Lee to come out with lines like 'Something has happened to my Woo-Woo', or indeed 'You have walked into my trap, and now the time has come for me to shut my trap'. However, Lee is superb as always, with able support from the lovely Tsai Chin as Lin Tang, deadly daughter of Fu Manchu. These menaces from the East are ranged against Nigel Green as Nayland Smith of Scotland Yard, and Howard Marion Crawford as his stalwart sidekick Dr. Petrie, who must stop their plan to distil the deadly poison of the Tibetan black hill poppy.Despite an obvious limited budget, with Dublin standing in for 1920s Limehouse, the film holds up well. Co-production cash from Germany means we get a decidedly Teutonic supporting cast (including the gorgeous Karin Dor, probably best known as Helga Brandt in "You Only Live Twice" - costarring Tsai Chin, funnily enough). One of the biggest distractions for me, however, was the sight of Jim Norton, Bishop Brennan of "Father Ted", in the small role of the professor's driver.All good pulpy fun, from the days when it was acceptable to "yellow up" a white actor to play an Asian. They don't make 'em like this anymore.

Coventry The legendary Boris Karloff played the fiendish Dr. Fu Manchu back in 1932. Who else than Christopher Lee would be able to bring this notorious screen-villain back to life? Karloff and Lee both have an amazing charisma and disguised in many evil characters before…The Yellow Peril Dr. Fu Manchu surely is one that speaks most to the imagination. In this first film of the new series, Dr. Fu Manchu hypnotized a look-alike of his and this person was decapitated. While everybody initially believes Fu Manchu is dead, vicious events start to happen again. The clever archenemy of Fu Manchu, Scotland Yard's Nayland Smith, once again opens the hunt for this diabolical doctor.The Face of Dr. Fu Manchu isn't a very suspenseful film and the script (written by the legendary producer Harry Alan Towers) hasn't got any compelling aspects to offer. Yet, it's enormous fun to see Lee act at his fiendish best and horror fans will enjoy watching all his terrific torturing-tricks! Director Don Sharp (also known for his brilliantly insane film `Psychomania') makes great use of the ominous locations and the scenery and all the rest is up to Lee and a surprisingly good performance by Nigel Green! The Face of Fu Manchu meant the start of a new series of film, all starring Lee as the abominable Dr. Four sequels followed, of which the last two were directed by Jess `Godfather of Sleaze' Franco. Every single film is worth watching only because they're so much fun! Don't ever expect a masterpiece, though! If you do desire to stumble upon a masterpiece, track down `The Mask of Fu Manchu' starring Boris Karloff.

sayesele Undoubtedly the best of the series of Fu Manchu films produced in the late 60s, well cast and well directed by Don Sharp, who commendably eschewed camp 'Boys Own' heroics to produce a gripping adventure-thriller. Christopher Lee (as one would expect) is suitably menacing and inscrutable as Fu Manchu, even though the emphasis on his hypnotic eyes is an obvious reference to his role as Dracula. The ever-reliable Nigel Green (Zulu)turns in a solid 'Holmes-ian' performance as Fu Manchu's nemesis Nayland Smith, while James Robertson Justice has a memorable cameo as an irascible museum curator.The highpoint of the film is undoubtedly the chilling sequence set in a English village, where all the inhabitants have been killed by poisoned gas. It still sends a shiver up the spine. The first sequel, Brides of Fu Manchu, with Douglas Wilmer as Nayland Smith, is watchable, even though it is basically a retread of the first movie, but the films which followed (especially the two directed by the notorious Jess Franco)are absolutely dire.