The Castle of Fu Manchu

The Castle of Fu Manchu
German theatrical release poster
Directed byJesús Franco
Screenplay by
Spanish dialogue by
  • Jaime Jesús Balcázar[3]
Based onFu Manchu
by Sax Rohmer
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyManuel Merino[2]
Edited byJohn Colville[2]
Music byCharles Camilleri
Malcomb Shelby
Production
companies
  • Balcázar Producciones Cinematográficas
  • Terra-Filmkunst
  • Italian International Films
  • Towers of London (Films)[1][2]
Distributed by
Release dates
  • 30 May 1969 (1969-05-30) (West Germany)
  • 24 September 1970 (1970-09-24) (Kingston, Jamaica)
  • December 1970 (1970-12) (UK)
  • 18 September 1972 (1972-09-18) (Barcelona)
Running time
92 minutes[4]
Countries
  • United Kingdom
  • West Germany
  • Spain
  • Italy
  • Liechtenstein[5]
LanguageEnglish

The Castle of Fu Manchu (German: Die Folterkammer des Dr. Fu Man Chu, lit. 'The Torture Chamber of Dr. Fu Manchu', Spanish: El castillo de Fu-Manchu), released in 1969, is the fifth and final Dr. Fu Manchu film with Christopher Lee portraying the title character. Directed by Jesús Franco, is an English-language co-production among various European countries including the UK, Spain,[6] and West Germany.[7]

The film is also known as Assignment Istanbul.[8]

Plot

Supercriminal Dr. Fu Manchu plots to freeze the world's oceans with a diabolical new device. With his beautiful but evil daughter, Lin Tang, his army of dacoits, and the help of the local crime organization led by Omar Pasha (whom Dr. Fu Manchu double-crosses), Dr. Fu Manchu takes over the governor's castle in Istanbul, which has a massive opium reserve, to control the largest opium port in Anatolia, since the drug is an important ingredient for the fuel for his machine. Dr. Fu Manchu needs the help of an intelligent scientist with an ailing heart whom he has imprisoned. In order to keep the scientist alive, he kidnaps a doctor and his wife to give the scientist a heart transplant from one of his obedient servants. Opposing him from Britain's branch of Interpol are his nemeses, Nayland Smith and Dr. Petrie.

Cast

Uncredited:

Production

The film was shot in Istanbul and Barcelona.[7]

Release

The Castle of Fu Manchu was released on May 30, 1969 in West Germany and on September 24, 1970 in Kingston, Jamaica.[9][10] This was followed by screenings in the United Kingdom in December 1970, Barcelona on September 18, 1972 and Madrid on May 28, 1973 and Seville on July 6, 1974.[11]

Home media

Blue Underground released the film on DVD under The Christopher Lee Collection in 2003.[12]

Reception

The film is considered the worst of the Fu-Manchu series with Lee.[13]

In 1992, The Castle of Fu Manchu was featured in Mystery Science Theater 3000 (Season 3, Episode 23). Towards the end, Joel Robinson comments that Roger Ebert liked the movie; however, in 1993 Ebert stated he had "never seen it."[14]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Die Folterkammer des Doktor Fu Manchu (1972)". BFI. Archived from the original on 29 September 2017. Retrieved 17 August 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Die Folterkammer des Dr. Fu Man Chu". Filmportal.de. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
  3. ^ "Castillo de Fu-Manchu, El". iicaa Catalogo de Cinespanol. Retrieved 17 August 2022.
  4. ^ "The Castle of Fu Manchu (A)". British Board of Film Classification. 11 September 1970. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
  5. ^ The Castle of Fu Manchu (booklet). Powerhouse Films. 2020. p. 12. PHILTD201.
  6. ^ Schlegel, Nicholas G. (11 June 2015). Sex, Sadism, Spain, and Cinema: The Spanish Horror Film. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-4422-5116-8.
  7. ^ a b "El castillo de Fu-Manchú | Filmoteca de Catalunya". www.filmoteca.cat. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  8. ^ Johnson, Tom; Miller, Mark A. (1 May 2016). The Christopher Lee Filmography: All Theatrical Releases, 1948-2003. McFarland. p. 187. ISBN 978-1-4766-0896-9.
  9. ^ Johnson, Tom; Miller, Mark A. (27 April 2004). The Christopher Lee Filmography: All Theatrical Releases, 1948-2003. McFarland & Company. p. 187. ISBN 9781476608969. Released 30 May 1969 (West Germany)
  10. ^ Thrower 2015, pp. 180–181.
  11. ^ Thrower 2015, p. 181.
  12. ^ DVD Savant Review: The Blue Underground Christopher Lee Collection on DVD Talk
  13. ^ Johnson, Tom; Miller, Mark A. (1 May 2016). The Christopher Lee Filmography: All Theatrical Releases, 1948-2003. McFarland. p. 188. ISBN 978-1-4766-0896-9.
  14. ^ Ebert, Roger (1 October 1993). "Movie Answer Man (10/01/1993)". RogerEbert.com. Roger Ebert. Retrieved 31 May 2020. Q. Did you really like "Castle of Fu Manchu?" The Mystery Science Theater critics said, "Roger Ebert liked this!" (Don Donovan) A. I've never seen it. Maybe they had me confused with Gene Siskel. Happens all the time.

Sources

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