Product Details

• Actors: Werner Abrolat, Tsai Chin, Herbert Fux, Osvaldo Genazzani, Richard Greene
• Format: Anamorphic, Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)
• Region: All Regions
• Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: Blue Underground
• DVD Release Date: September 30, 2003
• Run Time: 92 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000096I9S
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #128,847 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "The Castle of Fu Manchu" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

CASTLE OF FU MANCHU - DVD Movie

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great DVD (Extras, etc); So-So Film!, October 22, 2003

By 

SwellBooks (Park Ridge, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Castle of Fu Manchu (DVD)

This is the final entry in the Christopher Lee/ Fu Manchu series of films, produced by Harry Alan Towers. This is a wonderful DVD from the fine folks at Blue Underground with some really nice extras, too bad the film isn't as good!

Chris Lee is great as the devil doctor but the story, such as it is, is incredibly stupid. Fu, of course, wants to rule the world and to this end he plots to turn all the world's water to ice. Okay. It is up to the intrepid Nayland Smith (Richard Greene) of Scotland Yard to save the day with the help of his Watson-like sidekick Dr. Petrie (Howard Marion Crawford).

The print of the film looks great and the sound is crystal clear. The film is in anamorphic widescreen and a joy to look at.

It has always been a source of disappointment to me that these films weren't better than they are. Much of the fault must be laid squarely on the producer, Mr. Towers, who wrote all the screenplays under the name of Peter Welbeck. Why he wrote his own stories instead of basing the movies on Sax Rohmer's original novels is a mystery to me. Many of the original novels are quite good with interesting plots and characters. Even the character of Fu Manchu is more complex in the books. For instance, in "PRESIDENT FU MANCHU", Fu (remember he is a doctor), performs an operation on a young boy to save his life. You never see Lee doing anything like that in these films (or Karloff in "MASK OF FU MANCHU", or any of the other screen Fu's). Also, although Fu wants to rule the world in the books, he longs for a peaceful world without war, disease, or poverty. In the 3rd Lee/ Fu film, "VENGEANCE OF FU MANCHU", one character says, "We know of your desire to rule the world, a world of crime". Rule a world of crime? That isn't what Fu wants. Didn't Mr. Towers ever read even one of the novels? What a pity! With Lee as Fu and the wonderful Tsai Chin as his daughter, this could have been a great series. As it is, this is a very mediocre series of films with only Lee and Chin to make them mildly interesting.

Having said that, this is sort of a fun film to watch and an improvement over the previous entry, "BLOOD OF FU MANCHU" (also available from Blue Underground). You even get to see director Jess Franco in a small role as a police inspector.

The DVD extras are great. A 13 minute feature with commments from Lee and Chin, director Jess Franco and Mr. Towers. I must address one thing Mr. Towers says about Franco. He blames Franco for the poor quality of these last 2 films saying he "killed off Fu Manchu". I think that is an unfair statement. Franco isn't the greatest director in the world but the poor quality of these films isn't his fault alone. Mr. Towers must take some of the blame for his really lame screenplays. Even Alfred Hitchcock or Stanley Kubrick at the height of their creativity couldn't have breathed life into Mr. Towers lame scripts!

Also included are trailers, poster and photo galleries, some wonderful liner notes by "VIDEO WATCHDOGS" editor, Tim Lucas, info on Sax Rohmer and a bibliography of Fu novels (read some, they are good), and bios of Lee and Franco.

Overall, a nice disc for Lee and/or Franco fans, or anyone who loves that mysterious oriental super-genius, Fu Manchu. -George Bauch

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Blue Underground delivers, December 11, 2006

By 

Pieni Ruusu - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Castle of Fu Manchu (DVD)

I am very impressed by Blue Underground's presentation of Blood of Fu Manchu and Castle of Fu Manchu. The prints are vastly superior to other versions I've seen and the DVD extras are AWESOME. There are cool menus, a delectable "easter egg", fun domestic and international trailers, poster galleries, still galleries, press material galleries, informative bios, and excellent inteviews with the stars, the director, and the producer. There is also "The Facts of Dr. Fu Manchu" which provides great insight into the evil Fu Manchu and his creator Sax Rohmer. "Facts" is very well done and highly informative. Blue Underground's Fu Manchu DVDs are exquisite.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars for cult movie fans only, December 15, 2004

By 

Gary Sienkiewicz (NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Castle of Fu Manchu (DVD)

The Castle of Fu Manchu is the type of film that will be far more appreciated by cult movie fans than by fans of more mainstream cinema. It's not for everybody. I happen to like these types of things and really enjoyed Castle of Fu Manchu.
Christopher Lee wasn't the best choice for an Asian character but he is Christopher Lee. Jess Franco has his fans and is known for making unusual films with very little money and a lack of a decent script and that's exactly what you get in Castle of Fu Manchu. The script is lame and the whole thing looks extremely cheap and Harry Alan Towers wrote and produced this. He asks us to believe it's all Franco's fault but I agree with one of the other reviewers on here who hit the nail on the head: Towers wrote the ultra-lame script and no matter who directed this it still would have been badly written. The film would have stood a chance if Sax Rohmer's entertaining Fu Manchu novels were used as the basis for the film instead of the script Tower's wrote which falls far short of the mark made by Rohmer. Tower's "produced" this ultra-cheap looking spectacle too.
All of this should let you know that the Castle of Fu Manchu is flawed - but it is also fun. I'm a fan of these types of films and a fan of Lee, Franco, and Towers (even if he tries to place the blame for this one completely on Franco). Blue Underground has done an amazing job with this disc and it includes many fine extras. The film looks better than ever and I had a great time watching this dvd.