The Castle of Fu Manchu

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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)
  • 1972 (1972) (UK)[4]
Running time
92 minutes[5]
Countries
  • United Kingdom
  • West Germany
  • Spain
  • Italy
  • Lichtenstein[6]
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) is a 1969 film and the fifth and final Dr. Fu Manchu film with Christopher Lee portraying the title character.

Plot[edit]

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[edit]

Uncredited:

Home media[edit]

Blue Underground released the film on DVD under The Christopher Lee Collection in 2003.[7]

In popular culture[edit]

In 1992, The Castle of Fu Manchu was featured in Mystery Science Theater 3000 (Season 3, Episode 23). Towards the end, Joel comments that Roger Ebert liked the movie; however, in 1993 Ebert stated he had "never seen it."[8] The episode marked the closest Joel and the Bots came to losing their sanity due to the poor quality of the movie.[9]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  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. ^ Bergfelder, Tim (2004). International Adventures: German Popular Cinema and European Co-Productions in the 1960s. New York City: Taylor & Francis. p. 261. ISBN 9781782389668.
  5. ^ "The Castle of Fu Manchu (A)". British Board of Film Classification. 11 September 1970. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
  6. ^ The Castle of Fu Manchu (booklet). Powerhouse Films. 2020. p. 12. PHILTD201.
  7. ^ DVD Savant Review: The Blue Underground Christopher Lee Collection on DVD Talk
  8. ^ 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.
  9. ^ RiffTrax

External links[edit]

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