646f9e108c Grisly strangulations in London alert Nayland Smith of Scotland Yard to the possibility of the fiendish Fu Manchu may not be dead after all, even though Smith witnessed his execution. A killer spray made from Tibetan berries seems to be involved and clues keep leading back to the Thames. Christopher Lee is Fu Manchu, an oriental megalomaniac searching for a poison made from the black hill poppy grown in Tibet, in this drama (not a comedy, like the namesakes with Peter Sellers) set in prewar Britain. <br/><br/>Its an adaption of a series of cheap newspaper stand novels of the &quot;yellow peril&quot; variety written before WW2, which were themselves, like the similar &quot;Sexton Blake&quot; novels, inspired by a Sherlock Holmes story by Conan Doyle.<br/><br/>There&#39;s a nice vintage car chase, although in an early scene contemporary postwar vehicles (including an Austin A30) are shown in a street. A scientist, apparently wealthy and owning a telephone, lives in what looks like a very shabby and derelict house – possibly a house due for demolition used by the film crew. The mistakes seem odd,the car chase appears quite expensive and despite being a &quot;second movie at the drive-in&quot; its been made into colour (although by a rather poor process with a lack of blue). 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 &#39;Boys Own&#39; heroics to produce a gripping adventure-thriller. Christopher Lee (as one would expect) is suitably menacing and inscrutableFu Manchu, even though the emphasis on his hypnotic eyes is an obvious reference to his roleDracula. The ever-reliable Nigel Green (Zulu)turns in a solid &#39;Holmes-ian&#39; performanceFu Manchu&#39;s nemesis Nayland Smith, while James Robertson Justice has a memorable cameoan irascible museum curator.<br/><br/>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 WilmerNayland 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.
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