L'empreinte du dragon rouge

To enjoy this movie you must ignore that most of the 'Chinese' are played by obviously English actors. That was how it was done back then. Hammer worked with limited budgets but almost always came up with suspenseful and colourful movies.

Christopher Lee plays his role with his usual aplomb, whilst the rest of the cast made up of many familiar faces keeps the movie rolling along.

I first saw this movie over thirty years ago and it took me quite a while to track down a copy on VHS but to this day I still enjoy it immensely. Don't regard it as a piece of art. It's an adventure film in the same vein as Big Trouble in Little China, done very well for the small money and time they had to make it.

In 1910 Hong Kong Christopher Lee plays Chung King, an evil leader of tongs who will kill anyone who stands in their way of their slave and opium trade.

A sea captain (Geoffrey Toone) battles them when his daughter is murdered. Violence follows and then bodies begin piling up.

Unusual Hammer film--not really a horror movie--more like a violent action film. Lee is having a whale of a time playing King and Toone is OK in his role. Everyone else is pretty terrible--especially pretty Yvonne Monlaur and all the Asian actors. The low budget does show and the script is sort of scattershot.

I'm giving it a 7 because it's no longer than it needs to be (79 minutes), Lee is very good, there's some beautiful color photography and some pretty strong bloody violence for 1961--but then this IS a Hammer film.

Worth seeing on a slow day.

Surprisingly, I quite liked this atypical Hammer offering, which is basically a companion piece to THE STRANGLERS OF BOMBAY (1960) – with the setting changed to 1910s China, and the vicious “thuggees” replaced with the equally murderous Red Dragon Tongs. As a matter of fact, one might say that the script for STRANGLERS served as a virtual template for this one – to which Hammer then assigned Jimmy Sangster, their in-house scribe, in order to apply the necessary alterations (though, in the long run, the former still emerges as the better picture of the two)! With this in mind, THE TERROR OF THE TONGS likewise thrives on violent acts (with the exploitation factor increased a notch in this case thanks to the compulsively sleazy atmosphere of taverns and opium dens) – and the hero, too, is eventually subdued to excruciating torture but saved at the last minute.

Interestingly, Christopher Lee’s role as the Tong leader anticipates his later Fu Manchu characterization – which he played in five low-budget outings (of gradually decreasing merits) throughout the second half of the decade. While the gaunt actor is always worth watching, here he seems to be acting through his voice alone – as his character is usually depicted sitting down and ordering his underlings about (even when finally cornered, he keeps a thoroughly calm demeanor)! Geoffrey Toone is an agreeable hero, being unusually brawny: he goes after the Tongs after they callously murder his teenage daughter; later, he saves slave girl Yvonne Monlaur from their clutches – the French actress (who was also in THE BRIDES OF Dracula and CIRCUS OF HORRORS {both 1960}) is a delightful presence in the film, even if her role seldom rises above that of the ‘servile Oriental’ stereotype! Supporting characters include a crippled beggar (played by Marne Maitland, who was also in STRANGLERS) who’s secretly organizing opposition to the Tongs – and has no qualms about exploiting Toone’s personal tragedy to this end!; returning from the earlier film, too, is Roger Delgado – who virtually replicates his part of the chief villain’s closest henchman!

Ultimately, THE TERROR OF THE TONGS looks very good in color and is generally pacy at just 76 minutes; by the way, director Bushell had himself been an actor – numbering genre roles such as the bland hero of THE GHOUL (1933) and the ill-fated snobbish Colonel in the QUATERMASS AND THE PIT (1958) TV serial among his resume'.

Terror of the Tongs is a largely unknown Hammer film and, as such, isn't one the great studio's best films. It is, however, a more than decent entry in Hammer's oeuvre, and is well worth seeking out for Hammer fans. The film takes place in Hong Kong, and director Anthony Bushell does a fairly good job of capitalising on the mystery of the eastern culture. The most prominent thing about this film is no doubt the fact that it stars the great Christopher Lee - as the Chinese head of 'The Tongs'! It's a hilarious performance, and while Lee doesn't exactly convince the audience that he's Chinese, it brilliantly shows off his charisma and ability to hold the audience's attention. The plot focuses on a secret Hong Kong society known as 'The Red Dragon Tong'. They kidnap the captain of a ship in Hong Kong harbour while he's trying to restrain the people who kidnapped his daughter. We then follow the attempt to free him from the Tong; but this isn't a group of amateurs, as the society is big and powerful and freeing the captain isn't easy.

The film actually isn't a lot like what I've come to expect from Hammer, as it's all played out rather seriously and there's not a hint of anything even resembling supernatural activity. The film doesn't reflect particularly well on the Chinese people - as despite being set in Hong Kong, there's hardly any natives on the cast list and the Chinese characters don't get to much that has any bearing on the plot. The atmosphere is nothing to write home about, although director Anthony Bushell manages to create just about enough tension to keep things ticking over. The acting is generally below average, with only Christopher Lee coming out of the film with any credibility - which is amazing considering the nature of his role. The film doesn't have a great deal of bite - in spite of a torture sequence and numerous scenes of drug use - although it mostly isn't boring. Overall, I can't say that The Terror of the Tongs is even near to being Hammer's finest hour, but it's a decent little rarity and worth tracking down for Hammer fans.

It is still much better than nowadays films. I love these classics. I laughed a lot. Especially the fights scenes. Don't get it to seriously.