La vendetta di Fu Man Chu

This is the third film in the revived Fu Manchu series from hit-and-run international film financier Harry Alan Towers. It represents yet another step down in this steadily deteriorating series. Towers' first mistake was in replacing director Don Sharp with Jeremy Summers, a TV-director whose only other theatrical credit was Gerry & the Pacemakers' feature "Ferry Cross the Mersey". His next mistake was filming in less-than ideal international locations, a characteristic of most of Towers' subsequent productions.

Filmed in Hong Kong, the film manages to pass up every opportunity for location flavor; the cramped film could have been made on any soundstage in the world. For reasons unknown, Summers chose to shoot with live sound on Hong Kong's non-soundproofed stages and, in the sceneof a delicate medical operation conducted, supposedly, in the bowels of a Tibetan temple, construction noises and traffic sounds are clearly audible.

The part of nominal star Christopher Lee is essentially an extended cameo. Instead, the film highlights Maria Rohm, Towers' German-born wife, who has never made a film for anyone but her husband. Here, she has one of her showiest roles as a nightclub singer, wearing a variety of glamorous costumes and lip syncing two awful songs performed on the soundtrack by Samantha Jones.

Ironically, this would be the only film in the series given USA release through a major distributor: Warner Brothers. But they held it low regard: a number of release prints were struck in black and white and it played on the bottom half of a double bill with "The Shuttered Room".

"The Vengeance of Fu Manchu" (1967), directed by Jeremy Summers, marks the third and final appearance of Christopher Lee as the infamous criminal mastermind in the 1960s Fu Manchu series. While the film attempts to breathe new life into the franchise, it ultimately falls short of its predecessors, offering a somewhat tepid conclusion to Lee's portrayal of the character.

Set against the backdrop of a globe-spanning criminal conspiracy, the film follows Fu Manchu's elaborate plot to discredit and destroy his nemesis, Nayland Smith, by creating an evil doppelganger. This premise, while intriguing, is not fully realized, often getting lost in a maze of subplots and poorly developed supporting characters.

Christopher Lee, as always, brings a commanding presence to the role of Fu Manchu. His performance remains the highlight of the film, infusing the character with a cold, calculating menace that elevates every scene he's in. Lee's ability to convey Fu Manchu's intelligence and cruelty with subtle facial expressions and measured delivery of dialogue is truly remarkable, especially considering the sometimes clunky script he's working with.

One standout scene involves Fu Manchu's meticulous preparation of his Nayland Smith duplicate. The sequence effectively showcases the villain's attention to detail and scientific prowess, while also highlighting the film's makeup and special effects, which are quite impressive for the time. This scene encapsulates the film's potential, blending suspense, horror, and science fiction elements in a way that, unfortunately, the rest of the movie struggles to maintain.

Director Jeremy Summers seems to struggle with the material, failing to capture the exotic atmosphere and tension that marked the better entries in the series. The pacing is often uneven, with long stretches of exposition interspersed with action sequences that lack true excitement or innovation. The globe-trotting nature of the plot, which should have added to the film's scope and excitement, instead feels disjointed and poorly integrated.

The supporting cast is a mixed bag. Douglas Wilmer, returning as Nayland Smith, gives a solid if unremarkable performance, while Tsai Chin once again shines as Fu Manchu's daughter Lin Tang, providing a worthy foil to Lee's calculated villainy. However, many of the other characters feel underdeveloped, serving more as plot devices than fully realized individuals.

The film's production design and cinematography are adequate but fail to capture the lush exoticism of the earlier entries in the series. The budget constraints are often apparent, particularly in some of the more ambitious set pieces that fall flat due to unconvincing effects or lackluster execution.

Thematically, "The Vengeance of Fu Manchu" attempts to explore ideas of identity and the nature of evil, particularly through the doppelganger plot. However, these potentially interesting concepts are never fully developed, lost in the shuffle of convoluted plotting and action set pieces.

It's worth noting that, like its predecessors, the film is a product of its time and contains problematic portrayals of non-Western cultures and stereotypical depictions that modern viewers will likely find offensive. While this was unfortunately common in the genre and era, it does detract from the film's appeal to contemporary audiences.

"The Vengeance of Fu Manchu" is a film that will likely appeal primarily to completists and die-hard fans of the series or Christopher Lee's work.

While it offers some entertaining moments and the always-welcome presence of Lee as the titular villain, it ultimately fails to live up to the potential of its premise or the better entries in the Fu Manchu series. The film serves as a somewhat disappointing conclusion to Lee's portrayal of the character, hinting at what might have been with a stronger script and more assured direction.

For those interested in 1960s pulp adventure cinema or the evolution of the Fu Manchu character on screen, "The Vengeance of Fu Manchu" may be worth a watch. However, casual viewers or those new to the series would be better served by starting with earlier, stronger entries in the franchise.

This is an exciting and suspenseful , though mediocre Fu Manchu movie , but still enjoyable . It's a little boring , but is better than following entries , the low-budgeted and lackluster Jess Frank movies : ¨Kiss of the dead¨ and ¨The castle of Fumanchu¨ which most critics felt were the weakest of the series .

The co-protagonist is Nyland Smith , finely played by Douglas Wilmer -character also interpreted by Nigel Green and Richard Greene- ; he's a good English actor , usually playing in secondary roles -El Cid- , here he is the starring and is very well . The baddies are Horst Frank , a German actor usually playing as the villain-role and Christopher Lee , as always acting as a magnificent evil-doer . As usual , there appears Howard Marion Crawford who is the assistant of Nyland Smith , a Watson-alike . And of course , the Fu Manchu's daughter , habitually played by T Sai Chin , acting perfectly as a nasty murderous.

In the film there are action , adventures , thriller , sadism and exotic outdoors filmed in China , because being produced by the Chinese Shaw Brothers and Harry Allan Towers (producer of the Fu Manchu's five movies) . The movie will appeal those have seen the different entries and Christopher Lee fans ; the best installments are directed by Don Sharp : ¨Face of Fu Manchu (1965)¨ and ¨Brides of Fu Manchu(1966)¨. Rating : Average but entertaining .

After THE FACE OF FU MANCHU (1965), the first and best of the 5 film series devoted to Sax Rohmer's Oriental villain and produced by Harry Alan Towers, my second favorite is the third film in the series, THE VENGEANCE OF FU MANCHU (1967). Unlike the first two which were directed by Brit B movie auteur Don Sharp, this film was helmed by Brit TV veteran Jeremy Summers who that same year directed Vincent Price in HOUSE OF 1000 DOLLS and Bob Cummings in 5 GOLDEN DRAGONS.

Summers brings a TV director's pacing and no-nonsense approach to the material which is a real plus when the script is less than it should be. As an old theatre director I worked with used to say... "If you can't be good, be fast". VENGEANCE also benefits from the location shooting in Hong Kong which helps to lend an air of authenticity to the proceedings. Also the use of predominantly Asian actors as Fu's minions (not the case with the other titles in this series) adds an extra element of credibility.

Douglas Wilmer returns as Fu's nemesis Nayland Smith having replaced Nigel Green after the first film. This time around he has very little to do as he is mostly catatonic throughout most of the movie. That's because he's actually someone else who has been surgically altered to look like Nayland Smith and is programmed to kill his Chinese housekeeper and then shut down. He is arrested for murder and convicted and sentenced to be executed. Throughout the proceedings he does nothing to defend himself, leaving his friends baffled.

This one aspect of the plot seems to bother most people concerning this film (surely Dr Petrie could spot him as a fake) but logic is hardly a primary component in a Fu Manchu story and so it didn't bother me. A few years earlier a similar plot was used on THE OUTER LIMITS. I just went where the movie took me which is how I watch films whether they are good or bad. In the end, of course, good triumphs over evil and Fu is left uttering his famous line "The World Shall Hear From Me Again."

This Warner Archive DVD-R looks very good for a non-restoration and the soundtrack is loud and clear. The one disadvantage of a Warner DVD-R is that there are no subtitles which are always a great help in understanding what is going on and for picking up dialogue that you might have missed. For those concerned with political correctness, if you're watching a Fu Manchu movie then you have no business complaining about Asian stereotyping or Christopher Lee as the Oriental arch-villain. It's Saturday Matinee time and that's all this movie was ever meant to be...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.

This has got relatively more torture scenes than the overrated FACE OF FU MANCHU although they are nowhere as imaginative and adult comics/pulp flavored as in the classic MASK OF FU MANCHU. Minor points of interest: feeble and failed attempt to add some sensuality by a few uninspired nightclub scenes with Maria Rohm, one karate-style fight scene, and the presence of one Oriental among the good guys and one Westerner among Fu's camp to break down good guys - bad guys pattern along racial lines.