ALL SCI-FI

Bud Brewster · Last edited by Bud Brewster on Sat Nov 21, 2020 3:15 pm; edited 6 times in total

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[Also released as: "Blood of Fu Manchu", "Against All Odds"]

From director Jesse Franco comes number four in the Christopher Lee/Fu Manchu series. Numbers one, two, and three had fair production values and color photography, although each film tended to be a little less worthy than its predecessor.

This one, number four, isn't even in color. Truly desperate Fu fans might find some consolation in the knowledge that a computer-colorized version is available.

The plot involves Fu Manchu's newest sex-related method of assassinating world leaders. Hypnotically programmed women are injected with snake venom and sent out to deliver the "kiss of death" to Fu's enemies.

I'm pretty sure that in real life the lady assassins wouldn't make it to the door, much less to their victims. Just a thought . . .

Richard Greene (British TV's "Robin Hood") fills the role of Nayland Smith from Britain's Home Office. Sexy Shirley Eaton (the gilded beauty in "Goldfinger") is the "black widow". Strangely enough, one year earlier Miss Eaton was cast as a female Fu Manchu in "The Million Eyes of Su-Muru" -- which is pretty bad in its own right.

The Fu Manchu series hit rock bottom with a dull thud in the fifth and final entry, "The Castle of Fu Manchu", which is also in black-and-white.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

scotpens

Bud Brewster · Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2022 4:01 pm Post subject:

Ah yes, the pitfalls of doing research. Other people's mistakes become your mistakes. Embarassed

I used about five reference books to write 688 reviews for every movie that was remotely science fiction back in the late 1980s and into the 1990s. Leonard Maltin's book was one of them, but I doubt the misinformation was from him. The Psychotronic Encyclopedia was used extensively, but that one wasn't always so reliable, even though it was always entertaining.

Thanks for the corrections, sir. Much appreciated. Very Happy

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)