The Brides of Fu Manchu

Alternate titles : The 13 Slave Girls of Dr. Fu Man Chu, Fu Manchu - Servant of the Devil, Fu Manchu's Diabolical Revenge.

Tagline : "Better Dead than Wed."

Fu Manchu (Christopher Lee) is back with his evil daughter Lin Tang (Tsai Chin) in this hastily produced sequel to "The Face of Fu Manchu" and is busy implementing his latest masterplan for world domination.

Having kidnapped the daughters of a number of prominent scientists from around the world, he forces their fathers to help him build a deadly new weapon, capable of transmitting devastating blasts of radio energy, that can destroy anything at any place in the world. Which he plans to demonstrate when he threatens to destroy The Windsor Castle.

But hot on his trail again and determined to stop him at any cost, is Scotland Yard's Nayland Smith (played this time by Douglas Wilmer) and his assistant Dr Petrie (Howard Marion-Crawford). Who discovers what his REAL target is...

Tracking Fu Manchu down to his new hideout in North Africa, where he delights in torturing the young ladies and throwing them in snake pits when their father's refuse to cooperate. More gunfights, car chases and elaborate deaths ensue, as Smith attempts to thwart him once and for all.

As with the previous film, this is more of a dark thriller than a horror, and is not overly gory. But one that should appeal to fans of Christopher Lee, or Hammer/Amicus style gothic horrors. Look out for British/Chinese actor Burt Kwouk, a familiar face on British TV and in films, as one of Fu Manchu's henchmen.

Overall Marks : 6/10.

Terrifying Trivia

• Nigel Green was asked to reprise the role of Nayland Smith, but declined as he had already signed up to do the William Castle film "Let's Kill Uncle" in Hollywood.
• With the exception of Carole Gray, Lucille Soong and Danni Sheridan, the remainder of Fu Mancu's "Brides" were chosen in a competition, as part of a publicity stunt. Producer Harry Alan Towers and Christopher Lee visited several European countries and chose a national beauty contest winner from each one, for a role in the film. However, they were not given any lines of dialogue, as they weren't in the actors union.
• Although this was actually filmed in London, it was mostly shot at Bray studios, which was owned by Hammer films at the time.
• US theatrical version featured an additional prologue, which flashed back to the end of the previous film where the castle blows up. Which is rather confusing as that had Nigel Green as Nayland Smith.
• Burt Kwouk, who plays Fu Manchu's henchman Feng, was a familiar face on British TV and films from the 60s, right through till the 2010's. He is probably best known for his role as Inspector Clouseau's long suffering sidekick Cato, in the Pink Panther films.
• The theatre scenes were shot at the old Lyric theatre, which was located in Bradmore Grove, Hammersmith, London, which had closed earlier that year. Although the building has since been demolished, the auditorium was dismantled and re-installed at the new premesis in nearby King Street.
• For it's original UK theatrical release, the UK film censors, the BBFC, cut several scenes for a U certificate. Which greatly enraged Christopher Lee, who bemoaned the film bore "virtually no resemblence to what was shot".
• German actors Joseph Furst, Harald Leipnitz and Heinz Drachewere added to the cast at the insistance of the German distributors, who were co-financing the film.
• Producer Harry Alan Towers got into serious trouble with Bray Studios during production, for failing to pay invoices to the studio on time, which very nearly brought production to a halt on several occaisions. Although he did pay all the outstanding monies before that happened, Bray said that they would never again agree to do buisiness with him.

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