ma-cortes Second entry in Fu Manchu-Christopher Lee series set in London and based on Sax Rohmer's characters . At the film there are action, adventures, thrills, sadism and atmospheric outdoors filmed in London . Produced , as always, in average budget by Harry Allan Towers and also written under pseudonym of Peter Breck . Christopher Lee returns in this second chapter as the evil powerful Fu Manchu , the ominous genius who doesn't give up easily, and is out to destroy world or bent on conquering it . This time has designed a fantastic scheme , kidnapping scientific's daughters (Marie Versini , Carole Gray , among others) forcing them to develop a deadly ray gun . The beautiful girls are tortured by Fumanchu and his nasty daughter . Inspector Nayland Smith of Scotland Yard Nayland is his perennial adversary and arch-nemesis , he takes the center of attention when undergoes the dangerous mission. When Nayland Smith is assigned the case along with his assistant Dr. Petrie(Howard Marion Crawford) go into the action . Nayland Smith enlists the help a German scientist named Franz (Heinz Drache) against evil-doer emperor Fu.This is a bizarre blending of thriller , suspense , action , intrigue and fantastic adventure . This exciting , diverting picture is full of Chinese killers, British adventurers , abducted scientists and megalomaniac villains . Christopher Lee with his usual stoic acting as Fu displays efficiently his abilities and killing mercilessly people . Fine 1920s atmosphere with good sets and old vehicles . Not as nice as ¨Face of Fumanchu¨-also by Don Sharp- still amusing and entertaining. Good performance by Douglas Wilmer as Nyland Smith who in previous and subsequent episodes was interpreted by Nigel Green , and Richard Greene , as always supported by Dr. Petri from ministry of Interior played by Howard Marion Crawford . The villain T Sai Chin stand out as Fu Manchu's daughter . International and cosmopolitan cast formed by European actors from diverse countries as British as Douglas Wilmer ,Rupert Davies , Carole Gray ; German as Heinz Drache , Haralz Leipnitz ; French as Marie Versini , Roger Hanin ; Chinese as Eric Young and Burt Kwouk who played the Peter Sellers's contender in Pink Panther series.The best installments were ¨Face of Fu Manchu(1965, Don Sharp)¨, and ¨Brides of Fu Manchu( 1966, Don Sharp)¨ , followed by the inferior ¨Vengeance of Fu Manchu (1967 by Jeremy Summers ) and most critics felt the outing ¨Blood of Fumanchu¨ was one of the weakest entries along with ¨The castle of Fu Manchu¨, both of them directed by Jess Frank with similar casting , plenty of stock-shots and a Z-series style. Rating : 5,5 , average .

lost-in-limbo Producer / writer Harry Alan Towers and director Don Sharp follow up their 1965 "The Face of Fu Manchu" a year later with the modest "The Brides of Fu Manchu". Actor Christopher Lee returns as Sax Rhomer's oriental mastermind villain Fu Manchu in another attempt to take over the world, after surviving the explosive finale in "Face…". Nigel Green doesn't return, which leaves Douglas Wilmer filling in as the commissioner Neyland Smith from Scotland Yard in his quest to foil Fu Manchu's quest for world domination. Fu Manchu is kidnapping young women who happened to be daughters of prominent scientists in the order of blackmailing them in helping him create a death weapon, but Neyland Smith is hot on the trail.Keeping to the same formula as "Face…" it has outlandish plotting made up of set-pieces, elaborate set details (the secret hideout), pulp dialogues, rough and tumble action (combat, fists flying, car chases, explosions) that's wrapped up like an enjoyable live comic strip. Sharp's handling might look plain and tight, but it's efficiently exciting and zippy in its pacing. The thick plot is deviously knotty, but surely convenient in the uncanny developments. Good old fashion scheming in trying to keep one step ahead. There are sound performances from the cast. Lee is doing it easy, but gets away with such a magnetic presence. Wilmer is no Green, but is acceptable and Tsai Chin is good fun as Fu Manchu's evil daughter.

bensonmum2 Fu Manchu's up to his old tricks – he's trying to take over the world. This time he's kidnapped the daughters of several esteemed scientists to use as blackmail so their fathers will help him with his plans. He's constructing something akin to a laser that can destroy entire cities. As usual, Nayland Smith is hot on his trail.I believe I've seen all of the Christopher Lee Fu Manchu movies and this one, The Brides of Fu Manchu, is to me the best. What sets this Fu Manchu movie apart from the others, especially those made later on, is the lively direction, the competent editing, and a much more coherent story. I'm one of those who will often defend Jess Franco till I'm blue in the face, but I can't do that with his Fu Manchu movies. Compared to The Brides of Fu Manchu, Uncle Jess' Fu Manchu movies are almost unwatchable. If you don't believe me just take a look at The Castle of Fu Manchu. It's God awful! Getting back to this movie, another plus for The Brides of Fu Manchu is the seemingly always enjoyable Christopher Lee. Lee is solid and certainly had a knack for playing the baddie as good as anyone. He imbibes Fu Manchu with a real sense of evil. You get the feeling that he's a man capable of doing anything to anybody at anytime. The rest of the cast is good, but nothing to write home about. Although not terribly memorable, it was nice to see Carole Gray in another film.For someone new to the series, The Brides of Fu Manchu would seem to make a good place to start. It's not perfect, but it is entertaining. For what it's worth, I'll give it a 7/10.

jamesraeburn2003 Evil Oriental mastermind Fu Manchu (CHRISTOPHER LEE) abducts ten beautiful girls from around the world whose fathers are distinguished scientists and engineers. He then forces them to construct a "death ray", which generates phenomenal energy through radio waves. First he uses his new weapon to destroy "The Windsor Castle", an ocean liner, which was carrying several VIP's in order to show the world the extent of the damage he could do unless his demands are met. His next intended target is London's "St Paul's Cathedral" where an international arms conference is to take place. Nayland Smith (DOUGLAS WILMER) must locate his arch enemy's new installation and destroy the weapon, but in such a way that the lives of the girls will not be threatened.THE BRIDES OF FU MANCHU was the first sequel to the popular FACE OF... (1965), which went into production at the legendary Bray studios (once the home of the Hammer horror factory) on 12 January 1966 while its predecessor had barely completed its run of the UK's cinemas. The film also came with a huge publicity stunt, in which Lee would travel around different countries in Europe and select ten suitable girls (not necessarily an actress) to be Fu Manchu's brides in the film.THE BRIDES OF FU MANCHU is in no way as stylish as its predecessor, but its not bad as sequels go with the James Bond style plot carrying a little more weight than any of its subsequent successors. Director Don Sharp was wisely retained in the director's chair along with Cinematographer Ernest Steward whose lighting did so much for the first film. Between them they still brilliantly recreate the period atmosphere of 1920's London giving it a Conan Doyleish edge. The main problem with the film is that the script places more emphasis on torture and sadism here (one of the faults in subsequent entries) like when Fu Manchu forces one of the girls (in a state of trance) to throw another into his snake pit so the light-heartedness of the original is gone. A more explicit version filmed for overseas audiences apparently exists and Douglas Wilmer who was very popular on British television at the time as Sherlock Holmes is a disappointing substitute for Nigel Green as Nayland Smith.In summary, though by no means a perfect film, The Brides Of Fu Manchu is still the last of the good Fu Manchu's. From this point on the series was to sadly degenerate into shambling nonsense with lacklustre scripts, lower budgets and poor overall execution.