So, finally the last in Christopher Lee's series of Fu Manchu-movies, produced by Harry Alan Towers and written by Harry Alan Towers - but under his iconic alias of Peter Welbeck. I wrote about The Blood of Fu Manchu yesterday, which was far from Franco's glorious moments - still a good-looking movie with some decent acting. Franco is also behind the last movie in the franchise, which is said to have been such flop that the sixth movie was cancelled directly before it went into production. Some people say Castle is the worst in the series - I don't know that, but compared to Blood it's actually superior. That doesn't mean it's a good movie, but it sure offers more entertainment for the money and a more inspired Franco letting the zoom on his camera work a little bit extra hard.
In all fairness, this isn't much better or worse than most James Bond-ish adventures produced between 1967-1969. It's the usual (real or fake) globetrotting, a super-baddie who wants to take over the world and a stiff agent (here played by the slightly over-aged, but charming, Richard Greene - who also played the same character, Nayland Smith in Blood). Here Fu Manchu has some kind of invention that can control... something. He makes Titanic... I mean, a random luxury cruiser hit an iceberg in the beginning (stock footage from 1958's A Night to Remember) and later makes a big dam break (stock footage from 1957's Campbell's Kingdom) and also more or less hijacks a crime lords palace in Istanbul to hide even better from Interpol and the dashing agents chasing in everywhere.
Also, Burt Kwouk has a small part. Always fun.
There's a helluva lot of more energy in Castle than in Blood. Franco is more wild, there's more action and the use of stock footage and that grandious palace (shot at the Parque Güell, Barcelona), more meat-bags pretending to be guards and a sidestory about a couple of kidnapped scientists (who falls in love at the same time) makes it quite packed with story. Still a magnificent mess though, and this is one of those movies you can leave for five minutes and still haven't miss anything of importance when you come back. That's of course not a good thing, but hey... it's just a movie!
Another highlight is Franco himself as a Inspector Ahmet. There's seems to be some general opinion that Franco is a lousy actor, but he's not. He's hardly brilliant, but his low-key, almost insomniac style is pretty interestning and gives a more natural feeling to his movies. Here's my Instagram-moment of him in The Castle of Fu Manchu:
Cool, eh? Always cool. He's Jess Franco, which explains it all.
I don't think I've have mention Christopher Lee's performance so far in the Fu Manchu-movies, but everyone else does so maybe there's no reason for me to do it. Anyway, I think he's good - but the cheesy Chinese make-up makes him quite stiff and it's hard to judge his performance. The part is not that well written, it's just Lee in his mansion/cave giving orders - more or less. A thankless role, at least in the two movies Franco directed. But it's Lee and we all love Lee. #TrueStory
Which this I've met my goal of forcing myself through the infamously bashed and sometimes boring The Blood of Fu Manchu and The Castle of Fu Manchu. I've spent crappier evenings to be honest, but they're still far down on Franco's list of movies worth watching.
(and if you want to follow me on Instagram, my user name is fredzilla666)
"In all fairness, this isn't much better or worse than most James Bond-ish adventures produced between 1967-1969."
And those films wasn´t very original to begin with.
"Franco is more wild, there's more action and the use of stock footage"
Well.....lowbudget, use lots of stock footage to solve whatever problem you might stumble upon.
"Still a magnificent mess though, and this is one of those movies you can leave for five minutes and still haven't miss anything of importance when you come back. That's of course not a good thing, but hey... it's just a movie!"
Yes sir!
Only a movie.....
"Anyway, I think he's good - but the cheesy Chinese make-up makes him quite stiff and it's hard to judge his performance. The part is not that well written, it's just Lee in his mansion/cave giving orders - more or less. A thankless role, at least in the two movies Franco directed. But it's Lee and we all love Lee. #TrueStory"
Yes, you are right....Lee is Lee and we all love him.
"Which this I've met my goal of forcing myself through the infamously bashed and sometimes boring The Blood of Fu Manchu and The Castle of Fu Manchu. I've spent crappier evenings to be honest, but they're still far down on Franco's list of movies worth watching."
Congrats Fred......you should be proud over yourself.
I need to see more Franco....good review and thanks.
"(and if you want to follow me on Instagram, my user name is fredzilla666)"
Put the link next to the twitter link.
Posted by: Megatron | November 07, 2013 at 16:45