The Blood of Fu Manchu - 4K Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

The Blood of Fu Manchu



Movie:
4K Video:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:


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Movie
As a boy, I grew up watching the old Fu Manchu films of the 1930s, but never really was able to get into the later films as I grew out of that phase of my life when I started watching Shaw Brothers Kung-Fu films during my middle school days. However, it wasn’t until Blue Underground released a double feature of some of the later 1960s films that I sat down and actually gave them a try. Sadly, that 2017 released set from Blue Underground was notoriously REALLY bad in terms of video quality, and I ended up selling the disc out of disappointment. But being that Blue Underground releases both films once more, this time sporting a brand new 4K remaster and a 4K/Blu-ray combo pack, I was willing to give the cheese fests another go and pray to the heavens that this time we get a worthy version of the film in HD (and even UHD I might add). Luckily for us, Blue Underground’s 4K UHD release is the version we have all been waiting for, complete with great video, good audio, and a very healthy array of brand new extras to enjoy.

If you’re not a fan of Sax Rohmer’s novels or the previous Fu Manchu movies, then The Blood of Fu Manchu is going to be a bit out there in terms of backstory and continuity. Part of that could be laid at the feet of director/writer Jess Franco, and part of that can be justified by the fact that The Blood of Fu Manchu is an original story, not lifted from Sax Rohmer’s famous novels featuring the same psychotic super villain. Fans of the series will instantly pick up on who Nayland Smith is, while casual viewers will simply figure out that he’s an important figure. The same can be said of Christopher Lee playing a Chinese villain with a British accent. It’s crazy to modern audiences, but back in the 1960s, it was common practice to do so. Not to mention that Christopher Lee was a cult icon due to his various roles as Dracula around that era. But hey, Cheesy is as cheesy does, and The Blood of Fu Manchu is a solid exploitation trash film for those of us who like this sort of fare.

The film starts out by reintroducing us to the maniacal Fu Manchu (Christopher Lee), who has been hiding out in a series of caves in the rain forest of South America, where he has been hatching up another plan to take over the world. While there, he discovered an ancient Incan poison that is completely benign inside the bodies of women, but when said women kiss a male figure, it’s secretly transferred via bodily fluid, killing them in a most agonizing way. Fu Manchu decides to use the super poison on the world’s most prominent figures, forcing the world leaders to capitulate to his evil demands.

While the rest of the world’s targets are eliminated one by one, a single female carrier fails at her task when she attempts to take out British Secret Service agent Nayland Smith (Richard Greene), who manages to survive the poison. Sadly, he ends up going blind in the process, forcing him to head out with agent Carl Jansen (Gotz George) to Fu Manchu’s secret lair to find a cure. Along the way, they are forced to contend with South American bandits, more of Fu Manchu’s suicide warriors, and a whole cadre of innocent women who have been used as hosts for the super villain’s dastardly poison.

The Blood of Fu Manchu has a cool “1930s serial” vibe to it, with classic evil machinations by the fiendish Fu Manchu, but sadly, the film gets bogged down with too many side plots. Even at 94 minutes including credits, The Blood of Fu Manchu feels bloated and over-weighted, with so many side plots and side characters that by the time the film is coming up to its inevitable close, you just don’t feel connected to anyone. The Sancho Lopez side jaunt could have been completely cut out of the film altogether, and the same goes for nurse Ursula Wagner (Maria Rohm). Both act as supporting side characters in a side quest, but really don’t add too much to the overall story. I would have preferred the film to be cut by about 20 minutes, and maybe have Sancho Lopez make a small appearance. But as it stands, his inclusion simply pads out the film a bit too much.




Rating:

Not Rated by the MPAA




4K Video: Video:

As I mentioned in the main portion above, The Blood of Fu Manchu was previously released by Blue Underground in a 2-pack of both it and The Cast of Fu Manchu with some rather disappointing results. The master was so ancient and decrepit that it was pretty frustrating to watch, and I ended up just selling the disc as I felt it wasn’t worth keeping. Back in 2022, British distributor “Indicator” released a version on Blu-ray that looked really nice, and was probably what I would consider the premiere version of the film in 1080p. But it was locked to Region B, and most fans couldn’t get hold of it as a result (at least here in the States). HOWEVER, Blue Underground’s new 4K remaster looks AMAZING in both 1080p and 4K UHD. It’s given a much more vibrant look with the Dolby Vision enhancements, while showcasing some incredible detail levels. I honestly have never seen this much detail in the film ever, allowing you to see every bead of sweat on a terrified female’s face, or the individual ingrown hairs on Sancho Lopez’s cheeks. Reds and greens are pushed abnormally hot, but that is much more to do with the 1960s filming style rather than poor color timing. Black levels show dramatic improvement over the included Blu-ray, and skin tones are much more neutral (the Blu-ray shows a bit more of a pale look). There are still a few moments of black crush down in Fu Manchu’s caves, but overall, this is a spectacular look for the film.





Audio:

The 1.0 Mono DTS-HD MA track found on this 4K release (and the included Blu-ray) MAY be a new remaster from Blue Underground, or borrowed from the Indicator release, but it sounds eerily similar nonetheless. Said audio mix does the job well, but without the pomp and flair of a more modern surround mix (or even a stereo mix). Dialog is clean and clear, with moderate effects coming through (gunfire from Sancho Lopez, horse hooves thudding away in the rain forest), but I did notice that there isn’t a whole lot of score to fill things out. It’s a good mix, though. Just a simple one at its core.






Extras:

4K UHD Disc
• NEW Audio Commentary with Film Historians Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thompson
• Trailers

Blu-ray Disc
• NEW Audio Commentary with Film Historians Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thompson
• NEW Sanguine-Stained Celluloid – Interview with Stephen Thrower, Author of "Murderous Passions: The Delirious Cinema of Jesus Franco"
• NEW EXPANDED! Poster & Still Gallery
• NEW RiffTrax Edition – THE BLOOD OF FU MANCHU Riffed by Mike Nelson, Bill Corbett & Kevin Murphy
• Trailers
• The Rise of Fu Manchu - Interviews with Director Jess Franco, Producer Harry Alan Towers, and Stars Christopher Lee, Tsai Chin, & Shirley Eaton

Final Score: ​

The Fu Manchu movies are always a bit bizarre, but The Blood of Fu Manchu is one of the weirdest and craziest in the series. It features a British actor playing a Chinese super villain. A Chinese actress playing his daughter. Spanish and Portuguese actors, and of course, a German actor portraying a British agent. All mixed up into a 1930s style serial film that just oozes ooey gooey Mac n’ Cheese everywhere in sight. It’s not the best of the Fu Manchu films (I put The Mask of Fu Manchu with Boris Karloff in 1932 up at the top), but it’s a fun jaunt nonetheless. Blue Underground has completely redeemed itself from their painful 2017 release with a great 4K upgrade, good audio, and some REALLY nice extras added in. Naturally, this isn’t going to be a film I recommend to casual viewers, but niche viewers who look for these old, exploitative films will go gaga over it.



Technical Specifications:

Starring: Kaitlyn Santa Juana, Teo Briones, Rya Kihlstedt, Richard Harmon, Owen Patrick Joyner, Tony Todd
Directed by: Jess Franco
Written by: Jess Franco, Manfred R. Kohler, Sax Rohmer
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1 HEVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA Mono
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish
Studio: Blue Underground
Rated: NR
Runtime: 94 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: July 29th, 2025

Recommendation: For the Fans

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