Watch The Brides of Fu Manchu For Free

Very well executed

Redundant and unnecessary.

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

If you recall, Lee's vicious Oriental supervillain was blown to smithereens at the end of the first entry in this series, THE FACE OF FU MANCHU. However, he's back in the best of health in this, the first sequel, with no explanation of how he escaped! THE BRIDES OF FU MANCHU has almost exactly the same structure as the first film: the characters are introduced; minor characters are killed off; there are lots of fights; Fu Manchu develops a new weapon. People are even strangled with Tibetan Prayer Scarves again! This is definitely one of those popcorn films. While satisfying on a purely visual level, after watching it you realise that there isn't any real substance underneath. THE BRIDES OF FU MANCHU does such a good job of being entertaining though, that you can't really criticise it. All of the ingredients are there, including numerous fights, car chases, enemy bases, kidnappings and radio messages, so there's something for everyone, whether you're an adventure fan or a simple thrill seeker. The spy, crime and adventure genres intermingle so seamlessly that you don't even realise it most of the time.There are lots of things worth watching the film for, almost too many for me to point out (but of course I'll have a go). You've got some classic '60s machinery with flashing lights which doesn't do anything; you've got women in low cut revealing dresses; you've got a cast of extras including soldiers from the foreign legion; there's the tea-drinking British hero who dresses up as a prototype Indiana Jones; some satisfying explosions and lots and lots of fight scenes.These fights are just as good as the ones in the first film, with men fighting for hours but not getting a single scratch or ruffled hair! I love these cheesy kind of fights and there's a lot to enjoy in these bits. Also, how can you not love a film where the heroes cooperate with the BBC to fight the yellow peril? At the end of the film there are even some genuinely exciting moments. There's a varied cast all going through their paces in this film. Christopher Lee is the rather wooden Fu Manchu, given little to do except be a face behind the evil this time around, but he's still fun and looks great in the role. Tsai Chin is wonderfully sinister and evil as his daughter. Douglas Wilmer plays Nayland Smith this time around, he's no Nigel Green but he's adequate enough in a square-jawed hero type of way. Burt Kwouk has a small role as an unlucky assistant, while familiar face Rupert Davies (DRACULA HAS RISEN FROM THE GRAVE), also appears playing a Frenchman, complete with comedy French accent! A pleasing alternative to the James Bond series, the Fu Manchu films are always entertaining, even if they are bad. This one is strictly average, but it's enjoyable and I had a lot of fun with it, as you can probably guess from reading the above. Lee's final words are "the world shall hear from me again", and guess what, he was right, appearing in the follow year's THE VENGEANCE OF FU MANCHU.

The Brides of Fu Manchu is the first sequel in the 60's Fu Manchu series and the only one that matches the original for quality. This is mainly due to the retaining of the first director don sharp who keeps things moving at a fine pace and keeps period setting and action scenes to the standard previous film. Christopher Lee reprises his role of the 'evil oriental master' while Douglas Wilmer replaces Nigel Green in the role of Nayland Smith. Wilmer had made an excellent Sherlock Holmes on TV and brings charm and determination to the role. Tsi Chin and H Marion Crawford return as Lin Tang and Dr Petrie respectively The plot of the film is standard with the evil doctor trying take other the world by threatening the daughter of a respected scientist therefore forcing him to give him the secrets of his potentially destructive invention or discovery. It ends as always with Fu Manchu seemingly destroyed only for his disembodied voice to say the world will here from me again.

Not bad but certainly not the best of the Fu-Manchu bunch. Christopher Lee (as the world's most evil man) kidnaps a bunch of foxy girls with the hope that their scientist fathers will help him devise a way to send deadly radio frequency throughout the world. He's pursued, as always, by resilient Scotland yard cop Nayland Smith. It's silly rather than suspenseful with a plethora of studio bound action. Lee is fine and Tsai Chin is again on hand as his equally nasty daughter. Directed by Don Sharp, who, after helming the first two of this series, wisely stepped aside...the budgets for the final three went steadily downhill. Ernest Steward did the photography.

Surviving his cataclysmic demise at the end of Don Sharp's The Face Of Fu Manchu (1965), Christopher Lee dons the stick-on Eastern eyelids a second time, utterly and entertainingly unconvincing as Sax Rohmer's villain-to-end-all villains. With his daughter and resident henchmen led by Burt Kwouk (Kato in the Pink Panther series), Fu is now blackmailing the world's top scientists to create a doomsday device by kidnapping their daughters. Douglas Wilmer replaces The Face Of Fu Manchu's Nigel Green as Neyland Smith, Fu Manchu's lantern-jawed arch nemesis from Scotland Yard, and battles all manner of Cartoon oriental stereotypes before rescuing the reluctant harem from the firey finale. Lee utters the immortal words `The world shall hear from me again!", thus ensuring a further three sequels (Vengeance..., Castle... and Blood Of Fu Manchu, all released in 1968) for producer Harry Allen Towers - the last two in the series helmed by Spain's infamous hack Jess Franco (whose filmic Midas Touch could grind the Star Wars series to a halt!).