The Blood of Fu Manchu 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.5

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

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov July 28, 2025

Jess Franco's "The Blood of Fu Manchu" a.k.a. "Sax Rohmer's Kiss and Kill" (1968) arrives on 4K Blu-ray courtesy of Blue Underground. The supplemental features on the release include new audio commentary by critics Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thompson; new program with author and critic Stephen Thrower; archival progran with Jess Franco, producer Harry Alan Towers, and stars; vintage trailers; and more. In English, with optonal English SDH, Spanish, and French subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

The evil one

The Blood of Fu Manchu is a bit of a mess, really, and even though it gives proper credit to Sax Rohmer’s novels, it is an original project. It was one of three films that the prolific British producer Harry Alan Towers and cult Spanish director Jess Franco worked on at approximately the same time during the 1960s. While shooting The Girl from Rio in Brazil, Franco and cinematographer Manuel Merino also did some bonus footage that was later used in 99 Women, and Towers literally borrowed footage from The Girl from Rio, featuring the beautiful actress Shirley Eaton, and used it in The Blood of Fu Manchu without ever asking for her permission.

The new story is rather good. After years of hiding in a secluded fortress somewhere in the jungles of South America, the great Oriental villain Fu Manchu (Christopher Lee) discovers a very special poison, quite possibly brought to earth by an alien race, which he decides to use as a secret weapon to eliminate his biggest enemies. Fu Manchu and his evil daughter Lin Tang (Tsai Chin) then abduct ten beautiful women, infect them with the poison, and immediately dispatch them across the world. (The women are basically used as containers, and all they have to do to eliminate their targets is give them the Kiss of Death). In London, Fu Manchu’s old foe, Inspector Nayland Smith (Richard Greene), allows one of the girls to kiss him and instantly becomes blind. Shortly after, agent Carl Jansen (Götz George) contacts Smith and informs him that he has found Fu Manchu’s lair and is getting ready to go after him. Escorted by his good friend Dr. Petrie (Howard Marion Crawford), Smith then travels to South America to confront Fu Manchu and find an antidote before the poison kills him. Before the grand finale, Smith and Jansen get unexpected help from a local bandit named Sancho Villa (Richard Palacios), whom Fu Manchu suspects of being a secret agent, and a fearless beauty named Ursula (Maria Rohm), who has lost a relative and is looking for revenge.

Virtually all of the films Towers produced during the 1960s blend exotic atmosphere and action, occasionally with a bit of sleaze, in order to impress. The recipe for The Blood of Fu Manchu is unchanged, though given the talent that contributed to it, this is arguably the weakest one from the bunch. It is quite odd, to say the least, because Rohmer’s novels offer exactly the type of lavish exotic material that Towers loved.

The Blood of Fu Manchu does have an authentic exotic vibe, but the story it tells is filled with so many distracting subplots that after a while it becomes awfully difficult to care about any of its characters. In fact, because the story is so fractured, it begins to feel as if Franco and Towers agreed to use footage that wasn’t necessarily needed but felt right to incorporate in the final version of the film because they had done it. To be fair, there are other films the two together that suffer for the very same reason (see Marquis de Sade's Justine), but here it all seems a bit too obvious and, even for a Franco film, uncharacteristically distracting.

While it is difficult not to agree that Lee’s presence is the biggest magnet in The Blood of Fu Manchu, in a way, it can also be considered its Achilles' heel. Indeed, it is clear that Fu Manchu was not the right character for the iconic actor to play, and yet, because of his reputation, neither Franco nor Towers were willing to experiment with more risqué material.

Franco shot The Blood of Fu Manchu with frequent collaborator and close friend Manuel Merino. Their best work came a few years later with the hugely atmospheric erotic thrillers Vampyros Lesbos and Eugenie.

The Blood of Fu Manchu 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Blue Underground's release of The Blood of Fu Manchu is a 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray combo pack. The 4K Blu-ray and the Blu-ray are Region-Free.

Please note that some of the screencaptures included with this article are taken from the 4K Blu-ray and downscaled to 1080p. Therefore, they do not accurately reflect the quality of the 4K content on the 4K Blu-ray disc.

Screencaptures #1-20 are from the Blu-ray.
Screencaptures #23-39 are from the 4K Blu-ray.

Blue Underground's release introduces an exclusive new 4K restoration of The Blood of Fu Manchu on 4K Blu-ray and Blu-ray. In native 4K, the 4K restoration can be viewed with Dolby Vision and HDR grade. I chose to view it with HDR. Later, I spent time with its 1080p presentation on the Blu-ray.

A few years ago, British distributors Indicator/Powerhouse Films also restored The Blood of Fu Manchu in 4K and released it on Blu-ray. I think that their Blu-ray release offeres a very solid presentation of the film, so I cannot see how anyone can be disappointed with it. However, Blue Underground's 4K restoration gives the entire film an even more vibrant and attractive organic appearance, which is easy to appreciate in native 4K and 1080p. On my system, the darker cave footage and all of the outdoor footage had a noticeably better dynamic range, emphasizing the strength of different primaries and nuances that were often quite striking. Needless to say, I find the color scheme of this new 4K restoration superior. Additionally, in some areas with different shadow nuances, there is slightly more detail to be seen. I do not think that this is a significant improvement, but on the previous presentation of the film, some light crushing is frequently easy to spot. Now, several such areas look even better in native 4K than they do in 1080p, so on a very large screen, the improvements should be even more pronounced. There are no traces of any problematic digital corrections. The HDR grade is very effective and gives the entire film a more balanced appearance. If I had to choose between the native 4K and 1080p presentations, while considering only the strength of their color schemes, I would definitely go for the former. There are no distracting age-related imperfections to rerport.

The Blood of Fu Manchu 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0. Optional English SDH, Spanish, and French subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The lossless track is very healthy. It replicates the native qualities of the original soundtrack very well. However, I must immediately state that, unlike some of Jess Franco's best films, this soundtrack does not utilize interesting music to create memorable contrasts. The overall dynamic intensity is quite modest.

The Blood of Fu Manchu 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

4K BLU-RAY DISC

• Commentary - in this new audio commentary, critics Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thompson discuss Jess Franco and British producer Harry Alan Towers' take on the original material from Sax Rohmer's novels that inspired them to make The Blood of Fu Manchu, as well as the film's various strengths and weaknesses.

• Trailers -
  
  1. International trailer - remastered. In English, not subtitled. (3 min).
  2. U.S. trailer - a U.S. trailer for Sax Rohmer's Kiss and Kill. In English, not subtitled. (2 min).

BLU-RAY DISC

• Commentary - in this new audio commentary, critics Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thompson discuss Jess Franco and British producer Harry Alan Towers' take on the original material from Sax Rohmer's novels that inspired them to make The Blood of Fu Manchu, as well as the film's various strengths and weaknesses.

• Trailers -
  
  1. International trailer - remastered. In English, not subtitled. (3 min).
  2. U.S. trailer - a U.S. trailer for Sax Rohmer's Kiss and Kill. In English, not subtitled. (2 min).

• The Rise of Fu Manchu - in this archival program, Jess Franco, producer Harry Alan Towers, and stars Christopher Lee, Tsai Chin, and Shirley Eaton discuss Sax Rohmer and Edgar Wallace's original writings that inspired The Blood of Fu Mancu, as well as the production history of the film and some of the more complicated relationships between the main characters and their ultimate goals. The program is directed by David Gregory, and initially appeared on Blue Underground's DVD release of The Blood of Fu Manchu. In French and English, with imposed yellow English subtitles where necessary. (16 min).

• Sanguine-Stained Celluloid - in this new program, author and critic Stephen Thrower discusses Jess Franco and Harry Alan Towers' professional relationship and the conception and production of The Blood of Fu Manchu. In English, not subtitled. (28 min).

• Poster & Still Gallery - a large collection of original posters from around the world, UK pressbook, U.S. pressbook, German pressbook, lobby cards, original stills, and home video covers. This collection is not identical to the one that was included on Blue Underground's first Blu-ray release of The Blood of Fu Manchu. It is newly expanded. The gallery was compiled by Gregory Chick.

• RiffTrax Edition - The Blood of Fu Manchu riffed by Mike Nelson, Bill Corbett, and Kevin Murphy. In English, not subtitled. 77 min).

• Cover - a reverisble cover with vintage poster art for The Blood of Fu Manchu.

The Blood of Fu Manchu 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Christopher Lee was a huge magnet, so it is very easy to understand why producer Harry Alan Towers wanted him in the Fu Manchu films. However, Lee is also the reason several of these films are not as offensive and sleazy as they could and should have been. The two films Jess Franco directed, in particular, could have been genre masterpieces because Sax Rohmer's writings offer plenty of material that the iconic Spanish helmer loved exploring. Blue Underground's combo pack presents a stunning, exclusive new 4K restoration of The Blood of Fu Manchu, which should be considered its definitive presentation. RECOMMENDED to the fans.