5.7 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 1.5 | |
Overall | 1.5 |
In his remote jungle hideout, the evil Fu Manchu has discovered a deadly poison in a "lost city" in the Amazonian jungle that affects only men. Women can become carriers of the "kiss of death" by being bitten by venomous snakes. The poison causes blindness and ultimetly followed six weeks later by death. Using mind control, he aims the women at Nayland Smith and other key people with political influence. This done, this halts them in preventing them from interfering with his own ambitions to prepare millions of "doses" and spread them around the world's major cities and capitals in a plan to gain world domination.
Starring: Christopher Lee, Richard Greene, Howard Marion-Crawford, Götz George, Maria RohmForeign | 100% |
Crime | 11% |
Adventure | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p (upconverted)
Aspect ratio: 1.66:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 1.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 1.5 |
Jess Franco's "The Blood of Fu Manchu" a.k.a. "Sax Rohmer's Kiss and Kill" (1968) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of independent distributors Blue Underground. The supplemental features on the disc include original trailers for the film; archival program featuring director Jess Franco, producer Harry Alan Towers, and stars Christopher Lee, Tsai Chin, and Shirley Eaton; and large gallery with promotional materials. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.
The evil one
Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.66:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Jess Franco's The Blood of Fu Manchu arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Blue Underground.
The technical presentation is incredibly disappointing. The release is sourced from a master that is so problematic that I would not even consider it appropriate for a DVD release. Detail and clarity range from underwhelming to flat-out horrendous, with many of the larger panoramic shots completely lacking the type of depth a proper high-definition master ought to deliver. The indoor and darker visuals, in particular, almost always look poor, and there are more than a few instances where detail completely breaks down and everything looks suspiciously flat. Frankly, the quality of these particular visuals isn't any better than what one would expect from upconverted standard definition material (see screencaptures #6, 7, 12, and 18). There are some decent primary colors, but the various technical issues that are noted above have basically destroyed all healthy nuances. Image stability is good. My score is 1.25/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your player regardless of your geographical location).
There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional yellow English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.
Jess Franco's early films very rarely have impressive sound designs and The Blood of Fu Manchu is exactly that type of a modest film. The original audio mix also features some overdubbing, so if you notice some minor unevenness here and there keep in mind that it is in fact part of the final sound design. Clarity is quite good and there is even some proper depth. However, my feeling is that if the audio is fully remastered there will be some notable improvements in terms of depth and fluidity.
Blue Underground's technical presentation of Jess Franco's The Blood of Fu Manchu, which is one of two films included in this recent Blu-ray release, is shockingly poor. To be honest, I would consider the master that was used problematic even for a DVD release because the overwhelming majority of the film's visuals look seriously filtered and as smeary as only a very poor upconverted material can. AVOID.
(Still not reliable for this title)
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