The Million Eyes of Sumuru Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

The Million Eyes of Sumuru Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov May 5, 2016

Lindsay Shonteff's "The Million Eyes of Sumuru" a.k.a. "The Slaves of Sumuru" (1967) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Blue Underground. The supplemental features on the disc include an original theatrical trailer for the film and a gallery of promotional materials from around the world. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

This girl cannot be trusted

The story is utterly bizarre, but this shouldn’t be surprising as it came from the mind of the great producer Harry Alan Towers. (It was only natural that eventually he and cult director Jess Franco teamed up and shot some of the most memorable B-films from the late ‘60s and '70s). It is about two handsome special agents, Nick West (George Nader, Death and Diamonds) and Tommy Carter (Frankie Avalon, Muscle Beach Party), who are dispatched to Hong Kong to infiltrate a very dangerous organization that is threatening to collapse some of the most influential governments across the globe. The organization is run by Sumuru (Shirley Eaton, The Girl From Rio), a stunning evil beauty who has settled down on a small island and built a large army of deadly female warriors. Her latest target is president Boong (Klaus Kinski, Nosferatu the Vampyre), a slightly kooky but well protected playboy who has recently hired a security expert to make sure that he can continue enjoying life as he wishes. When the expert is killed, West tricks Sumuru to believe that he is the perfect replacement and she decides to use him to get to president Boong. The elegant newcomer Helga (Maria Rohm, House of 1000 Dolls) is then ordered to work with West and seduce the playboy. Meanwhile, the slightly less intelligent Carter sees his partner spending a great deal of time with Sumuru and Helga and assumes that he has switched sides. Determined to finish off what they were sent to do, he contacts the local authorities and then urges them to raid Sumuru’s island before the ‘traitor’ and Helga kill president Boong.

The tone and style of Lindsay Shonteff’s film are very similar to those of the three films in Sergio Greco’s Agent 077 Trilogy (Mission Bloody Mary, From the Orient with Fury, and Special Mission Lady Chaplin). The main difference here is the fact that Ken Clark’s spy Dick Malloy is replaced by two playboys who instantly make it easier to load up the narrative with even more fluff. Obviously, the Bond influence is retained as well, but as it is the case with Greco’s films the emphasis is on the exotic locations and stunningly beautiful women rather than on the action.

The vintage atmosphere has a certain charm that makes it quite easy to ignore the silliness, but different parts of the film still look quite rough. The acting is also a mixed bag, though given the large number of beautiful women around Nader, Avalon and Kinski it isn’t difficult to understand why they routinely appear distracted.

The film was shot with a limited budget, but it frequently looks like a big studio project. Towers probably deserves all the credit because virtually all of the films he was involved with during the ‘60s, ‘70s, and even the early ‘80s tend to look far more expensive than they were.

A few of the principal characters were inspired by the work of the great novelist Sax Rohmer (the man responsible for the crazy world of Fu Manchu), but as mentioned earlier the intent was actually to go a step beyond the territory visited by Greco’s Eurospy films.

The Million Eyes of Sumuru Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Lindsay Shonteff's The Million Eyes of Sumuru arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Blue Underground.

The Million Eyes of Sumuru looks a bit rougher than The Girl From Rio, but it actually has stronger organic qualities. Indeed, there are some minor density fluctuations, but there are no obvious traces of recent digital corrections. Also, there are no traces of sharpening adjustments. Colors can be better saturated and it is clear that nuances can be expanded, but the primaries are fairly decent. Depth is pleasing, but the larger your screen is, the easier it will be for you to see the areas where time has left its mark. The good news is that there are not that many and for the most part the film does look quite well balanced. Image stability is good. Finally, some very light fading can be spotted before and after a few transitions, but there are no large damage marks, cuts, debris, stains, or warped frames. My score is 3.75/5.00. (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).

The Million Eyes of Sumuru Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

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. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.

Dynamic intensity is rather good. Sharpness and clarity also do not disappoint, though I must say that there is some room for improvement. The dialog is stable, clean, and always easy to follow. There are no balance issues.

The Million Eyes of Sumuru Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Poster and Still Gallery - a collection of original promotional materials from around the world and behind the scenes stills. Also included in the gallery are original reprinted synopsis and production credits from an archival press book. The gallery was compiled by Gregory Chick.

• Trailer - original theatrical trailer for The Million Eyes of Sumuru. In English, not subtitled. (3 min, 1080p).

The Million Eyes of Sumuru Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

If you have seen any of the films in Sergio Greco's Agent 077 Trilogy then you should have a pretty good idea what type of entertainment Lindsay Shonteff's The Million Eyes of Sumuru offers. It is by no means a masterpiece, but it isn't a bad film to see late at night while relaxing and enjoying a glass of fine whiskey. Blue Underground have recently remastered it and I think that it looks quite good in high-definition. RECOMMENDED. (In addition to The Million Eyes of Sumuru, Blue Underground's new release also includes cult Spanish director Jess Franco's film The Girl From Rio).