GB / GER / SPA / ITA / TUR / LIE
1969
1hr 32mins
Dir: Jesús Franco
Starring: Christopher Lee and Maria Perschy
The evil mastermind Fu Manchu plans to freeze the world’s oceans
This crime adventure was the fifth and final installment of the Fu Manchu franchise but is considered the poorest by some distance. It was an English-language co-production from various European countries including the UK, Spain, and West Germany, and this may go some way to explain the rather haphazard nature of proceedings. There is a brief shot of a southbound express hauled by a former LNER pacific in BR colours at what looks to be Marshall Meadows, close to the England-Scotland border on the East Coast Main Line. Excluding its official foreign release titles, the film is known additionally in English as Assignment Istanbul, Fu Manchu’s Castle and The Torture Chamber of Fu Manchu.