Despite the allure of the locations and what at first blush seems an interesting plot, the final film in the series of Fu Manchu movies starring Christopher Lee as the fiendish doctor is an exercise in tedium, perhaps even more so than the last one I watched, The Blood of Fu Manchu. Here, the criminal mastermind aims to use the power to freeze water anywhere — as demonstrated in the sinking of an ocean liner via iceberg in the Caribbean — but must pressure a kidnapped scientist to supply him with the necessary means…and the scientist’s frail health leads to the abduction of a specialist and his nurse to perform a heart transplant to keep the scientist alive long enough. Richard Greene as Nayland Smith once again seems rather bored with it all; Howard Marion Crawford provides a tiny bit of humor as Dr. Petrie, but is given little to do. More interesting are Tsai Chin as Fu Manchu’s daughter and Rosalba Neri as a gangster’s henchwoman devoted to her boss. Unfortunately, static direction, poor action scenes, and excessive talking slow the movie to a crawl and cause the viewer to lose interest fairly early on.

  Not recommended. Otto thinks you should avoid this movie.

Movie 31 for 2021.