This Is How Sloppy This Movie Is

Despite Maria Perschy's character being listed in the credits as "Marie" she is constantly referred to in the movie as "Ingrid." Similarly, Gunther Stoll's character is listed in the credits as "Curt" but I only ever heard him called "Dr. Kessler" in the movie. Now, maybe his character's name is really "Dr. Curt Kessler," but it seems odd (and confusing) to list his character by a name that is not used in the film (although in all honesty, I was fighting to stay off the nod during the middle half hour of this, so they may have called him "Curt" in there somewhere).

And contrary to what several other reviewers here state, I found this to be far worse both technically and entertainment-wise than Blood of Fu Manchu, which I just watched yesterday and actually enjoyed quite a bit (BoFM at the very least features a bit of mild T&A—no such luck here). The only reasons I rated this four stars is because I at least got a few good laughs out of the ridiculous dialogue and gaping, mystifying plot holes, and because some of the wannabe-Bava gel-colored lighting schemes are pretty to look at. I actually burst into laughter several times, particularly during the climax when Curt/Dr. Kessler overpowers two of Fu's spear-carrying dacoits with his bare hands. Dr. F really should have hired better help.

Franco's movies, as is often noted, are highly variable in quality, but he is capable of producing inspired, artful, even spellbinding work when he has a decent script and budget to work with (e.g., Venus in Furs, Eugenie: Story of Her Journey into Perversion, Diabolical Dr. Z, Count Dracula, 99 Women, Awful Dr. Orlof, The Bloody Judge, Eugenie De Sade), but this is not it. And I thought it was rather hypocritical of Harry Towers to tell Franco that he'd "managed to kill off Fu Manchu, something no one else has been able to do" after screening this movie considering that he wrote this turkey himself.