AniInterview
Sorry, this movie sucks
ReaderKenka
Let's be realistic.
Zlatica
One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.
JohnHowardReid
Back at M-G-M, after a loan-out to RKO, Myrna Loy was cast as the daughter of Fu Manchu when, to everyone's surprise, Louis B. Mayer outbid Paramount for the rights to Sax Rohmer's 1932 novel, "The Mask of Fu Manchu". Determined to cash in on the book's success, the studio spent more money on this fourth entry in the series than Paramount had expended on the combined total of the first three. Warner Oland was replaced by Boris Karloff, while Myrna Loy took over from Anna May Wong, and Lewis Stone substituted for O.P. Heggie's Nayland Smith. Unfortunately, neither audiences nor censors responded to the movie's outrageously tongue-in-cheek approach. Failing to recover anything like its huge production cost, this spectacular failure put paid to Fu Manchu until Henry Brandon surfaced as a weak imitation in the 1940 Republic serial, "Drums of Fu Manchu"; and a whole quarter century after that, Christopher Lee successfully revived the sinister doctor in Don Sharp's stylish "The Face of Fu Manchu". "The Mask of Fu Manchu" is available, would you believe, not on an M-G-M DVD, but on a 10/10 Warner DVD.
Antonius Block
Hokey, campy, and highly entertaining. This movie is a bit more of a thriller along the lines of Indiana Jones than it is a horror film, but there are many cool touches packed into its 68 minutes. The race is on to get to the tomb of Genghis Khan, and we first see Boris Karloff in the role of Fu Manchu with his exaggerated facial features further distorted in a convex mirror, sporting absurdly long fingernails, and drinking a bubbly, steaming concoction. Later we'll see him torturing a captive with a giant gong, and presiding over an operating room which has lizards and snakes clamoring to get out of jars, a giant python, and a tarantula he extracts poison from. The sinister operation is presided over by the inscrutable Myrna Loy with her cat-like face, calming smoking what appears to be a hookah, as well as a bunch of bare-chested African-American guys on pedestals with arms crossed. Injections are needed for one of the captives to make him Loy's "more than willing slave, until of course she tires of him" – loved that. There are also a couple of death traps that will remind you of 007 films from 30 years later, including an alligator pit, and how can you not love a laser scene from 1932? It's all truly over the top, and the sets are fantastic.Is the film racist? Well, yes, but I found it less disturbing than others from the time period. Despite the whitewashing of Hollywood – Karloff, Loy, and other Caucasians in Asian roles – I liked the strength of their characters, in direct contrast to the more common fawning, servile roles. Then again, Karloff bellows "Kill the white man, and take his women!" towards the end, in what likely directly stoked the "yellow fear" of the day. Still, I took more offense to the gap-tooth, goofy waiter ringing the dinner bell at the end, than I did to Karloff or Loy. You have to be able to forgive the filmmakers a bit, but if you can, I think you'll enjoy this one too.
zetes
The most absurdly racist movie I think I've ever seen. As such, it's kind of fascinating. It's too silly to take at all seriously, and it also helps that it's a pretty entertaining little horror flick. A group of British archaeologists led by Lewis Stone must find the grave of Genghis Khan before evil Chinese genius Fu Manchu (Boris Karloff) gets to it. The archaeologists will put it safely in a museum, but Fu Manchu will use the infamous sword and mask of Khan to inspire all Asians to rise up and destroy the West. This was more or less Karloff's first speaking role in the movies, and he gives some deliciously evil speeches. Myrna Loy also co-stars as Karloff's daughter. The film definitely goes for the trope that the brown people want to kill white men and rape their women - Hell, Fu Manchu literally implores his followers to do so at one point - but perhaps more interestingly Loy lusts after the handsome white man (Charles Starret). Jean Hersholt and Karen Morley also co-star.
Sean Fay
This film is perhaps even more politically incorrect than its source material. Nayland Smith and Lionel Barton have no qualms from stealing from the tomb of Genghis Khan, a man who lived on the other side of the world and to whom they have no connection. In their quest of thievery, they readily enlist half-naked Asian men to help, never once even attempting to understand their culture, customs, or religion. For Smith, Sheila, Barton, and the rest --- Fu Manchu is a "yellow beast" and his people savages. The film's climax sees Smith and crew electrocute not only Fu Manchu but the entire crowd as well, making it clear that mass murder is totally okay, so long as it's against yellow people. The only good Asians are either dead, working for them, or as we see at the film's end, stupid. Aside from the plot, various other aspects of the film are problematic as well. Fu Manchu and his daughter are both played by white actors in heavy makeup --- the Asian equivalent of Blackface. Fu Manchu is purportedly Chinese while at the same time being the villain for the whole of "the East," as if director Charles Brabin doesn't realize that Asia is an entire continent comprised of all sorts of different countries. Add in Fu Manchu's black servants, and it's clear Brabin has absolutely no idea what "the East" is like at all.Is it entertaining? Sure, in a 1930's campy kind of way. But with a racist message at the core, it can't be considered a good film.
