''The Blood of Fu Manchu'' (german: Der Todeskuss des Dr. Fu Man Chu, lit=The Death-Kiss of Dr. Fu Manchu, es, Fu-Manchú y el beso de la muerte), also known as ''Kiss of Death'', ''Kiss and Kill'' (U.S. title) and ''Against All Odds'' (original U.S. video title), is a 1968 British

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme ...

crime film Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combin ...

directed by

Jesús Franco Jesús Franco Manera (12 May 1930 – 2 April 2013) was a Spanish filmmaker, composer, and actor, known as a prolific director of low-budget exploitation and B-movies. In a career spanning from 1959 to 2013, he wrote, directed, produced, acte ...

, based on the fictional Asian villain

Dr. Fu Manchu Dr. Fu Manchu () is a supervillain who was introduced in a series of novels by the English author Sax Rohmer beginning shortly before World War I and continuing for another forty years. The character featured in cinema, television, radio, com ...

created by Sax Rohmer. It was the fourth film in a series, and was preceded by ''

The Vengeance of Fu Manchu ''The Vengeance of Fu Manchu'' is a 1967 British crime thriller adventure film directed by Jeremy Summers Jeremy Summers (18 August 1931 – 14 December 2016) was a British television director and film director, known for his directorship of ...

''. ''

The Castle of Fu Manchu ''The Castle of Fu Manchu'' (german: Die Folterkammer des Dr. Fu Man Chu, lit=The Torture Chamber of Dr. Fu Manchu, es, El castillo de Fu-Manchu) is a 1969 film and the fifth and final Dr. Fu Manchu film with Christopher Lee portraying the tit ...

'' followed in 1969. It was produced by

Harry Alan Towers Harry Alan Towers (19 October 1920 – 31 July 2009) was a British radio and independent film producer and screenwriter. He wrote numerous screenplays for the films he produced, often under the pseudonym Peter Welbeck. He produced over 80 f ...

for Udastex Films. It starred

Christopher Lee Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee (27 May 1922 – 7 June 2015) was an English actor and singer. In a long career spanning more than 60 years, Lee often portrayed villains, and appeared as Count Dracula in seven Hammer Horror films, ultim ...

as Dr. Fu Manchu, Richard Greene as

Scotland Yard Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's 32 boroughs, but not the City of London, the square mile that forms London's ...

detective

Nayland Smith Denis Nayland Smith is a character who was introduced in the series of novels Dr. Fu Manchu by the English author Sax Rohmer. He is a rival to the villain Dr. Fu Manchu. History The character of Denis Nayland Smith was created in 1912 by Sax ...

, and

Howard Marion-Crawford Howard Marion-Crawford (17 January 1914 – 24 November 1969), the grandson of writer F. Marion Crawford, was an English character actor, best known for his portrayal of Dr. Watson in the 1954 television adaptation of Sherlock Holmes. In 1 ...

as Dr. Petrie. The film was filmed in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

and

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. Shirley Eaton appears in a scene that she claimed she was never paid for; apparently, the director

had inserted some stock footage of her from one of her films ('' The Girl from Rio'' (1968)) into the film without telling her. She only found out years later that she had been in a Fu Manchu film.

Plot

In his remote jungle hideout, the evil Dr. Fu Manchu, with his sadistic daughter Lin Tang, has discovered a deadly

venom Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a st ...

in a "lost city" in the Amazonian jungle that affects only men. Women can become carriers of the "kiss of death" by being bitten by venomous snakes. The venom causes blindness and is ultimately followed six weeks later by death. Using

mind control Brainwashing (also known as mind control, menticide, coercive persuasion, thought control, thought reform, and forced re-education) is the concept that the human mind can be altered or controlled by certain psychological techniques. Brainwashin ...

, he aims six women at Nayland Smith and other key people with political influence. This prevents them from interfering with his own ambitions: to prepare millions of "doses" and spread them around the world's major cities and capitals in a plan to gain world domination.

Cast

Credits adapted from the booklet of the Powerhouse Films

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...

boxset ''The Fu Manchu Cycle: 1965-1969''. *

Fu Manchu Dr. Fu Manchu () is a supervillain who was introduced in a series of novels by the English author Sax Rohmer beginning shortly before World War I and continuing for another forty years. The character featured in cinema, television, radio, co ...

* Tsai Chin as Lin Tang *

Maria Rohm Maria Rohm (13 August 1945 – 18 June 2018) was an Austrian actress and producer. Born Helga Grohmann in Vienna, she started her acting career at the very young age, working at the famous Viennese Burgtheatre as a child actor from ages 4 throug ...

as Ursula Wagner * Richard Greene as

as Dr. Petrie *Frances Khan as Carmen *Isaura de Oliveira as Yuma * Shirley Eaton as Black Widow * Götz George as Carl Jansen *

Ricardo Palacios Ricardo López-Nuño Díez (2 March 1940 – 11 February 2015), better known as Ricardo Palacios, was a Spanish actor, film director and screenwriter. Born in Reinosa (Cantabria), Palacios graduated from the Official Film School in Madrid as ...

as Sancho Lopez *

Loni von Friedl Loni von Friedl (born 1943) is an Austrian film and television actress.Bock & Bergfelder p. 268 She began as a child actress in the early 1950s, before graduating to mature roles during the following decade. The daughter of cinematographer ...

as Celeste Uncredited: *Marcelo Arroita-Jáuregui as The Governor *Olívia Pineschi as Fu's Girl *Vicente Roca as Governor's Secretary * Francesca Tu as Lotus

References

External links

* * * 1968 films 1968 adventure films 1960s crime thriller films British adventure films British crime thriller films Spanish crime thriller films West German films 1960s English-language films English-language German films English-language Spanish films Films directed by Jesús Franco Films set in the 1920s Films set in South America Films shot in Madrid Films based on British novels Fu Manchu films Films shot in Brazil 1960s British films {{adventure-film-stub