Manfred Koehler Movies

The first of several collaborations between cult director Jesus Franco and British producer Harry Alan Towers, this horror-tinged adventure is full of jungle action, creative murders, and violent sexual sadism. Christopher Lee portrays the mysterious Asian madman Fu Manchu, plotting world domination from his secret headquarters underneath the Amazon rainforest. Fu has discovered a rare poison which affects only men, and uses it as lipstick for ten beautiful women, who are to deliver a kiss of death to each of 10 public officials. Carl Jansen (Gotz George) and Sir Denis Nayland Smith (Richard Greene), a pair of Scotland Yard detectives, track Fu Manchu to his underground hideout and -- with the aid of Dr. Ronald Petrie (Howard Marion Crawford) -- search for the antidote to the deadly poison. Lee's wooden performance is alleviated by an amusing turn by Ricardo Palacios as a revolutionary, and a beautiful female cast. Vicente Roca and Marcelo Arroita Jauregui also appear in this entertaining, if extremely sexist, fourth entry in the Fu Manchu series. Nude torture scenes and snake attacks are featured in some of the numerous prints, running 91, 88, 82, and 61 minutes. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi

Just the thing for spooky Halloween-night viewing, this good-looking German film from director Harald Reinl tells the story of the horrible Count Regula (Christopher Lee), who murdered a dozen virgins and drained their blood. For these heinous crimes, he was sentenced to be drawn and quartered. Thirty-five years later, his undead servant resurrects him for revenge and a 13th victim (pretty Karin Dor), whose blood will give Regula eternal life. Lex Barker (a former movie Tarzan) plays the descendant of the man who sentenced Regula to death and has the task of stopping him, aided by Dor's maid and a highwayman disguised as a monk. Some chilling visuals (a haunted forest with corpses growing out of trees, swarms of vultures in the castle corridors, the obligatory pendulum) and assorted creepy crawlies (pits of snakes, spiders and scorpions) make this a real old-fashioned scare-fest, and it is not too bloody for horror-hungry children. Very loosely based on Edgar Allen Poe's Pit and the Pendulum, this film delivers on its promise to frighten, although the badly-dubbed U.S. version is to be avoided. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi