As the penultimate entry in the Harry Alan Towers-produced Fu Manchu series, Jess Franco’s The Blood of Fu Manchu (1968) embraces pulp villainy with a sly wink and a steamy, sun-soaked backdrop. Exotic, bizarre, and unmistakably Franco, the film combines Cold War paranoia, jungle-set espionage, and sensual danger in a heady cocktail that makes for one of the series’ most distinctive and enjoyable installments. While working within a modest budget, Franco delivers a visually rich and atmospherically strange take on Sax Rohmer’s legendary criminal mastermind. Set largely in the steamy jungles of South America, the plot centers on Dr. Fu Manchu (Christopher Lee) developing a new biological weapon: a deadly venom delivered through the kiss of beautiful women under his control. Victims are left blind, poisoned, and helpless—a twisted inversion of the femme fatale trope that fits perfectly within the series' pulp origins. As Fu Manchu sets his plan in motion—targeting world leaders and t...