323. The Castle of Fu Manchu (1969)

Eventually, the non-authorized biography of Best Brains will reveal that a youthful Frank Conniff sent away for an autographed 8" X 10" glossy of Ben Murphy, which never did arrive in the mail. He’s the one who wrote that whole exchange for the closing credits. :wink:

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From what I understand (maybe from the Episode Guide?), the whole bit was because Mike always insisted every movie they did was the worst they’d ever done.

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His other self from the future of, say, 2018 should’ve visited and given him a sad sigh and a big crushing bear hug.

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Top Five MST3K episodes ever! Top riffs and host segments make this a must-see. Just a really, really great episode and my go-to in introducing people to the show.

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You really introduce people to MST3K with Castle of Fu Manchu? I actually like the episode and even I don’t do that.

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Not kidding. That or Lost Continent.

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Some coaches consider it character-building to just drop you into the deepest part of the pool on your first day. :wink:

I’ve mentioned before that my fondness for this episode is really in a finale-of-1984 way. I pour myself another glass of Victory Gin and shed a single tear of joy at having won the victory over myself after years of pain and terror. :wink: Hobgoblins is the same way for me.

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Come on, man. Ease them into it with Eegah or Time Chasers or something. You’re throwing them into the deep end!

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Now Hobgoblins is one I would avoid though! That one feels atypical for MST3K thanks to the gross sexual gags.

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Okay, okay. I am kidding a bit there.

I do think Lost Continent makes a good intro movie for the curious though.

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It’s funny how both that one and Deathstalker & The Loaded Potato can make a person feel cheaper and grubbier than even the crummiest actual Adult Film.

For real, though: I think that both Fu and Hobgoblins have great sketch set-ups with great denouements. I think that’s what keeps me going: the knowledge that our collective pain was/is in service to a far, far greater good. :saluting_face:

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To me it is by far the hardest movie to get through.

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The Director Jesus Franco was unorthodox and if you’ve seen any of his other pictures he’s actually considered to be a underground legend

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How are they? His other pictures? As extended, redundant, and disinterested as this?

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It depends. His earlier pictures tend to be more traditional in nature, sometimes a bit silly, and occasionally a sense that he is having fun (sometimes it seems at the expense of the audience and their expectations). (See ATTACK OF THE ROBOTS or LUCKY THE INSCRUTIBLE for examples of this).

As the 1960s wore on and into the 1970s, his movies became more sexually oriented (like EUGENIE … THE STORY OF HER JOURNEY INTO PERVERSION) and steered towards S&M type scenarios that some viewers may find unsettling. and some advancing straight into pornography while still usually with a horror/monster setup for the plots. Even through all this, there’s still a sense that he’s not really being quite serious about any of it, and some fans argue what some see as his inept ability with a camera is really his way of reminding us that it is just a movie and we need to divorce ourselves a bit from the characters. (I’m being VERY loose here in fans’ arguments; there are plenty of fans who can explain in more details as to the whys and hows Franco is a good director.)

It does NOT help that CASTLE seen in MST3K is a really, really, bad print, as well as chopped up a bit in order to fit the format and timeframe of MST3K. The recent Blu (yes, there is a Blu-Ray of CASTLE OF FU MANCHU) is a much better print and doesn’t quite have the long blobs of blacks and reds seen for the final third of the MST3K print. It’s … well … honestly, I’m not a big fan of Franco. He got a LOT of work and there’s a lot of fans for him, but - by golly - I can’t quite wrap my head around the fandom for a guy who never seemed to worried about where he put the camera or if the lighting was okay.

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Fu Manchu on Blu? Who knew?

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[runs into the room out of breath]

THE CASTLE OF BLU MANCHU

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Apparently it’s already OOP. A pity. I’d actually buy it. FOR THE FULL EXPERIENCE.

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The Goon Show did an episode called The Terrible Revenge of Fred Fu Manchu but it doesn’t appear to be streaming for free so I can’t link to it.

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With this digital technology, the suckiness comes through with great clarity!

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