The Brides of Fu Machu is a campy little film that isn't even that scary. it's the second of Christopher Lee's Fu Manchu films, and it follows directly from the first. I think. I've never seen the first one, and the two disc box set at the local video store had the second and third movie. Because that makes sense.
The film begins with Fu Manchu and his daughter (the only Asian character with a speaking role actually played by an Asian) brainwashing a scientist's daughter. They tell the scientist that he either obeys their orders or they'll kill his daughter. Then they demonstrate by having his daughter help them kill a white woman in a sari. I mean the daughter of an Indian scientist who failed them.
The majority of the film follows an English inspector (whose name I can't be bothered to remember) trying to solve the women's disappearances and defeat Fu Manchu. Fu Manchu's evil plan involves radio signals and...making ambiguously named boats disappear. Yeah, I'm not really clear on what his goal is or what will happen if he achieves it.
In the end, all the women escape (doing a fairly good job of it by themselves first), Fu Manchu is defeated, and he swears his revenge.
This film is definitely the product of a different time. Most of the Asian characters are played by white actors and all of them, except two who are killed off in the beginning, are irredeemably evil. For the film to focus on the women so much, most of them don't actually do anything. However, Lin Tang is a formidable enemy, and the women do almost escape on their own before Fu Manchu stares them back into control. So I guess that's pretty fair for its day.
The sets are all really cheap, which I love. The special effects remind me of the original Star Trek, which is always a good thing. When a boat "blows up," it just disappears with no wreckage at all. The costumes, direction, and cinematography are all standard 1960s fare.
Unfortunately, the beginning of this film is horribly confusing if you've never seen the first one. That definitely lessened my enjoyment. It's not bad, but I'm not going to go hunting for other Fu Manchu movies any time soon.