Hong Kong 1910: A British skipper called Captain Jackson (Geoffrey Toone) is tipped off about the Red Dragon Tong secret society and organised crime syndicate, which terrorises Hong Kong society by an agent of an undercover group seeking to bring them to book. The agent (Burt Kwouk) is murdered by the Tongs in a ceremonial killing, and after Jackson's daughter Helena (Barbara Brown), also falls victim to them he seeks revenge. After overpowering and interrogating a Tong collector, Jackson wins the affection of the collector's slave Lee (Yvonne Monlaur) and he finds out where the Tong's leader, Chung King's (Christopher Lee), is. Jackson is overpowered and tortured and is only saved from certain death because an anti-Tong agent (Marne Maitland) intervenes in the nick of time. Jackson, however, remains a marked man and he finds out that even his superior at the East India Company, Harcourt (Brian Worth), is a Tong member. The Tongs plan to dispose of Jackson by a ceremonial killing on the docks, but will he and his allies in the anti-Tong group succeed in bringing the society's reign of terror over the city to an end?
A substantial box office hit on its original release back in 1961 when it went out on a double bill with William Castle's Homicidal, but rarely seen nowadays. I found it quite a disappointment when I finally got to see it on the splendid Talking Pictures TV channel considering its awesome subject. The plot moves along at a fair lick and it is directed with pace but, alas, rather stolidly by Anthony Bushell. It has Hammer Films' customary eye for place and period detail thanks to the atmospheric lighting of the studio's veteran DP Arthur Grant and Bernard Robinson's magnificent sets, whom it must be said could really make silk purses out of sows ears. There are one or two eye catching shock moments including the torture scene in which Toone's Captain Jackson gets his bone marrow scraped and Burt Kwouk's demise as a result of a ceremonial killing: he fires a full clip into his assailant, but it does not succeed in stopping him until he has plunged a ceremonial hatchet into his neck killing his target. Apart from that the rest of the action is rather listlessly staged, it has to be said. Leading man Geoffrey Toone fails to convincingly convey the emotions, anger and passion in his frightfully British character's quest to avenge his daughter's death by finishing off the Red Dragon Tong society. In addition, his scenes with Yvonne Monlaur are rather dated and silly and will succeed in generating more giggles than pumping up emotions. The acting honours here go to Christopher Lee who offers a nice essay in evil as Chung King, which is really a prototype of one of his most celebrated roles as Sax Rohmer's oriental mastermind Fu Manchu. There are many familiar faces in the supporting cast to look out for including Marne Maitland, Roger Delgado and Charles Lloyd Pack.
All in all, this obscure shocker from Hammer is a disappointment when one considers the potential of its subject matter and it certainly does not rank among the best of their 1960's output. Nonetheless, like most of Hammer's movies, it is highly watchable and enjoyable all the same.
A substantial box office hit on its original release back in 1961 when it went out on a double bill with William Castle's Homicidal, but rarely seen nowadays. I found it quite a disappointment when I finally got to see it on the splendid Talking Pictures TV channel considering its awesome subject. The plot moves along at a fair lick and it is directed with pace but, alas, rather stolidly by Anthony Bushell. It has Hammer Films' customary eye for place and period detail thanks to the atmospheric lighting of the studio's veteran DP Arthur Grant and Bernard Robinson's magnificent sets, whom it must be said could really make silk purses out of sows ears. There are one or two eye catching shock moments including the torture scene in which Toone's Captain Jackson gets his bone marrow scraped and Burt Kwouk's demise as a result of a ceremonial killing: he fires a full clip into his assailant, but it does not succeed in stopping him until he has plunged a ceremonial hatchet into his neck killing his target. Apart from that the rest of the action is rather listlessly staged, it has to be said. Leading man Geoffrey Toone fails to convincingly convey the emotions, anger and passion in his frightfully British character's quest to avenge his daughter's death by finishing off the Red Dragon Tong society. In addition, his scenes with Yvonne Monlaur are rather dated and silly and will succeed in generating more giggles than pumping up emotions. The acting honours here go to Christopher Lee who offers a nice essay in evil as Chung King, which is really a prototype of one of his most celebrated roles as Sax Rohmer's oriental mastermind Fu Manchu. There are many familiar faces in the supporting cast to look out for including Marne Maitland, Roger Delgado and Charles Lloyd Pack.
All in all, this obscure shocker from Hammer is a disappointment when one considers the potential of its subject matter and it certainly does not rank among the best of their 1960's output. Nonetheless, like most of Hammer's movies, it is highly watchable and enjoyable all the same.