EXOTIC SUMURU SEQUEL
Movie Lover:
SHADOWER from
LOUISVILLE, KY US -- October, 27, 2016
FOR A REVIEW OF THE 1967 ORIGINAL SUMURU FILM, THE MILLION EYES OF SUMURU CONSULT THE TITLE ON THIS SITE. NOW, TO THE BUSINESS AT HAND WITH BLUE-UNDERGROUND'S EXCELLENT BLU-RAY PACKAGING OF THE TWO SUMURU FILMS, STARRING SHIRLEY EATON AS THE SAX ROHMER VILLIANESS CREATION. IN THE SEQUEL, THE GIRL FROM RIO, SUMURU, WITH EATON'S CHARACTER ALTERNATELY REFERRED TO AS SUMANDA BY CRIME MOGUL GEORGE SANDERS, SUMITRA IN THE CREDITS OF THE BLU-RAY VERSION AND EVEN ELECTRA IN ONE OF THE PRESS PACKAGES, SUMURU IS AGAIN FOCUSING ON GLOBAL CONQUEST THROUGH THE ABDUCTION OF THE WORLD'S WEALTHIEST MEN, THIS TIME FOCUSING ON ADVENTURER-AT-LARGE RICHARD WYLER. THE SETS, WEAPONRY, COSTUMES AND THE LANDSCAPE IN GENERAL IS ULTRA-OTHER WORLDLY AND THE FILM ITSELF IS MORE OF A CRIME THRILLER THAN A SPY SPOOF, AS WAS THE CASE WITH THE 1967 ORIGINAL. DIRECTOR JESS FRANCO, WHO HELMED CHRISTOPHER LEE'S LAST TWO (OF FIVE) FU MANCHU OUTINGS, OPTS FOR A MORE EURO-ACCENTED APPROACH, EXHIBITING THE STYLE OF MARIO BAVA'S DANGER-DIABOLIK (1968) AND PERHAPS ROGER VADIM'S BARBARELLA (1968) WITH AN EVEN MORE EXOTIC TOUCH. FANS OF THE 1967 ORIGINAL WILL FIND THE SEQUEL PROVOCATIVE, ESPECIALLY IN THE VISUAL SENSE. SHIRLEY EATON INTENSIFIES THE SUMURU PERSONA IN THE SEQUEL, GENERALLY EXHIBITING HER MORE RECOGNIZABLE BLONDE HAIR WITH SOME OCCASIONAL BRUNETTE SHADING. GEORGE SANDERS MAKES A COMPELLING NEMESIS AS DOES RICHARD WYLER IN HIS INTRIGUE ROLE. MARIA ROHM, WHO APPEARED IN THE ORIGINAL, RETURNS AS AN INVENTIVE MATA HARI-MODESTY BLAISE FEMME FATALE, QUITE CONVINCINGLY. THE CONFRONTATION BETWEEN SUMURU'S ARMY AND SANDERS' SOLDIERS-OF-MISFORTUNE IS EXECUTED ON AN IMPRESSIVELY SPECTACULAR SCALE. THE BLU-RAY DOUBLE INTERVIEWS CONTAINS INTERVIEWS WITH SHIRLEY EATON, JESS FRANCO (WITH A TRANSLATOR) AND FILMMAKER HARRY ALAN TOWERS AS WELL AS THEATRICAL TRAILERS AND A WEALTH OF THEATRICAL POSTERS AND STILLS FROM VARIOUS VERSIONS. THE GIRL FROM RIO WAS KNOWN UNDER SEVERAL OTHER TITLES: RIO-70, FUTURE WOMAN, FUTURE WOMEN, THE SEVEN SECRETS OF SUMURU AND THE MOTHERS OF AMERICA AS A TELEVISION TITLE IN SEVERAL MARKETS THROUGHOUT THE 1970S. AN UNDENIABLE FANTASY COLLECTOR'S GEM.. THE RIO LOCALE IS PARTICULARLY HYPNOTIC, ESPECIALLY A SLICE OF THE ICONIC CARNIVALE INTO THE MIX.
