Albert Zugsmith

A bizarre, cult oddity that sees Gilbert De Quincey (Vincent Price) arriving in San Francisco in 1902 and becoming involved in a Tong war. De Quincey bears a moon dragon tattoo as does Ruby Low (Linda Ho) the leader of one Tong faction and it looks as if the interests of the pair are aligned, but De Quincey may have his own ulterior motivations. Albert Zugsmith, whether intended or otherwise, directs with an eye for the surreal. The film is full of secret passages, strange doorways, odd configurations and dark shadows, which give an expressionistic, out-of-place, disjointed feeling. Adding to this otherworldliness are the strange opium dream sequences which happen in slow-motion with the sound dropped out before segueing into swirling faces and dancing shapes. Robert Hill’s script and dialogue is full of overblown philosophical ramblings and parable like asides. These are delivered with perfect velvet resonance by the great Vincent Price who chews each line with beautifully extravagant diction. In the midst of all this there is an indistinct plot featuring caged slave girls for auction, but it is the dream sequences and the strange lyrical ramblings about love and death that make this a worthwhile little oddity.… (mere)