"Unmei - Fate" was the original title of this movie. Unmei is pronounced "oon-may." Cheryl Banning arrives in Japan to clear her dead brother's name. He was considered an opium dealer using his import business as a blind. Cheryl learns that a mysterious character named Tom Putnam was the actual dealer who framed her brother. She is assisted by an Englishman, Roger Mansfield. As they look for clues as to the identity of Tom Putnam, Cheryl and Roger fall in love and get married. But then Cheryl learns some surprising facts about her new husband.
Unmei-Fate refers to a supernatural being who appears only to bad people. This character is something akin to The Whistler. The basic rule of thumb is, if you see Unmei, you are dead meat.
The film was shot on location in Japan. A lot of the scenes take place at night and much of the film is darkly shot, but there is always enough light to tell what is going on.
Leading lady Martha Hyer was married to C. Ray Stahl when Oriental Evil was made. In her autobiography, Martha says that on the flight to Japan, when they stopped in Anchorage, Alaska, a lot of their luggage and camera equipment was bumped off to make room for some super secret government cargo. They spent the last leg of the flight with beer barrel shaped containers under their seats. The next day, they learned that those barrels contained gold bullion being sent to the nationalist Chinese government.
Martha Hyer is pretty good as Cheryl Banning. She makes a believable heroine without overplaying her role. Byron Michie was a giant of a man whose British-accented voice sounds like Tom Conway (The Falcon). He only appeared in two movies and does the best he can as the tormented villain of the piece.
Oriental Evil is rated 7 stars because it is a truly unique, one of a kind movie, shot entirely on location. The story is interesting and will keep the viewer interested. It's now available on DVD and is worth watching. It's a must see for Martha Hyer fans.
