DEATH PACKS A SUITCASE On Blu-ray From Kino

 

A few months ago Kino released on Blu-ray THE VENGEANCE OF DR. MABUSE, an early Seventies picture directed by Jess Franco that was the last gasp of German producer Artur Brauner's Dr. Mabuse film series. Now Kino has gifted us with DEATH PACKS A SUITCASE, a 1971 movie that is also directed by Franco, and is also a poor cousin of another group of films produced by Artur Brauner, this time a series of Bryan Edgar Wallace adaptations. 

Kino uses DEATH PACKS A SUITCASE as the title on this Blu-ray's disc case, but the title on the actual film is DER TODESRACHER VON SOHO (THE AVENGER OF SOHO). This movie is also known as THE CORPSE PACKS HIS BAGS. Whatever its moniker, the film is a remake of the very first entry in Artur Brauner's Krimi outings based on the works of Bryan Edgar Wallace (son of Edgar). The original DEATH PACKS A SUITCASE is not on Eureka's Bryan Edgar Wallace set, so I have not seen it....but I'm sure it's much better than the remake. 

The 1971 DEATH PACKS A SUITCASE has been called by some the last classic Krimi story, but for me it feels more like a typical weird Jess Franco flick than a German crime thriller. This DEATH is in color (in my opinion the best Krimis are in black & white), and while the main credits are set against footage of London, you don't believe for a second that this story takes place in England. (The movie was filmed in Spain.) The confusing plot involves a spate of murders where the victims are knifed in the back, and a suitcase packed with their belongings is found at the scene. A mod Scotland Yard detective (Franco regular Fred Williams) is on the case, but things get stranger and stranger, with elements such as a drug ring and a number of suspects who have secret identities. 

I wrote a blog post on THE VENGEANCE OF DR. MABUSE this summer, and much of what I said about that movie applies here. Franco and his cinematographer Manuel Merino provide plenty of unusual camera angles and shot compositions, but perhaps they should have spent more time on story construction and more effective editing--the plot gets more confusing as the movie goes along, and it feels as if a few scenes were cut out, or not even filmed to begin with. (It doesn't help that every time a victim is stabbed in the back by a thrown knife, a loud cartoon-like BBBWWWWOOONNNGGG!!! sound can be heard.) The story has a few of Jess Franco's traits, such as a nightclub scene with a exotic performer, multiple women being tied up and threatened with violence, and a remote hideout that happens to have a laboratory, but overall DEATH PACKS A SUITCASE is very low-key when compared to the rest of Franco's career. (Jess Franco himself has a very small role.) The poster image on the Blu-ray case is way more atmospheric than anything in the story. 

The cast includes a few Krimi veterans such as Horst Tappert, Barbara Rutting, and Seigfried Schurenberg, along with plenty of attractive women, but none of the characters really makes a mark on the viewer. Rolf Kuhn's peppy music score does remind one of the soundtracks for the classic Krimis of the 1960s. 

The disc case for DEATH PACKS A SUITCASE states that the movie is presented in a 1.66:1 aspect ratio, but it's actually in 1.37:1. The visual quality is sharp and clear (this film looks way better than THE VENGEANCE OF DR. MABUSE). The credits are in German, along with the dialogue track, and English subtitles are provided. 

The only extra is a fine audio commentary by Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thompson. Both men are Franco admirers, but even Troy admits that the plot doesn't make much sense. The duo do have great appreciation for Franco's visual style in this picture, and they give out plenty of info on the production and the many links most of the cast and crew have with Jess Franco's directorial career. 

I must admit if it wasn't for my recent interest in the Krimi genre overall I probably wouldn't have bought this Blu-ray. DEATH PACKS A SUITCASE doesn't have enough Jess Franco elements in it to make it a true Jess Franco outing, and it doesn't have enough of a Krimi sensibility to make it a proper Krimi. It's an odd picture overall.