Death Packs a Suitcase a.k.a. Der Todesrächer von Soho (1972) - Kino Cult #38

There’s a killer on the loose in London with a chilling trademark: His victims come home to see a suitcase packed for them. When you see that, it’s time for you to go. Forever! With expert aim and an ornate dagger thrown with precision, escape is impossible. When Death Packs a Suitcase, it’s not your days that are numbered; you only have minutes, and escape is impossible.

It’s up to Inspector Ruppert Redfort (Fred Williams) - not to be confused with famous American actor Robert Redford - to get to the bottom of the case. But he can’t solve it alone, so he enlists the help of his successful mystery novelist friend Charles Barton (Horst Tappert), who has secrets of his own. Barton’s name is a moniker on permanent loan from a dead man in America, and he’s involved in a romantic tryst with a woman of the night, who you can tell is a gorgeous, sexual woman because she writhes around in bed, even when no one is looking.

Barton runs afoul of a brothel’s madame and its pimp when they suspect him of killing one of their girls and for sticking his nose where it doesn’t belong in other people’s affairs. What do all of these things have to do with each other? All questions will soon be answered, Dear Viewer, because director Jess Franco has turned in a picture that is oddly coherent and tame compared to some of his more lurid, confusing pictures he’s known for.

The German Kriminalfilm, also known as “krimis,” is a kind of halfway point between traditional detective mystery thrillers and the giallo. It’s a happy medium. There are the typical tropes: an unknown killer whose identity will be revealed at the end, seen only in the shadows or as a pair of black-gloved hands, red herrings galore, and some titillation along the way. But while giallos are the predecessors of what would eventually give rise to the slasher genre, krimis lean more toward the detective and investigative aspects of the story.

Death Packs a Suitcase is a heavily referential film, with Inspector Redford dressed like Costello from Melville’s Le Samouraï. Visually, Franco leans into German expressionistic angles, influenced by Fritz Lang in his own Dr. Mabuse picture. Jess Franco is not my favorite director. I’ve been hard on him in past reviews. He’s made fun pictures, and he’s made dreadful ones, but no matter how it ranks on the quality scale, your reaction to the film is almost entirely dependent on your tolerance for his works. Death Packs a Suitcase is an outlier in his filmography, in that he nearly disappears into it. Sure, his trademarks are all there, and it's very clearly one of his, but it’s a good, strong picture that anyone could feasibly have made and been proud of.

Vital Disc Stats: The Blu-ray
Death Packs a Suitcase is packed into a single-disc release, housed in a standard case, as a chilling calling card for viewers to beware! The film’s cover looks like a classic pulp novel, a scantily-clad woman crouched above a murder victim, with Big Ben in the background as a reminder of the London locale, whilst a watchful, terrifying pair of eyes watches them from the sky.

Details are unclear about what kind of restoration process was involved in bringing Death Packs a Suitcase to Blu-ray, but bravo Kino Lorber and Kino Cult, it looks terrific. Shot on 35mm film and presented in 1080p high-definition video for this release, the details are rendered sharply and cleanly, with beautiful, vibrant color. There are some minor imperfections that were clearly the result of the filmmaking techniques used at the time of production, such as some foggy, hazy shots that don’t look particularly convincing, and some scratches on the source used for the scan. But these nitpicks are few and far between. Generally, this is a great-looking transfer, and one of Franco’s most professional products under his filmography.

On the audio front is an equally impressive DTS-HD MA 2.0 mono mix, which is robust in its overall soundscape. Rolf Kühn’s jazzy score helps set the mood of this story, performing a delicate balancing act of serious, sleazy, and goofy as all hell. The same goes for the sound effects, which include a cartoony boi-oi-oing effect when the killer’s dagger is thrown at its victims. Through it all, dialogue is clear and sharp, leveled just above the rest of the mix to give it priority.

Alas, Death Packs a Suitcase only boasts the only special feature, an audio commentary from film historians Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thompson, who are experts at Jess Franco’s varied filmography.

• Audio Commentary - Film historians Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thompson

For diehard Franco fans, it may be more of a middle-ground film. For non-Franco fans, Death Packs a Suitcase may be a decent introduction to his more accessible works. It’s stylish, it tries its hand at about a million different things, but never quite settles on a specific tone, and is confidently its own thing. Kino Cult’s release looks and sounds great, supplemented by an informative audio commentary for viewers looking to learn more about the filmmaker. Death Packs a Suitcase is Recommended.