Jess Franco: From Bangkok with Bullets – Severin Films (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Dates: Spain, 1985 (Trip to Bangkok, Coffin Included, Bangkok, Date with Death)
Director: Jesús Franco (Both Films)
Writer: Jesús Franco (Both Films)
Cast: Howard Vernon, Helena Garret, José Llamas, Trino Trives, Ana Espejo, Christian Borck, Rafael Corés, Juan Soler, José Miguel García Marfa, Óscar San Juan (Trip to Bangkok, Coffin Included), José Llamas, Helena Garret, Eduardo Fajardo, Bork Gordon, Albino Graziani, Ramón García, Lina Romay, Antonio Mayans (Bangkok, Date with Death)

Release Date: April 8th, 2026
Approximate Running Times: 91 Minutes 34 Seconds (Trip to Bangkok, Coffin Included), 87 Minutes 41 Seconds (Bangkok, Date with Death)
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC (Both Films)
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD Mono Spanish (Both Films)
Subtitles: English (Both Films)
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: $39.95

"In the worldwide Blu-ray premiere of Trip to Bangkok, Coffin Included, Francoverse legend Howard Vernon stars as a cantankerous British agent on the trail of a creepy cult leader. In The Worldwide Disc Premiere of Bangkok, Date with Death, Jess unleashes a pop-art crime spree of pirates, kidnappers, and kung fu killers starring his beloved muse Lina Romay." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4.5/5 (Trip to Bangkok, Coffin Included), 3.75/5 (Bangkok, Date with Death)

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, "Both films have been scanned in 4K from their original camera negatives."

Trip to Bangkok, Coffin Included comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 38.7 GB

Feature: 20 GB

The source looks excellent; flesh tones and colors look correct, image clarity and compression are solid, black levels are strong, and the image retains an organic look.

Bangkok, Date with Death comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 39.2 GB

Feature: 24.9 GB

While there are many areas where Bangkok, Date with Death looks similar to Trip to Bangkok, Coffin Included, I will only focus on those where it differs. There are some moments that have an intentional tint, notably a beach sequence, and some source-related damage that still remains; see the example in the last screenshot.

Audio: 4/5 (Both Audio Tracks)

Each film comes with one audio option, a DTS-HD mono mix in Spanish with removable English subtitles. Although both tracks sound clear and balanced, they are limited range-wise.

Extras:

Extras on the disc with Trip to Bangkok, Coffin Included are a locations featurette titled In The Land of Franco Part 14, featuring Stephen Thrower, actor Antonio Mayans, and actress Katja Bienert (18 minutes 20 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with film writer/bit player/assistant director Carlos Aguilar titled Filmmaking on the Run (19 minutes 23 seconds, Dolby Digital mono Spanish with removable English subtitles), and an interview with Stephen Thrower, author of Flowers of Perversion: The Delirious Cinema of Jesús Franco, titled Colonel Blimp in Bangkok (28 minutes 32 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English with non-removable English subtitles for Spanish film clips).

Extras on the disc with Bangkok, Date with Death are a locations featurette titled In The Land of Franco Part 15, featuring Stephen Thrower, actor Antonio Mayans, and actress Katja Bienert (15 minutes 34 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with film scholar Dr. Álex Mendíbil (35 minutes 23 seconds, Dolby Digital mono Spanish with removable English subtitles), and an interview with Stephen Thrower titled Bangkok Back-to-Back (24 minutes 47 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English with non-removable English subtitles for Spanish film clips).

Other extras include a website-exclusive slipcover.

Summary:

Trip to Bangkok, Coffin Included: When a British ambassador is murdered during a political event, the British government sends a secret agent to track down his assassin.

Throughout his career, Jess Franco showed that he could adapt to any genre, and although he’s most known for his work in the horror and erotica genres, his most underappreciated films are in the espionage genre. His earliest forays in espionage cinema were Attack of the Robots, Residence for Spies, and Lucky, the Inscrutable, while films like Two Undercover Angels, Kiss Me Monster, The Devil Came from Akasava, and Two Female Spies with Flowered Panties have elements from the genre.

Sometimes Jess Franco’s overall legacy is unfairly dragged down because of his numerous director-for-hire jobs that are impersonal and far removed from his personal style. When inspired, Jess Franco has proven countless times that he can deliver cinema that stays with you and create individual moments that are masterpieces. While most Jess Franco fans would agree that he reached his peak in the 1970s, from the 1980s onward he would deliver a few more remarkable films.

Having time to reflect and revisit a film can change one's mind about it. This has been particularly true for me regarding the works of Jess Franco. My first impression of Trip to Bangkok, Coffin Included, is that it's a film that lacks the elements that make Jess Franco's most celebrated films engaging and rewatchable. However, Jess Franco is the kind of filmmaker whose work often improves with subsequent viewings. Revisiting Trip to Bangkok, Coffin Included, after all these years, I finally found that it resonated with me.

Besides Jess Franco's cinema obsessions that he infused in all of his films, another thing that makes most of his films so damn enjoyable is his collective of actors and actresses. When it comes to actors, none is more identified with the cinema of Jess Franco than Howard Vernon, who first worked with him on The Awful Dr. Orlof. This time, Howard Vernon takes on the role of Colonel Daniel J. Blimp, a grumpy elderly spy. Although Howard Vernon consistently gave his all in every Jess Franco film, this role provides him with significantly more material to work with compared to many of his other performances for Jess Franco. The remaining cast consists of individuals who collaborated with Jess Franco on only a few films.

The narrative does a superb job holding your attention, and while the things move at a deliberate pace (something Jess Franco’s films are known for), there is rarely a dull moment. Another thing you can count on with Jess Franco's cinema is his unique brand of humor, which Trip to Bangkok, Coffin Included displays in ample amounts. The funniest and most memorable moment is a scene where Colonel Daniel J. Blimp drags a naked woman along with him to a crime scene. Rounding things out there, there is an obligatory nightclub sequence and some karate is thrown in for good measure. Ultimately, Trip to Bangkok, Coffin Included is an entertaining satire of the espionage film, anchored by a hilarious performance from Howard Vernon.

Bangkok, Date with Death: Several criminal organizations and a private investigator try to collect a large ransom for a billionaire's daughter who's been kidnapped.

Bangkok, Date with Death is a sequel only in name to Trip to Bangkok, Coffin Included. Although both films feature some of the same cast members, there is no character overlap. Bangkok, Date with Death is yet another example of Jess Franco’s notorious practice of shooting films back-to-back, creating two projects that share similarities and cast members. In contrast to Trip to Bangkok, Coffin Included, which follows a more conventional filmmaking approach, Bangkok, Date with Death showcases the distinctive cinematic flourishes that are characteristic of Jess Franco's cinematic style.

The cast is anchored by two of Jess Franco’s most frequent collaborators: Lina Romay (Female Vampire), who portrays a pirate and Antonio Mayans (Alone Against Terror), who portrays a crime boss named Malko. When it comes to the performances, it is hard not to get caught up in everyone's enthusiasm.

Trip to Bangkok, Coffin Included is a film firmly rooted in the espionage genre, while Bangkok, Date with Death, draws from the Philip Marlowe crime films. The opening setup does an excellent job establishing who everyone is, and the narrative effectively builds to a "crime does not pay" finale. The most Jess Franco moments are a scene where the kidnapped woman is tortured with a beauty salon hairdryer and a scene where Lina Romay’s character dances in a bathing suit. Ultimately, Bangkok, Date with Death is a highly entertaining film that quickly grabs your attention with comic book introductions for its characters and keeps you engaged with a series of absurd moments.

Severin Films' Jess Franco: From Bangkok with Bullets features two films by Jess Franco, offering a strong audio and video presentation along with a wealth of insightful extras. Highly recommended.

 

Written by Michael Den Boer

The Angry River – 88 Films (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: Hong Kong, 1971
Director: Huang Feng
Writer: Huang Feng
Cast: Angela Mao, Kao Yuen, Pai Ying, Fung Ngai, Han Ying-Chieh, Sammo Hung Kam-Bo

Release Date: May 12th, 2026
Approximate Running Time: 90 Minutes 39 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: NR
Sound: LPCM Mono Mandarin, LPCM Mono English
Subtitles: English
Region Coding: Region A
Retail Price: $29.95

"Lan Feng, a courageous young woman on a desperate mission to find a cure for her gravely injured father. But danger lurks at every turn, as the very villains responsible for her father's fate pursue her relentlessly. What follows is a whirlwind of acrobatic combat, breathtaking choreography, and fierce determination, as Lan Feng's journey becomes a battle for justice and survival." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4.25/5

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, "This 88 Films Blu-ray edition brings the film roaring back to life in a stunning 2K restoration from the original negative."

The Angry River comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 28 GB

Feature: 26.1 GB

The source looks excellent; flesh tones and colors look correct, image clarity and compression are solid, and there are no issues with digital noise reduction.

Audio: 4.25/5 (LPCM Mono Mandarin), 3/5 (LPCM Mono English)

This release comes with two audio options, a LPCM mono mix in Mandarin and a LPCM mono mix in English. The Mandarin language track sounds clean, clear, and balanced, and action sequences sound robust. The English language track has some background hiss and other imperfections, and range-wise, it does not sound as full as the Mandarin track. Included are removable English subtitles for the Mandarin language track and removable English subtitles for Mandarin text when watching with the English language track.

Extras:

Extras for this release include an image gallery with music from the film playing in the background (stills/lobby cards/posters), a theatrical trailer (3 minutes 52 seconds, Dolby Digital mono Mandarin with removable English subtitles), an audio commentary with Asian cinema experts Frank Djeng and Michael Worth, reversible cover art, a double-sided fold-out poster (limited to the first pressing), and an O-ring slipcase (limited to the first pressing).

Summary:

Huang Feng directed The Angry River. He’s known for The Shaolin Plot, Naked Comes the Huntress and his nine collaborations with Angela Mao.

When her father is given a fatal poison, Lan Feng, a gifted martial artist, sets out on a dangerous journey to retrieve the antidote. Faced with the decision of her dying father running out of time, she relinquishes her martial arts skills for the antidote, which puts her in danger on her way back home.

The Angry River marked Golden Harvest's inaugural official release, a company that gained prominence after collaborating with Bruce Lee on four films. Golden Harvest was founded by a trio of film producers: Raymond Chow, Peter Choi, and Leonard Ho, who had been working at Shaw Brothers, the most dominant studio in Hong Kong cinema throughout the 1960s. For their first film, The Angry River, they would draw some inspiration from the Shaw Brothers by making a Wuxia film, their most popular genre at that time.

The Angry River is a film of two halves. The first half revolves around the protagonist Lan Feng’s quest to obtain a rare herb that has the power to reverse the fatal poison in her father's body. The latter half shifts from a heroic journey to a story rooted in revenge when the protagonist's father dies before she’s able to return with the antidote. From there she ingests the herb, which also has the power to restore her martial arts skills, which were taken away from her.

The Angry River is an important film in another way; it marked the first time Angela Mao (Lady Whirlwind) was a lead in a film. She would go on to become one of martial arts cinema’s biggest stars of the 1970s. While she is given a few moments to showcase her martial arts prowess, there is a long stretch where her character is passive because her skills have been taken away. Another cast member of note is Sammo Hung Kam-Bo (The Magnificent Butcher) in an early role as an evil henchman.

Although the premise retreads all too familiar ground, it does a superb job balancing exposition and action sequences. In the case of the latter, they are mostly weapon-oriented and while they are well-executed, they lack inventiveness. Another byproduct of this era of martial arts cinema is hearing familiar uncredited music cues like Tiger Tank from Kelly’s Heroes and the main theme from On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Ultimately, The Angry River is a well-crafted martial arts film that foreshadows better things to come from its leading lady Angela Mao.

88 Films gives The Angry River a strong audio/video presentation and there is an insightful audio commentary. Recommended.

Written by Michael Den Boer

Une femme douce – Radiance Films (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: France, 1969
Director: Robert Bresson
Writer: Robert Bresson
Cast: Dominique Sanda, Guy Frangin, Jeanne Lobre, Claude Ollier, Jacques Kébadian, Gilles Sandier, Dorothée Blanck

Release Date: December 8th, 2025
Approximate Running Time: 88 Minutes 48 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: 15 (UK)
Sound: LPCM Mono French
Subtitles: English
Region Coding: Region B
Retail Price: £14.99 (UK)

"From the balcony of her Parisian apartment, a young woman (Dominique Sanda, The Conformist) jumps to her death. Her body is moved to the bed that she shared with her husband Luc (Guy Frangin), a pawnbroker she met at a time of need. Through a series of flashbacks, Luc reflects on their marriage and the events that may have led to her suicide." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 5/5

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, “Une femme douce was restored in 2K from the original negative in 2013. The film restoration was carried out using tools to remove dirt and improve stabilization. Completed with the support of CNC by Eclair Group and L.E. Diapason for Paramount Pictures and Cine Mag Bodard, with the collaboration of Mylène Bresson.”

Une femme douce comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 28.8 GB

Feature: 24.2 GB

The source looks excellent; flesh tones look healthy, colors look correct, image clarity, contrast, black levels, and compression are solid, and the image always looks organic.

Audio: 5/5

This release comes with one audio option, a LPCM mono mix in French with removable English subtitles. The audio sounds clean, clear, and balanced, and ambient sounds are well-represented.

Extras:

Extras for this release include an image gallery (22 images—stills/lobby cards), an archival French TV interview with actress Dominique Sanda (5 minutes 29 seconds, Dolby Digital mono French with removable English subtitles), an archival French TV interview with director Robert Bresson (7 minutes 29 seconds, Dolby Digital mono French with removable English subtitles), a video essay by Cristina Álvarez López and Adrian Martin titled Over Her Dead Body (17 minutes 26 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English with non-removable English subtitles for French film clips), an audio commentary with Michael Brooke, reversible cover art, removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings and a 32-page booklet (limited to 3000 copies) with cast & crew information, an essay titled Behind the Façade: Une femme douce and the Hiddenness of God written by Alex Barrett and an archival interview with Robert Bresson conducted by Ronald Hayman, and information about the transfer.

Summary:

Robert Bresson directed Une femme douce; he adapted the screenplay from Fyodor Dostoyevsky's short story A Gentle Creature. He directed 14 films; the most notable are Diary of a Country Priest, A Man Escaped, Pickpocket, and Au hasard Balthazar.

When a woman kills herself, leaving no explanation, her husband looks back on their time together and tries to uncover the reason why.

Robert Bresson was truly one of cinema’s most unique filmmakers. While he mastered the media, he did not follow traditional cinema techniques. He favored using non-actors in his films and often rejected the artificial aesthetics commonly found in traditional cinema. His narratives often had deliberate gaps that allowed viewers to fill in the missing information.

Une femme douce is a film that opens with a pivotal moment, and from there, its narrative retraces the events that led to that moment. In its opening moments a woman jumps from her apartment's balcony to the street below, causing her death. In the aftermath, her husband has her body taken to their bed while their maid prepares her for the wake. From there, a series of memories recounted by the husband reveal who the woman was and offer some insight into her mental state.

The two leads, Guy Frangin in the role of the husband and Dominique Sanda (The Conformist), had never acted before Une femme douce. While the latter would have a career that lasted six decades, the former would not appear in another film. When it comes to their performances, there is a rawness that enhances the authenticity.

For his 10th film, Robert Bresson would shoot in color for the first time. The visuals in Une femme douce include a few striking moments, particularly the scene of the wife's lifeless body on the pavement below their apartment. However, for the most part, the visuals remain observational. Despite this lack of visual flair, the film would not have had the same impact if it had been shot in black and white.

Although the husband tries to fill in the blanks about his deceased wife's life and their time together, these are his memories of those events. Despite her absence of perspective, it is evident that she was a troubled soul, confined by the restrictions imposed by her husband. Feeling trapped, the wife's final words were that she'd found happiness, only to jump to her death. Her final words offer clearer insight into her psyche than the memories her husband has of her. Ultimately, Une femme douce is an extraordinary exploration of the human condition.

Une femme douce gets a definitive release from Radiance Films. Highly recommended.

 

Written by Michael Den Boer

Creepy-Creatures Double-Feature (The Slime People + The Crawling Hand): Collectors Limited Edition – VCI Entertainment (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Dates: USA, 1963 (The Slime People, The Crawling Hand)
Directors: Robert Hutton (The Slime People), Herbert L. Strock (The Crawling Hand)
Cast: Robert Hutton, Les Tremayne, Robert Burton, Susan Hart, William Boyce, Judee Morton, John Close (The Slime People), Peter Breck, Kent Taylor, Rod Lauren, Alan Hale Jr., Allison Hayes, Sirry Steffen, Arline Judge, Richard Arlen, Tristram Coffin, Ross Elliott (The Crawling Hand)

Release Date: April 21st, 2026
Approximate Running Times: 88 Minutes 6 Seconds (The Slime People), 76 Minutes 59 Seconds (The Crawling Hand)
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC (The Slime People), 1.85:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC (The Crawling Hand)
Rating: NR
Sound: LPCM Mono English (Both Films)
Subtitles: English SDH (Both Films)
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: $29.95

"Slime People: "Golden Turkey" fans, attention! It's a veritable voyage to the bottom of the sci-fi barrel as prehistoric"Slime People" emerge from the sewers of Los Angeles! The atom-age U.S. Army is no match for this small band of spear-toting boogeymen and the city is evacuated. Left behind and forced to fight for survival are a TV sportscaster, a science professor, his two glamorous daughters, a bashful Marine, and a nutty author in love with a sheep. The Crawling Hand: A manned rocket returning from the Moon is invaded by an alien life force that possesses the astronaut, maintains control of his disembodied hand after a California beach crash-landing, and then imposes its will on a local medical student (Rod Lauren). Veteran players Kent Taylor, Richard Arlen, Alan Hale Jr., and Arline Judge struggle to retain their dignity in this five-fingered sci-fiasco!" - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4.25/5 (The Crawling Hand), 4/5 (The Slime People)

Here’s the information provided about the transfer, "First time these Sci-Fi Classics have been release in high definition from new 4K scans of the original 35mm negatives!"

The Slime People and The Crawling Hand come on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 41.9 GB

Feature: 19.4 GB (The Slime People), 15.6 GB (The Crawling Hand)

Both films are given brand new transfers that are marked improvements over their previous home media releases. Image clarity and gray and black levels are solid; there are no issues with compression or digital noise reduction.

Audio: 4/5 (Both Audio Tracks)

Each film comes with one audio option, a LPCM mono mix in English with removable English SDH. Both tracks sound clean, clear, and balanced. That said, range-wise it's best described as serviceable.

Extras:

Extras for this release include an extensive photo gallery of classic drive-in sci-fi movies, a featurette titled Rubber Monsters, Real Fears: Mid-Century Sci-Fi (3 minutes 2 seconds, LPCM stereo English, no subtitles), an audio interview with actress Susan Hart, conducted by film historian Tom Weaver titled Unearthing The Slime People (54 minutes 49 seconds, LPCM stereo English, no subtitles), an audio commentary with Tom Weaver for The Slime People, an audio commentary with artist, reviewer, and podcaster Rob Kelly for The Crawling Hand, reversible cover art, and a slipcover (limited to 1,500 copies).

Summary:

The Slime People: Los Angeles is taken over by subterranean monsters who isolate the city with an impenetrable shield.

Although The Slime People is an extension of the 1950s creature feature, the result is something that firmly resides in the psychotronic film category. These were low-budget films that usually resided in the horror and sci-fi genres, and a film like The Slime People combines both of these genres. When these films were entertaining, they were enjoyable to watch. However, when these films are not entertaining, they become a tedious experience to endure. That said, despite all of its shortcomings, one thing that stands out about The Slime People is that it's always a lot of fun.

While the premise is far-fetched, its opening setup does a remarkable job setting the mood for what follows. When it comes to pacing, things move at a deliberate pace that is in no hurry to get anywhere. The special effects do not hold up well at all, especially the men inside of creature suits; fortunately, the creatures are only being used sparingly. The performances are best described as serviceable, the most notable cast member being Susan Hart (Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine) in the role of a daughter of a professor. Ultimately, The Slime People is a film that relies heavily on atmosphere and is best enjoyed if you go in with low expectations.

The Crawling Hand: The severed arm of a dead astronaut comes back to life and strangles the living.

The Crawling Hand takes sci-fi elements and fuses them with horror elements, making it a perfect example of what is known as "psychotronic cinema." Despite its sci-fi opening setup, The Crawling Hand is actually a dialogue-heavy narrative where not much happens outside of an occasional strangling. It’s immediately clear that The Crawling Hand is working with a razor-thin budget, and nowhere does this standout when it comes to the special effects.

The Crawling Hand is a film that fails on all levels. Its absurd premise full of possibilities is poorly executed, and the narrative moves at a lethargic pace. The acting is not memorable; the most notable cast member is Alan Hale Jr., most known for portraying The Skipper from Gilligan's Island. That said, it's easy to see why a film like The Crawling Hand was lampooned by Mystery Science Theater 3000. Ultimately, The Crawling Hand is an awful film that commits the worst crime of all; it's not entertaining, at least in a so-bad-it's-good way.

VCI Entertainment gives The Slime People and The Crawling Hand their best home media release to date.

Written by Michael Den Boer