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