Barbed Wire Dolls – Delirium Home Video (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: Switzerland, 1976
Director: Jesús Franco
Writers: Connie Grau, Christine Lembach, Jesús Franco
Cast: Lina Romay, Paul Muller, Monica Swinn, Roger Darton, Ronald Weiss, Martine Stedil, Eric Falk, Peggy Markoff, Beni Cardoso, Jesús Franco

Release Date: July 20th, 2026
Approximate Running Time: 81 Minutes 2 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD Mono English, DTS-HD 5.1 English, DTS-HD Mono German, DTS-HD 5.1 German
Subtitles: English SDH
Region Coding: Region A
Retail Price: $41.98

"One of notorious Eurosleaze auteur Jess Franco and producer Erwin C. Dietrich's most shocking films,1976's Barbed Wire Dolls is the ultimate unholy “Women-in-Prison” exploitation opus. In it, Franco favorite and lifelong muse Lina Romay (Doriana Gray, Rolls Royce Baby) stars as the wide-eyed Maria, an unfortunate young woman who kills her father (played by Franco in a delirious flashback sequence) in self defense after he attempts to rape her. She is tried, sentenced and shipped off to what is perhaps the grisliest, greasiest and most depraved women’s penitentiary in screen history where, at the hands, fingers and fists of psychotic lesbian warden Monica Swinn (The Duke of Burgundy, Female Vampire), she and her fellow inmates are subjected to an endless onslaught of perverse psychological and sexual abuse. to God begging for salvation, but the powers that be have other hideous plans in store for her..." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 3.75/5

Barbed Wire Dolls comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 36.2 GB

Feature: 26 GB

Outside of some very minor print debris, the bulk of the transfer looks excellent. Flesh tones and colors look correct, image clarity is solid, black levels are strong, and there are no issues with compression or digital noise reduction.

Audio: 1/5 (DTS-HD Mono English, DTS-HD Mono German), 3.75/5 (DTS-HD 5.1 English, DTS-HD 5.1 German)

This release comes with four audio options, a DTS-HD mono mix in English, a DTS-HD 5.1 mix in English, a DTS-HD mono mix in German, and a DTS-HD 5.1 mix in German. The 5.1 tracks sound noticeably fuller, while the mono tracks sound muffled and not balanced properly. Included are removable English SDH for the English-language tracks.

Extras:

Extras for this release include an image gallery (stills/advertisements/posters), the official trailer (57 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), a German theatrical trailer (2 minutes 8 seconds, Dolby Digital mono German, no English subtitles), a featurette about Jess Franco’s women in prison films titled Sisters in the Slammer (11 minutes 28 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an audio conversation about the cinema of Jess Franco with Chris Alexander and filmmaker Peter Strickland (24 minutes 8 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an archival interview with producer Erwin C. Dietrich, director Jess Franco, and actress Lina Romay (12 minutes 10 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo German, English, and French with removable English subtitles), an audio commentary with Delirium magazine columnist Dennis Daniel, trailers for Dorianna Grey, Love Camp, Love Letters of a Portuguese Nun, Satanic Sisters, Rolls Royce Baby, and The Amorous Sisters, and a spot gloss slipcover (limited to 2,000 units).

Summary:

Barbed Wire Dolls was one of eighteen films that Jess Franco made with producer Erwin Dietrich over a three-year period. Their collaboration began with Downtown and ended with Girls After Midnight.

When a woman murders her rapist father, she’s sent to a notorious prison that employs controversial psychiatric treatment.

Sadism and erotica are two elements that Jess Franco would often employ in his films. Although he mostly made films, they primarily fall into three categories: erotica, horror, or a combination of both. The women-in-prison film is a genre that perfectly aligns with his two obsessions: sadism and erotica. Barbed Wire Dolls was the first of four women-in-prison films Jess Franco made for producer Erwin C. Dietrich. That said, Barbed Wire Dolls is arguably one of Jess Franco’s best women-in-prison films.

Jess Franco is a filmmaker who relies more on mood than spoken words, which makes Barbed Wire Dolls' abundance of exposition all the more surprising. Although many of the characters are caricatures, notably the monocle-wearing warden who parades around in short shorts while carrying a whip, some characters like Maria and Dr. Moore have depth. In the case of the former, her crime is killing her rapist father, while the latter is impersonating a deceased doctor to hide his true identity. Both of their pasts help drive the narrative that unfolds.

The cast is anchored by two frequent Jess Franco collaborators, Lina Romay (Female Vampire) in the role of Maria and Paul Muller (Eugenie de Sade) portraying a man who’s impersonating a doctor. The most memorable performance is another frequent collaborator, Monica Swinn (Shining Sex), who is deliriously wicked in the role of the warden. Jess Franco even makes an appearance in a flashback as Maria’s father.

While there are moments of erotica, mostly women pleasuring themselves, Barbed Wire Dolls is not one of Jess Franco’s sleaziest films. There are many moments of degradation and torture, like a woman chained to a wall begging for food and patients given shock therapy to correct inappropriate behavior. For a Jess Franco film, Barbed Wire Dolls moves more briskly than his more familiar deliberate pacing. Ultimately, if you're a fan of women in prison films, Barbed Wire Dolls is a solid example of this genre.

Despite the lack of English subtitles for the German language track and issues with the two mono tracks, I am still going to recommend this release.

Written by Michael Den Boer

Ilsa, the Wicked Warden – Kino Korber (4k UHD/Blu-ray Combo)

Theatrical Release Date: Switzerland/West Germany/Canada, 1977
Director: Jesús Franco
Writers: Jesús Franco, Erwin C. Dietrich
Cast: Dyanne Thorne, Lina Romay, Angela Ritschard, Peggy Markoff, Esther Studer, Howard Maurer, Eric Falk, Tania Busselier

Release Date: April 28th, 2026
Approximate Running Time: 94 Minutes 11 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1 Widescreen / 2160 Progressive / HEVC / H.265
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD Mono English
Subtitles: English SDH
Region Coding: Region Free (4K UHD), Region A (Blu-ray)
Retail Price: $44.95

"The final installment of the controversial Ilsa saga finds the former accomplice of Nazis, Stalinists, and oil barons now operating a psychiatric clinic in an unnamed Latin American country, where political prisoners are tortured. A young woman (Tania Busselier) has herself committed in order to locate her captive sister, but quickly realizes she has entered a hell of sexploitation from which she cannot escape. Dyanne Thorne plays Ilsa to camp excess but it is the ingenue, Lina Romay (Female Vampire), who steals the show as Ilsa’s pet prisoner, a woman who withstands Ilsa’s abuse and manipulates her fellow prisoners, doing anything to stay alive long enough to turn the tables on cinema’s most diabolical villainess.” – Synopsis provided by the Distributor

Video: 0/5 (4K UHD), 4.25/5 (Blu-ray)

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, "New 4K restoration of the film from the original camera negative."

Ilsa, the Wicked Warden comes on a 100 GB triple layer 4K UHD

Disc Size: 68.9 GB

Feature: 66.9 GB

While watching the 4K UHD disc, it is immediately clear that it is in the wrong color space; when compared to the included Blu-ray, which looks superior in every way, this difference is easy to see.

Ilsa, the Wicked Warden comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray. 

Disc Size: 42.9 GB

Feature: 26.9 GB

This Blu-ray uses the same master that is used for the 4K UHD disc.

Audio: 4.25/5

This release comes with one audio option, a DTS-HD mono mix in English with removable English SDH. Although the track sounds clean and clear because of its overdubbing, there is an unevenness when it comes to range. That said, dialogue always comes through clear enough to follow.

Extras:

Extras on the 4K UHD disc include an archival audio commentary with actress Dyanne Thorne and actor Howard Maurer, moderated by humorist Martin Lewis and an audio commentary with film critic Troy Howarth.

Extras on the Blu-ray disc include a theatrical trailer (2 minutes 42 seconds, DTS-HD mono English, no subtitles), a gallery of artwork and stills with music from the film playing in the background, a vintage promotional short featuring interviews with director Jess Franco and producer Erwin C. Dietrich (11 minutes 27 seconds, DTS-HD stereo German and English with non-removable English subtitles), Uh-Oh... It's ILSA! part two of a sidebar conversation with novelist and critic Tim Lucas and author and critic Stephen R. Bissette (70 minutes 44 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with Stephen Thrower, author of Flowers of Perversion: The Delirious Cinema of Jesús Franco titled A Thorne by Any Other Name (41 minutes 29 seconds, DTS-HD stereo English, no subtitles), an archival audio commentary with Dyanne Thorne, Howard Maurer, and Martin Lewis, and an audio commentary with Troy Howarth.

Other extras include reversible art and an O-card slipcase (limited to the first pressing).

Summary:

A woman trying to locate her missing sister gets a doctor to commit her to a psychiatric hospital for women, the last place her sister was seen. Once inside, she experiences brutality and depravity at the hands of the patients and those in charge.

Although labeled as an Isla film, Ilsa, the Wicked Warden is a sequel only in name. Outside of the U.S., the film is also known as Greta, House Without Men, and this renaming is likely due to its leading lady, Dyanne Thorne, who starred in three Ilsa films. Ilsa, the Wicked Warden, marks Jess Franco's return to the women-in-prison subgenre, a genre he initially explored with 99 Women.

Ilsa, the Wicked Warden, was made in response to another Jess Franco film, Barbed Wire Dolls, an early success in his 18-film collaboration with producer Erwin Dietrich. While Ilsa, the Wicked Warden, fulfills the typical elements of the women-in-prison genre, including a significant amount of nudity and scenes of torture, it ultimately falls short of being Jess Franco's finest entry in this category. That said, when it comes to pushing the boundaries of depravity, this is an area where Ilsa, the Wicked Warden, beats all of Jess Franco’s other woman in prison films.

When it comes to the performances, the entire cast, especially Dyanne Thorne in the role of the wicked warden, delivers an enthusiastic performance that embraces the camp aspects of her character. Another performance of note is Jess Franco’s muse, Lina Romay, who delivers a scene-stealing performance as one of the patients. Her character is undoubtedly the most depraved, and in one particular scene, she forces another patient to use her mouth as toilet paper after having gone to the bathroom.

When it comes to pacing, things move at a deliberate pace that anyone familiar with Jess Franco has become accustomed to. While some backstory and exposition are included, Jess Franco primarily focuses on scenes of degradation. He also takes every opportunity to display the female cast in the nude, featuring several shower scenes, including a catfight that occurs in one of them. As mentioned before, the English dub is awkward, and there are many instances where the dialogue is unintentionally funny. Ultimately, Ilsa, the Wicked Warden, is a down and dirty exploitation film whose mob justice finale serves as a perfect climax.

This release includes a wealth of informative extras, and the Blu-ray presentation of the film is in the correct color space. However, it is an easy pass until a replacement disc for the flawed 4K UHD disc becomes available.

Note about the 4K screenshots: It is not possible to make Dolby Vision or HDR10 screenshots that faithfully match the experience of watching a film in motion on a TV. Instead of not having any screenshots, all of the 4K screenshots are m2ts taken with a MPC-HC player and lossless PNGs.

 

Color Examples: Top Screenshot 4K UHD: Bottom Screenshot Blu-ray.

Written by Michael Den Boer

Jack the Ripper: Limited Edition – Cauldron Films (4k UHD/Blu-ray Combo)

Theatrical Release Date: West Germany, 1976
Director: Jesús Franco
Writer: Jesús Franco
Cast: Klaus Kinski, Andreas Mannkopff, Josephine Chaplin, Andreas Mannkopff, Herbert Fux, Lina Romay

Release Date: April 28th, 2026
Approximate Running Time: 92 Minutes
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen / 2160 Progressive / HEVC / H.265 / Dolby Vision HDR10
Rating: NR
Sound: Dolby Digital Mono English, DTS-HD Stereo English, DTS-HD 5.1 English
Subtitles: English SDH
Region Coding: Region Free (4K UHD), Region A (Blu-ray)
Retail Price: $54.99

"During the late 1800’s, the Whitechapel area of London was gripped in fear as Jack the Ripper (Klaus Kinski — Code Name: Wild Geese) literally tore through the prostitutes of the area.  Desperately trying to solve the grisly murders and placate the panicking residents, Inspector Selby (Andreas Mannkopff) finds himself obsessed with finding the killer and protecting his girlfriend (Josephine Chaplin — The Canterbury Tales) who may be next…” – Synopsis provided by the Distributor

Video: 5/5 (4K UHD), 4.5/5 (Blu-ray)

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, "Jack the Ripper was scanned in 4K from the original camera negative & best available film materials by Ascot Films. Grading and restoration by Gamma Ray Digital. SDH subtitles, additional grading restoration by Outer Realm Studio. Authoring and Dolby Vision HDR grade by Duplitech."

Jack the Ripper comes on a 100 GB triple layer 4K UHD

Disc Size: 68.2 GB

Feature: 60.4 GB

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

Jack the Ripper comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray. 

Disc Size: 45.5 GB

Feature: 26.5 GB

This Blu-ray uses the same master that is used for the 4K UHD disc.

Audio: 4.25/5 (DTS-HD 5.1 English), 4/5 (DTS-HD Stereo English), 3.75/5 (Dolby Digital Mono English)

This release comes with three audio options, a DTS-HD 5.1 mix in English, a DTS-HD stereo mix in English, and a Dolby Digital mono mix in English. All tracks sound clean, clear, and balanced, and ambient sounds are well-represented. The DTS-HD 5.1 track is the strongest of the three. Included are removable English SDH.

Extras

Extras on the 4K UHD disc include an audio commentary with Ryan Verrill and Dr Will Dodson.

Extras on the Blu-ray disc include a theatrical trailer (2 minutes 57 seconds, Dolby Digital mono German with removable English subtitles), a deleted gore scene (15 seconds, no sound), a video essay by Eugenio Ercolani titled Whitechapel Shadows (17 minutes 7 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), a video essay by Troy Howarth titled Klaus the Ripper (21 minutes 28 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with actor Andreas Mannkopff titled He Caught Jack the Ripper (26 minutes 47 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo German with non-removable English subtitles), an archival featurette titled Erwin C. Dietrich's Tribute to Jess Franco’s Jack the Ripper (22 minutes 31seconds, Dolby Digital stereo German with non-removable English subtitles), and an audio commentary with Ryan Verrill and Dr Will Dodson.

Other extras include reversible cover art, a rigid slipcase (limited edition only), a double-sided poster (limited edition only), and a 40-page booklet (limited edition only) with cast & crew information, an essay titled Jess and Erwin: A Match Made in Switzerland written by Troy Howarth, an essay titled Jess Franco’s Jack the Ripper written by Dr Stella Marie Gaynor, and information about the transfer.

Summary:

Jack the Ripper was one of eighteen films that Jess Franco made with producer Erwin Dietrich over a three-year period. Their collaboration began with Downtown and ended with Girls After Midnight.

The story of Jack the Ripper, the most infamous killer whose identity to this day has not been uncovered, has been told countless times. Many films about Jack the Ripper have taken liberties with the known evidence surrounding his crimes. Some of these films merely use his notorious acts as a foundation for their stories, while a select few attempt to remain closer to the actual events. While Jess Franco’s Jack the Ripper falls somewhere in between, it does lean more to the latter.

Over the course of his 18 film collaborations with Jess Franco, producer Erwin Dietrich takes advantage of Jess Franco’s three greatest assets: his ability to work quickly, his ability to overcome anemic budgets, and his knack for crafting exploitation cinema that perfectly blends erotica and horror. Although Jack the Ripper incorporates all of these elements, it stands out as the most resource-intensive project that Jess Franco collaborated on with Erwin Dietrich. Additionally, Jack the Ripper distinctly differs from their other 17 collaborations by being the most mainstream film among the 18 they produced together.

Known for his frequent collaborators, Jess Franco works with Klaus Kinski (Nosferatu the Vampyre) for the fourth and last time. Klaus Kinski is frequently cast in roles that demand limited screentime, but in the role of Jack the Ripper, he is given his most substantial part among his four collaborations with Jess Franco. He has a natural intensity and menace to him that makes his casting a perfect choice.

When it comes to the rest of the performances, they are very good, especially Hans Gaugler in the role of a blind man who’s the police’s only witness to Jack the Ripper’s identity. The rest of the cast is rounded out by Josephine Chaplin in the role of the inspector’s girlfriend, who uses herself as bait for Jack the Ripper, and Jess Franco’s muse, Lina Romay (Female Vampire); she has a brief role as a dancer who becomes one of Jack the Ripper’s victims.

The opening setup effectively draws you in, but after this initial hook, Jess Franco’s characteristic slow pacing begins, which some viewers may find overly drawn out. While the film includes the essential elements typical of a Jack the Ripper story, it is far less graphic than one might anticipate from Franco's work. The most notable moments that reflect Jess Franco's style include a scene in which Jack the Ripper experiences hallucinations and a lively can-can dance sequence set in a nightclub. Ultimately, Jack the Ripper stands out as one of Jess Franco’s more accessible films.

Cauldron Films gives Jack the Ripper a first-rate release that comes with a solid audio/video presentation and a wealth of informative extras. Highly recommended.

Note about the 4K screenshots: It is not possible to make Dolby Vision or HDR10 screenshots that faithfully match the experience of watching a film in motion on a TV. Instead of not having any screenshots, all of the 4K screenshots are m2ts taken with a MPC-HC player and lossless PNGs.

Written by Michael Den Boer

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