Verdict
Summary
Shot in Spain by prolific exploitation filmmaker Jess Franco, the German-language film Death Packs a Suitcase is a nice looking yet pretty generic “Krimi” film (a German prototype of a slasher or a giallo), and while Franco’s usual sleazy touches are mostly muted here, the movie still feels like one of his works, so his most ardent fans can rest assured. It’s rather bloodless, though filmed in vivid and soft color, but I certainly would have preferred a more robust and stylish approach to the type of movie it tries to be.
Plot:
A black-gloved killer stalks the streets of London.
Review:
Scotland Yard investigates a series of stabbings throughout London: A killer seems to perform a ritual before killing his (or her) victims … they pack their suitcase full of clothes and then kill the victim. Weird, right? Well, Scotland Yard seems to think so, but they’re baffled as to the motive for each victim, and so they call upon a famous crime novelist named Charles Barton, whose “giallo” (yellow-spined) novels sell lots of copies. Maybe he’ll have a theory, but then again, maybe he’s the killer. The investigation leads the crime novelist and the Scotland Yard investigator to a nightclub where a hip new drug seems to be sold, and with more stabbings (always with a dagger thrown to the back), the foggy streets of London are going to be getting a little more bloody before the culprit is finally revealed.
Shot in Spain by prolific exploitation filmmaker Jess Franco, the German-language film Death Packs a Suitcase is a nice looking yet pretty generic “Krimi” film (a German prototype of a slasher or a giallo), and while Franco’s usual sleazy touches are mostly muted here, the movie still feels like one of his works, so his most ardent fans can rest assured. It’s rather bloodless, though filmed in vivid and soft color, but I certainly would have preferred a more robust and stylish approach to the type of movie it tries to be. There’re some slight nude scenes and plenty of stabbings, but it’s all sort of genteel and almost goofy the way it’s done (the sound effect of the knife being thrown and thrust sounds like a cartoon soundtrack). Franco appears in a small role in the film.
Kino Lorber has just released a Blu-ray of Death Packs a Suitcase as part of their “Kino Cult” line, and it’s numbered #38 on the spine. It looks nice in a full-frame presentation (1:66:1 ratio), and comes with a slipcover and a new audio commentary by two film historians.
