Hands Of The Ripper [1971] [DVD]

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Disney Villain Death: Anna throws herself off a high balcony to stop her split personality from killing anymore.

Hands of the Ripper (1971) - Movie Review : Alternate Ending Hands of the Ripper (1971) - Movie Review : Alternate Ending

And even then, Hands of the Ripper, the 1971 film in question, is quite a strange, offbeat way to go about the business of making a Jack the Ripper picture. Rees, Keith Bell as Pritchards' son Michael, Jane Merrow as Michaels' fiancée Laura, the delicious Derek Godfrey as the sleazy Parliament member Dysart, Dora Bryan as Mrs. Admirers of the red wet will be pleased, though it's easy to image the film working without such intense imagery.This being a Hammer film, however, there has to be a more complex explanation for Anna's criminality. The performances are first-rate, the turn-of-the-century London flavor is accurately captured, the murders are pretty bloody for the time and there's a great, subdued ending at the "Gallery of Whispers. years later, she is a troubled young girl who is seemingly possessed by the spirit of her late father.

Hands of the Ripper Blu-ray - Angharad Rees - DVDBeaver Hands of the Ripper Blu-ray - Angharad Rees - DVDBeaver

Some of the attempts at humour seem a bit forced (such as the fake séance conducted by Anna's guardian, the fraudulent medium Mrs Golding) and some of the death scenes might seem unintentionally humorous by modern standards. The Beginning and Ending Scenes are quite Effective in Starting and Concluding this Lurid Tale of Psychological Mumbo-Jumbo and Victorian Hypocrisy. Which brings up another goof: the thing must be five feet long but you can't see the other end sticking out of Porter's body.Golding is torn up about selling Anna, and Lynda Baron brings something maternal and funny and lively to her role as a doomed prostitute. Explaining to a suspicious Dysart that his relationship with Anna is purely professional, attempting to identify the origin of evil, Pritchard quickly becomes wrapped up in the girl's mental illness, where violent actions are triggered by flashing lights and a kiss.

Hands of the Ripper (1971) - IMDb

His wife realises her husband is the serial killer so he stabs her, witnessed by his infant daughter Anna from her cot. Pritchard has studied Freud and believes she is schizophrenic and explains her brought her home so he can study her.Angharad Rees plays the murderous daughter of the Whitechapel killer who as a child saw her mother brutally killed and then was orphaned. John", Anna's self appointed patron, and seems packed with ambition as well as interesting character flaws. Years later, the shy and introvert girl is under the custody of a phony spiritual medium/female pimp but her traumatic memories come to the surface and force her hands to kill as well.

Hands of the Ripper (1971) - Turner Classic Movies Hands of the Ripper (1971) - Turner Classic Movies

Nevertheless, the film manages to entertain and should hold the interest of fans of other Hammer films. I'm a big fan of Hammer Horror; their inventive camp styling puts their output above the majority of other horror studios. HANDS OF THE RIPPER, on the other hand, is an achievement of which Sasdy has every right to be very, very proud. Captain Kronos is the prime example of that change, but luckily Hands of the Ripper is more like the Hammer films of yore. Godfrey brings substantial nuance out of what's maybe the film's most surprising role, a shitty libertine who turns out to have much more going on than just the repulsive sex fiend of his first scenes.

This is arguably Sasdy's best work for Hammer and I guess overall, too; similarly, Eric Porter's excellent performance is very underrated and among the best given in the studio's entire output. The film finds a space between a psychological thriller and the familiar 'slasher' sub-genre (and it's yet another film in this style that pre-dates Halloween), and it blends brilliantly.