JACK THE RIPPER: ANOTHER TAKE

There have been numerous movies based on the story of Jack the Ripper, the notorious serial killer with a penchant for carving up prostitutes in the late 1800s of London. Some have been good, some bad but none have been uninteresting. This holds true with the release of 1959’s JACK THE RIPPER from Severin.

It’s 1888 and the Ripper has the citizens of the West End on edge. Scotland Yard has Inspector O'Neill (Eddie Byrne) their best man on the case. He gets an assist when Sam Lowry (Lee Patterson), his friend and New York City detective, arrives on vacation and agrees to help.

As they investigate Sam makes the acquaintance of Anne Ford (Betty McDowall), the ward of Dr. Tranter (John Le Mesurier). This doesn’t bode well since the investigation leads the detectives to determine that the killer possesses surgical skills that perhaps only a doctor would have. Tranter becomes a suspect as does Sir David Rogers (Ewen Solon), the head of the nearby hospital. But then there is also the scarred and hunchbacked lab assistant Louis Benz (Endre Muller) to consider as well.

Red herrings abound and suspects are sought as the film moves forward. Of course Anne’s life is endangered and daring do from the two detectives will be seen before the culprit is caught. But is caught the correct word? Or is there a reason to hide the identity of the real killer?

Written by Jimmy Sangster who had written both THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN and HORROR OF DRACULA for Hammer Films this movie does have a certain charm to it that many of the films about the character have lacked. I’ve never seen a Ripper film in the past where locals walked the streets in search of the killer or formed vigilante groups when a suspect was found. It made the film that much more believable and interesting.

The movie also offered something that kind of stunned me having been released in 1959. Long before Hollywood discovered that they could add nudity to movies in order to draw patrons back into theaters in the late 60s this film contains plenty of topless sequences that I would guess would have shocked audiences at the time more than the gruesome murders. If you’ve seen photos of the actual murders this would make sense but at the time movies were more prone to keep those images off screen. Not so here.

Severin has done their now standard great job of bringing this movie to life on blu-ray. Not only does the print seen here look glorious but they’ve included plenty of extras to entice fans as well. Those include both complete UK and US versions of the film, an audio commentary track with co-director/co-producer/co-cinematographer Robert S. Baker, screenwriter Sangster and assistant director Peter Manley moderating by British horror historian Marcus Hearn, alternate continental takes, an interview with Denis Meikle the author of “Jack the Ripper: The Murders and the Movies”, a real Jack the Ripper featurette, the theatrical trailer and a poster and stills gallery.

If you’re a fan of Ripper films like I am then you’ll want to make sure and add this one to your collection. If you view films on the topic as a horror fan then by all means make sure you pick one up as well. In the end this is a movie that nearly every audience member can enjoy and is more entertaining than a number of films found in theaters these days.

Click here to order.