You know the decade’s bad for Jack the Ripper cinema when most of the best “Ripper” films are actually Faux-Rippers… and excessively violent ones at that. Before 1988, nearly every film about JACK the Ripper was either a bomb or suffered from severe technical flaws. Thankfully, 1988 saw the return of some decent Ripper films, before suffering a precipitous decline in 1989.

1980s Ripper films:
lulu (1980) | the ripper (1985) | terror at london bridge (1985) | amazon women on the moon (1987) |
jack the ripper (1988) | edge of sanity (1989)

lulu (1980)

brief synopsis
Lulu brings death to her first three husbands and winds up prostituting herself in London, where she meets up with Jack the Ripper.

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Walerian Borowczyk’s Lulu is supposedly an erotic version of this sexually charged story. The eroticism, however, seems to consist entirely of 17-year-old Anne Bennent cavorting around naked (or in various stages of undress) while Geschwitz and Alwa engage in simulated masturbation. In a not-so-subtle nod to Freudian psychopathology, Bennent’s father (Heinz Bennent) gets to play her lover and later her husband, Dr. Schoen. Since the complete version of the story indicates that Schoen took Lulu in, made her a lady, and then initiated her sexually, the father-daughter connection could actually work here if it were not over-acted.

But Anne Bennent is no Louise Brooks, and she plays Lulu more as a dumb blonde who just happens to fall into these destructive situations than as a smoldering femme fatale who inevitably brings about the destruction of all who cross her path. And Heinz Bennent’s death scene is actually a bit like one of Master Thespian’s… but in French. The English dubbing for Udo Kier in the final London scene, incidentally, is an atrocity. He sounds like a tough, monotoned hero in a 1950s American Science Fiction film. Borowczyk’s reputed visual style is largely missing from this film. Though some of the sets are interesting, this film (the only color version of Lulu) comes nowhere close to Rolf Thiele’s cinematic artistry in the 1962 Austrian version.

Probably the primary problem with this print of the Borowczyk film, though, is its episodic nature. The print (in French with Greek subtitles) appears to have been hacked to bits, with large sections of narrative missing. We never learn how Lulu married Walter, how Lulu married Schoen, how Lulu ended up in London. Either Borowczyk found the non-sexual sections irrelevant to his film or the Greek distributors did. Whichever the case, this print does not work as a film. And if it works at all, it works only for men who have a thing for teenage bimbos or for people who get off on watching other people act as if they are getting themselves off.

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Eurotrash and Anglo Decadence: Soft-core attempt at porn, which does not succeed even at being erotic.

Lulu Motif: Pretentious as the Ronald Chase version is, this film is unquestionably the worst version of Lulu within the past 50 years.

availability
Lulu is one of Walerian Borowczyk’s most obscure films and is not available with English dubbing or subtitles.

the ripper (1985)

brief synopsis
A film professor buys an antique ring which has previously been returned to the store because it gave its owners the creeps. The ring is quickly identified as having once belonged to Jack the Ripper. Soon, the professor starts losing hours of his life, as a series of Ripper-like murders take place in his college town.

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Tom Savini (as Jack the Ripper) and Tom Schreier (as the film prof) both turn in respectable performances in this film. The rest of the cast, though, is simply dreadful. It’s too bad, because the film has a good plot and some intentionally hysterical moments - particularly the one where Steve, the film student, watches The Conqueror Worm and in the background we can hear the television broadcasting a film about a giant worm monster attacking a city. This is one of the few “bad Ripper films” that could benefit from a decent-budget remake.

types
Eurotrash and Anglo Decadence: This Direct-to-Video production gets the details of the Ripper killings more-or-less correct… and thus shows in graphic detail the disemboweling of victims. The gore, however, does not look realistic at all. What is designed to shock actually provokes yawns. Though gore-effects maestro Tom Savini plays Jack the Ripper, he apparently had nothing to do with the gore effects in this film.

Investigation Rippers: A young college student comes to believe that the man who murdered his girlfriend was the real Jack the Ripper. Naturally, he decides to investigate.

Jack the Ripper Fantastique: High “fantasy” content in this film, as the spirit of Jack the Ripper now resides in a ring he once wore, and the ring’s wearer is destined to perpetuate the Ripper’s crimes.

availability
The Ripper is available on DVD.

terror at london bridge (1985)
(a.k.a. bridge across time; arizona ripper)

brief synopsis
A tourist accidentally bleeds on one of the stones of the London Bridge in Lake Havasu–the very same stone that had just been brought up from the depths of the Thames, where it fell over a century ago. Unfortunately, the spirit of Jack the Ripper now resides in the stone. Just add blood, and you’ve got a full-blown resurrection of the Ripper. Needless to say, the film consists of several Ripper-like murders, a lot of police work, red herrings galore, and a confrontation with the Ripper in the finale.

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This made-for-TV movie is a reasonably fun Ripper romp. Featuring a pre-Baywatch David Hasselhoff, Terror at London Bridge suffers from too-long sequences involving Havasu City water sports. Nevertheless, the movie is watchable, has a nice scene or two with the venerable Rose Marie, and tosses enough twists around to keep the audience guessing the identity of the killer. It’s a fun way to kill a couple of hours.

types
Investigation Rippers: In this case, the police (led by David Hasselhoff) investigate the series of Ripper killings in Lake Havasu.

Jack the Ripper Fantastique: In a manner reminiscent of all those Hammer Dracula movies, Jack the Ripper is resurrected by blood falling on a stone which he dislodged from London Bridge a century earlier when he fell into the Thames.

availability
Terror at London Bridge was made for TV and released on VHS in 1990. Though its official title is Bridge Across Time, it seems to play on television under the title Terror at London Bridge (also the VHS title). Only available from resellers.

amazon women on the moon (1987)

brief synopsis
This film takes a satirical look at television of the 1980s. In an all-too-brief segment, directed by Joe Dante, Henry Silva provides a fascinating interview with a new prospective Ripper suspect.

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Silly fun. This movie is well worth a rental. Some segments are fun; some are stupid. The Ripper segment is both.

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Comic Rippers: The Ripper segment in this film is one of the funniest out there. But we won’t be giving away any spoilers about this movie.

Jack the Ripper Fantastique: Just think Weekly World News.

availability
Amazon Women on the Moon is available on DVD and rentable from Netflix.

jack the ripper (1988)

brief synopsis
Jack the Ripper traces the case from the perspective of Inspector Frederick Abberline, head of the Ripper investigation. Along the way, Abberline questions actor Richard Mansfield, presumed psychic Robert Lees, the queen’s physician Sir William Gull, and a host of others. With the murder of Mary Kelly, Abberline does uncover the truth about the killer, but ultimately keeps the truth secret.

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The brilliance of this production is in its attention to significant detail about the crimes and their impact on society. Jack the Ripper provides an excellent picture of the social conditions and class attitudes in Victorian London, and it provides a first-hand view of investigation techniques at the time when the Ripper crimes took place. For 240 minutes, the film is perfect… but then it attempts to present the audience with a suspect. Since Jack the Ripper tries to be as accurate as possible, it should not engage in fanciful speculation. Rather, it should leave the case exactly as history has left it to posterity: Unsolved.

types
Investigation Rippers: This two-part TV movie brilliantly recreates much of what is known about the actual 1888 investigation of the actual Ripper murders. Michael Caine plays Frederick Abberline, chief investigator on the case.

Jekyll and Hyde: This well-made film delves deeply into the hysteria surrounding Richard Mansfield’s 1888 stage production of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde… and of the real-life suspicion which confronted Mansfield as a consequence of his performance as Hyde. Armand Assante is outstanding as the beleaguered, but unbowed, actor.

Period Atmosphere: No Ripper film does the period better than this one. Its costuming and set design for both sides of London are superior and spot-on.

Political Rippers: Since this film’s goal is to portray nearly every aspect of the Ripper case (and present a solution), it naturally covers the contemporary political ramifications of the case and the class issues involved.

availability
Jack the Ripper (1988) is available on Region 2 DVD.

edge of sanity (1989)

brief synopsis
While experimenting on a monkey, Dr. Jekyll discovers that inhaled cocaine causes a radical personality change - one which he likes. Before long, he begins to leave his sedate identity and marriage behind and to venture nightly into the sleazy world of the brothel. Naturally, he takes his pipe along, and soon the headlines begin to scream of a Ripper killing prostitutes.

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How the mighty have fallen! Anthony Perkins degrades and caricatures himself in this sordid affair, directed by French pornographer Gérard Kikoïne. One would hope that Perkins took this role only in order to keep his family afloat after his diagnosis with AIDS, but apparently he was excited about getting to play this part.

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Eurotrash and Anglo Decadence: Directed by pornographer Gérard Kikoïne, this film uses voyeuristic techniques to encourage viewers to associate sex with vicious and fatal violence. Truly wretched, repulsive stuff.

Jack the Ripper Fantastique: Even though this film attempts to demystify Mr. Hyde, the entire Jekyll/Hyde motif is, by its very nature, included among the “fantastic.”

Jack the Ripper Meets Jekyll and Hyde: Cocaine transforms Dr. Jekyll into Jack Hyde, who has a passion for slashing prostitutes.

The Lodger Motif: Mad Avenger. Jekyll/Hyde Jack the Ripper attacks prostitutes, apparently out of rage over being abused and ridiculed as a boy by his prostitute mother and her lover.

availability
Edge of Sanity is available on DVD.

© 1999-2008 Cindy Collins Smith. All Rights Reserved.