Early in the 1990s, the Ripper appeared only in cameos… often very clever cameos. By the mid-1990s, though, we were back to feature-length Rippers, one of which is among the handful of truly great Ripper productions. In the new millenium, we find one A-list Ripper film, an A-list Ripper cameo and numerous Direct-to-DVD videos.

1990s-2000s Ripper films:
waxwork ii: lost in time (1992) | deadly advice (1993) | comes the inquisitor (1995) | ripper man (1996) | the ripper (1997) | from hell (2001)

waxwork ii: lost in time (1992)

brief synopsis
Waxwork II continues where Waxwork left off, with two survivors from the previous film using time travel to prove that the hero of the first film did not kill her father. Along the way, Waxwork II pays homage to numerous other horror movies (including The Haunting, Nosferatu, etc.). Jack the Ripper appears in a hilarious homage to a non-Ripper film.

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Whether you enjoy this type of horror comedy or not, the Ripper segment is well worth the admission price. However, it’s towards the end of the film. So if you’re not having fun, you’re going to have to sit through an awful lot of movie in order to see Jack the Ripper.

types
Comic Rippers: This film lets us know just why the Ripper was never caught… and it’s not because he got away.

Jack the Ripper Fantastique: A time rift flings the Ripper out of the 19th century and into the arms of… justice. Sort of.

Rippers in the Wax Museum: A visit to the wax museum (in part 1) launches this whole crazy saga.

availability
Waxwork II is available on DVD and rentable from Netflix.

deadly advice (1993)

brief synopsis
Jodie Greenwood’s overbearing mother interferes so much with her life that Jodie starts getting “visits” from famous murderers of the past, offering her advice on how to do her mother in. Of course, once the killing starts, it just can’t be stopped. There’s always going to be one more person in the way… or so her murderer’s row of advisors assure her.

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Jane Horrocks is fabulous as the girl who looks like the last person that anybody would suspect. And of course, Sir John Mills offers a brief, though terrific, performance as her favorite advisor, Jack the Ripper… the one who got away.

types
Comic Rippers: Wickedly funny, and dark dark dark, British black comedy. Requires a sufficiently warped sense of humor.

Jack the Ripper Fantastique: Is it Jodie’s imagination, or is she really getting visits from long-dead killers?

Ripper Cameos: The Ripper makes the fewest entrances of any of the killers in this film, but he does provide the most salient advice of them all.

Rippers in the Wax Museum: It takes awhile to figure out, but Jodie Greenwood is being visited the denizens of a murderer’s row she visited during childhood. Jack the Ripper, of course, is among them, and adopts her as a disciple.

availability
Deadly Advice is finally available on DVD. This title is more often out of print than in print, so if you’re interested in seeing it, you should snap it up from Amazon while supplies last. At the very least, take a look at the Amazon user reviews. (I am not an Amazon affiliate. This is just a public service announcement!).

comes the inquisitor (1995)
(tv: babylon 5)

brief synopsis
Though Delenn believes that she is destined to head the forces of light against the Shadows, the Vorlons send an Inquisitor to make sure. His brutal interrogation of her nearly kills her, and forces him to take a look inside motives he once had long ago. Not surprisingly, the Inquisitor once believed himself a force of light, but his means had all the trappings of darkness.

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Not only does this brilliantly chilling episode make an important contribution to the story arc of Babylon 5, but Wayne Alexander’s performance as Sebastian (the Inquisitor) is one of the single-finest performances in any Ripper tale ever put on screen. After casting him for the role of Sebastian, J. Michael Straczynski (B5 creator) was so awed by Alexander’s performance, that he continued to use him (under prosthetic makeup) to play a variety of aliens - including the exceedingly significant Lorien. Winner of a Hugo Award and nominated for an Emmy in Cinematography, “Comes the Inquisitor” boasts an outstanding script by writer/producer J. Michael Straczynski and a stellar performance by Wayne Alexander in what may well be the Ripper’s finest hour on the screen.

types
Jack the Ripper Fantastique: In this episode of the science fiction series Babylon 5, the powerful and nearly immortal Vorlons have found a useful purpose for Jack the Ripper.

Lodger Motif: Monomaniac type. On a visit to Babylon 5, the Ripper claims that he killed because of the vice in London, and that “a message needed to be sent, written in blood.”

availability
The entire Babylon 5 series is available on DVD. “Comes the Inquisitor” would be found in Season 2. It is rentable from Netflix (select Disc 6).

ripper man (1996)

brief synopsis
Mike Lazo, a disgraced San Diego cop, tries to make his living doing a hypnotic act in a run-down bar. When Charles Walkan walks into his dressing room one night demanding to be hypnotized in order to find out if he was somebody “special” in a past life, Lazo enters a world of possible reincarnation, possession, and psychosis - not to mention a number of Jack the Ripper-style killings.

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This movie shows the sleazy underbelly of the city, but not to nearly the same extent New York Ripper does. Basically, Ripper Man contains R-level sex and violence, with a nice performance by Timothy Bottoms as the man who would be Jack the Ripper. Norris, unfortunately, is rather bland in his role as the ex-cop. And his blandness sabotages a film with tremendous potential. Mike Norris (son of Chuck Norris) does, incidentally, get to show off his martial arts skills in the film’s finale.

types
Eurotrash and Anglo Decadence: Sordid sex and violence.

Investigation Rippers: It’s one of the conventions of Ripper cinema that people not assigned to the case just can’t keep themselves from investigating Ripper murders. In this film Mike Norris is no exception. He takes it upon himself to stop a killer who believes himself to be possessed by Jack the Ripper.

Jack the Ripper Fantastique: Though nothing supernatural may be taking place at all, there’s still the hint of the Ripper’s reincarnation. There’s even a suggestion that the killer in this film may be possessed by the long-dead Ripper… or he may just be a psychotic copycat.

availability
Ripper Man was available only on VHS. It appears to be out of print but is still available from some sellers.

the ripper (1997)

brief synopsis
A young prostitute witnesses a brutal murder on the streets of Whitechapel and gets a good look at the killer. The Chief Inspector on the case puts her under protection when he realizes that her knowledge could bring down the Crown. Meanwhile, the killer murders all of Jack the Ripper’s canonical victims, and the Duke of Clarence becomes progressively more insane as a consequence of his syphilis.

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Not spectacular, but not a bad Ripper movie either. Even though it reveals the killer within the first 5 minutes (and even though the theory proposing that killer is pretty clearly bogus), there is still plenty of suspense as the audience is led to wonder whether the killer will ever be found out and whether the witness (not one of the canonical 5) will survive. Samuel West, incidentally, is excellent as the deranged Prince Eddy.

types
Investigation Rippers: In this film, we find police procedural mixed with romance.

The Lodger Motif: Mad Avenger. A royal Jack the Ripper targets prostitutes as he goes literally mad, and mad with rage, after contracting syphilis in a brothel.

Period Atmosphere: Fine job with costuming and with re-creating the East and West Ends of London.

Political Rippers: Royal interests play a very large role in this film and hinder the investigation of the crimes. This film deals with politics at every level.

availability
The Ripper was available only in VHS. It appears to be out of print but is still available from some sellers.

from hell (2001)

brief synopsis
After one prostitute is abducted, her small circle of friends are viciously murdered one-by-one… and one of the potential victims falls in love with the investigator from Scotland Yard.

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Production designer Martin Childs meticulously recreated the murder sites based upon photographs and descriptions on record. The result is the most visually accurate Ripper film ever to come to the theater. However, the film also plays fast and loose with certain facts (when the “From Hell” letter arrived; the habits and fate of investigator Frederick Abberline). Obviously it was shooting for drama over accuracy, but it tries so hard in so many ways to be accurate that it’s hard to understand why it makes these changes when the true story is much more dramatic. The film sometimes even changes the graphic novel in its effort to ratchet up the drama. But these efforts fail. Nevertheless, it remains a good cinematic Ripper experience overall… largely due to its refusal to glamorize most of the victims or gloss over the horror of the crimes or the poverty in the East End.

types
Investigation Rippers: Johnny Depp plays FreddyAbberline during the course of the 1888 Ripper investigation. The investigation depicted in the film, of course, departs in many ways from the actual Ripper investigation. However, the crimes Abberline investigates in this film are the same crimes that Abberline investigated in real life… something of a rarity in Ripper cinema.

Jack the Ripper Fantastique: Even though the film is essentially realistic, it still puts great emphasis on the psychic realm by giving psychic abilities to Frederick Abberline, the chief detective on the actual Jack the Ripper case. In the actual case, incidentally, London “psychic” Robert Lees claimed to have visions concerning the killer.

Period Atmosphere: Probably the best depiction of the life of the prostitutes in any of the Ripper films. Shows the grit and grime of the East End brilliantly. Second only to Jack the Ripper (1988) in its recreation of London, Fall 1888. It even shows the Blood Red Sky. Attempts to recreate murder sites as accurately as possible.

Political Rippers: As sometimes occurs in Ripper cinema, the investigation into the murders encounters political conspiracy and intrigue.

availability
From Hell is readily available on DVD and is rentable from Netflix.

hell’s gate (2002)
(a.k.a. bad karma)

I will update this entry in the next few days. In the meantime, please see the RipperLady review of Hell’s Gate.

shanghai knights (2003)

I will update this entry in the next few days. In the meantime, please see the RipperLady review of Shanghai Knights.

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