Film Review: HANDS OF THE RIPPER (1971)

Hands of the Ripper (1971) is one of the many films having to do with the Jack the Ripper mythos only this is one produced by Hammer Studios!  In the film, as a young girl Anna (Angharad Rees) watches her father – the Real Jack the Ripper, kill her mother.  Years later as a young woman Anna begins to blackout and kill people as if she was in fact The Ripper.  Dr. Pritchard (Eric Porter) believes that he may be able to help her but he must first learn what triggers her blackouts and turns her in The Ripper before it is too late.

Although a somewhat derivative Ripper film, this film is classic Hammer Studio so it looks great and has some wonderful performances by the cast.  Written by Lewis Davidson (from an Original Story by Edward Spencer Shew) this is a wonderful film filled with extremely compelling characters despite being hampered by The Ripper mythos which I actually think they could have gone deeper into.  Director Peter Sasdy this is a very Gothic production with lavish sets and costumes as befitting other Hammer Studio productions.  Having directed such films as Countess Dracula (1971), Doomwatch (1972), and The Stone Tape (1971), to name a few, Sasdy is more than adept to handle the hands of the Ripper.

I’m sure that when the film was first released garnered more attention than I am giving it, but there have been so many films about The Ripper since then that this one holds little interest other than as a curiosity and for hard core Hammer fans.

Film Review: THE LODGER (2009)

Just as a couple rents their extra room out to a stranger, people start showing up dead in the same style as those of the infamous Jack the Ripper in the suspense thriller The Lodger (2009).  Hope Davis and Donal Logue are the Buntings who rent their room out to Malcolm (Simon Baker) in the hopes of being able to catch up with their bills as Ellen (Davis) has just spent a good amount of time in a hospital.  As her husband struggles to keep them afloat Ellen gets closer to their new tenant Malcolm, who has many secrets of his own. 

Alfred Molina stars as Det. Manning who is saddled with a new partner (Shane West) and together they must solve the murders of several women whose deaths mirror those of Jack the Ripper’s victims but as the killer gets closer to finishing his goal Ellen begins to realize that Malcolm may have something to do with the murders and she must discover the truth before it is too late.

Based on the book by Marie Belloc Lowndes, the screenplay is written by David Ondaatje (who also directs).  The film does a fine job of trying to draw parallels between Det. Manning’s obsessions and mistakes in the life of the killer’s making for an interesting character based film.  What the film lacks is any sense of suspense or impending doom as we don’t get to know the victims very well before they are killed and the film spends a lot of time on Manning’s story whose wife is in a hospital and he is estranged from his daughter.

The Lodger is not a film that strives to be more than it is which is a standard mystery thriller but if you love those types of films then this one is just right for you.