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: JACK’S BACK (1988)

It seems that there is a new serial killer in the Los Angeles area and he’s modeling his kills after the infamous Jack the Ripper killings from a hundred year ago.  This is the premise for the thriller Jack’s Back (1988) which stars James Spader as twin brothers John and Rick Wesford.  It seems that Rick’s brother John committed suicide and was the new Jack the Ripper serial killer.  This isn’t possible as Rick had a nightmare of this brother being hanged by an unknown man; he believes that his brother was killed and framed and will stop at nothing to find the person responsible.  He finds help in a co-worker of his brother by the name of Chris Moscari (Cynthia Gibb) and together they seek to discover the truth before the cops and the real killer get a hold of Rick. 

Jack’s Back is a tight mystery and suspense thriller with a strong yet subtle performance by Spader (which he was known for in the ‘80s and early ‘90s).  There is not much differentiation between the two brothers but that okay because even this early in his career Spader has an undeniable star presence and carries the whole film.  Written and directed by Rowdy Herrington this is a concise and straight forward thriller (similar to his Striking Distance – 1993 and A Murder of Crows – 1998).

This film ages better than most thrillers of this time period as Jack the Ripper is always a topical subject for films but it lacks the wham-bang punch of more modern thrillers (which I actually like the film more for) and may seem more passé to modern audiences.  Regardless, it remains a gem of Spader’s earlier exploits as an actor and that right there elevates it above the other cannon fodder.