THE
NEW YORK RIPPER (1982)
Starring
Jack Hedley, Paolo Malco, Almanta Keller, Howard Ross, Andrew
Painter, Alexandra Delli Colli. Directed by Lucio Fulci. (93
min).
ON
BLU-RAY FROM BLUE UNDERGROUND
Review
by Josey, the Sudden Cat🙀
I’ve
always had a love-hate relationship with Lucio Fulci’s latter day
horror films. Contrary to his rather sizable fanbase, I never felt he
was a particularly skilled director and am incredulous at how often he's mentioned in the same breath as Dario Argento and Mario Bava.
On
the other hand, despite an imitative career riding the coattails of
giants, Fulci excelled at pushing the envelope for onscreen violence.
And admittedly, watching just how far the director was willing to go
to shock his audience was often entertaining. In the process, Fulci
inadvertently managed to create a fair amount of suspense. The
suspense didn’t lie in whether-or-not a particular character was
going to die. It was in how badly they were going to die, sick
thrills not far removed from the fun of watching how spectacularly
Wile E. Coyote was gonna fail this time. Maybe that makes Lucio Fulci
sort-of a Chuck Jones for gorehounds.
 |
| Marley and What's Left of Me. |
Fulci
briefly set aside his brash brand of zombie mayhem to throw his hat in the slasher
ring with 1982’s The New York Ripper, arguably his most
notorious film. Along with William Lustig’s Maniac, critics condemned it as the very embodiment of misogyny in modern horror.
In this case, the accusations aren’t entirely unwarranted. All of
the titular killer’s victims are beautiful, highly-sexualized young
women. In addition to such Fulci favorites as disembowelings, severed
arteries and another scene of ocular trauma that rivals Zombie in
the “eeew” department, the killer often targets his
victims’ breasts and nether regions.
The
film also wallows in depravity, gratuitous nudity and kinky sex.
Fulci never passes-up an opportunity to leer over every female body
part before mutilating it. Elsewhere, the dialogue is laughably bad
and – with the exception of Alexandra Delli Colli as a horny
housewife with unusual sexual appetites - the performances are
pedestrian. The piece de resistance is the killer himself, who
literally quacks at his victims and makes taunting phone calls to
investigating detective Fred Williams (Jack Hedley) with a Donald
Duck voice! Fulci films have always been a bit whacked-out and
ridiculous, but this takes the cake.
 |
| It's all fun 'n' games until someone stubs a toe. |
But
despite everything working against it, The New York Ripper
might actually be Fulci’s best-constructed film. Sure, the viewer
will need to shower off the grime afterwards, but buried beneath the
butchery is a genuinely well-paced mystery with a surprising
conclusion. Fulci also does a fine job capturing the squalid
atmosphere of Times Square as it was back then. And believe it or
not, there are a few sequences that approach the tension-filled
artistry of Dario Argento.
Three decades later,
The New York Ripper remains a challenge to endure for all but
the most hardened horror fan, even by Fulci's brutal standards. It’s more
sensationalistic than Maniac (to which it’s most-often
compared), which is maybe the main reason it feels a bit more
exploitative and misogynistic. Of course, Fulci fans will have no
complaints with this limited edition 3-disc set. Though not quite
on-par with their similar releases of Zombie and Maniac,
Blue Underground has beautifully restored and repackaged the
film in all of its gory glory. It’s also chock-full of entertaining
bonus features, both new and carried over from the 2009 edition.
Regardless of how one might feel about the film and its sleazy
subtext, there's no arguing that a lot of love went into this new
Blu-ray release.
EXTRA
KIBBLES
NEW
& ARCHIVAL INTERVIEWS – Several individual
interviews with various cast & crew, including screenwriter
Dardano Sachetti (the most interesting of the interviews), poster
artist Enzo Sciotti, actors Howard Ross, Cinzia de Ponti & Zora
Kerova and Fulci biographer Stephen Thrower. Most interviews also
include related movie clips.
"NYC
LOCATIONS THEN AND NOW” - From 2009
AUDIO
COMMENTARY – By author Troy Howarth
SUPPLEMENTAL
BOOKLET – Includes film credits, CD credits & track listing
and an interesting retrospective essay, “Fulci Quacks Up: The
Unrelenting Grimness of The New York Ripper.”
POSTER
& STILL GALLERY – Slideshow containing several dozen of
promotional stills, international posters and home video covers.
SOUNDTRACK
CD
DVD
COPY
REVERSIBLE
COVER
LENTICULAR
SLIPCASE
KITTY CONSENSUS:
WTF!
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