Director – Lucio Fulci (Zombi, City of the Living Dead)
Starring – Jack Hedley (Head Cases, The Devil’s Advocate), Almanta Suska (The Hunters of the Golden Cobra, The Gravy Train), and Howard Ross (Days of Hell, Werewolf Woman)
Release Date -1982
Rating – 3.5/5
Blu Release – 4.5/5
Tagline – “Slashing up women was his pleasure”
I rarely become obsessed with a director but it has happened. After I watched the first Night of the Living Dead I became a lifelong Romero fan. The same can be said about the master of trash John Waters. When I was in elementary school I saw Cry Baby for the first time and I had to seek out the rest of his work. Back when I was in high school I watched Zombi for the first time with a few friends. The movie honestly changed the way I saw zombies from that point. I loved the movie and after that I tracked down a few Fulci films.
Before long we were watching The Beyond, City of the Living Dead, and The House by the Cemetery. All of these were fantastic films but I never pursued more of Fulci’s work. Over the years I was lucky enough to review more and recently Blue Underground sent over a phenomenal three disc blu set to check out. Thank you BU for sending this one over.
**Spoiler Alert** The film follows a New York detective as he works to stop a deranged killer who is carving up sexually active women in NYC. The police is running out of leads and the killer knows this. He starts taunting the police by calling and talking like a duck. The detective partners with a college psychologist to track down the killer before more women fall victim to his hand.**Spoiler Alert**
Fulci has directed several horror films that I would consider essential for any horror fan. Zombi, The Beyond, City of the Living Dead, and The House by the Cemetery would be those films. The New York Ripper is a fun giallo inspired slasher but I wouldn’t call it essential Fulci. Would I recommend this movie? Yes, I would but I would recommend those previously listed first before I mentioned this one. With that being said, this release from Blue Underground is a must own for any horror collector.
I really enjoyed the acting in this one. Jack Hedley was great in the role as a hardened city detective trying to stop a ruthless killer. The supporting cast was great as well but Hedley really made his scenes stand out.
The story for this one is fun for what it is. We get the Jack the Ripper legend mixed with the giallo sub-genre of Italian horror. It works very well. The scenes are beautifully shot but some do drag on a little too long. They get extremely boring and the dialogue is a little chunky.
Finally, this one has some damn fine practical effects. We get some blood and light gore but the effects are fucking top notch. One scene has the ripper bringing his knife down in a slashing motion and I was convinced that shit was real. It looks fantastic. The killers fit the film but are a little lackluster. The effects make them fun but they will not stand out when compared to other brutal deaths from various films.
Overall, The New York Ripper is another great film from a phenomenal director. If you want a sleazy giallo then this is one you need to check out and this release from Blue Underground is the only way to watch this film. Check it out.
Special Features:
New 4K Restoration from the uncensored original camera negative
High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD Widescreen 2.40:1 Feature Presentation
Audio: 7.1 DTS-HD (English); 1.0 DTS-HD (English, Italian); 1.0 Dolby Digital (French, Spanish)
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish, English for Italian Audio
Audio Commentary with Troy Howarth, Author of ”Splintered Visions: Lucio Fulci and His Films”
The Art Of Killing: Interview with Co-Writer DardanoSacchetti
Three Fingers Of Violence: Interview with Star Howard Ross
The Second Victim: Interview with Co-Star Cinzia de Ponti
The Broken Bottle Murder: Interview with Co-Star Zora Kerova
”I’m an Actress!”: 2009 Interview with Co-Star Zora Kerova
The Beauty Killer: Interview with Stephen Thrower, Author of ”Beyond Terror: The Films of Lucio Fulci”
Paint Me Blood Red: Interview with Poster Artist Enzo Sciotti
NYC Locations Then and Now
Original Theatrical Trailer
NEW! Poster & Still Gallery
BONUS! THE NEW YORK RIPPER: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack CD by Francesco De Masi
BONUS! Collectable Booklet with new essay by Travis Crawford
BONUS! Lenticular 3D Slipcover (First Pressing Only)
BLU-RAY + DVD + CD
