VIP
Entertainment/Image | Review
by Dan Taylor
There
are only a few films that I don't like that
I'll willingly watch again and again. John
Carpenter's BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA
is one that I just don't "get"
despite somewhere around a dozen viewings.
Some friends have dropped me from their
address book because of my admission while
others simply shake their head in disappointment.
Jess Franco's JACK THE RIPPER
is another, though I don't watch it as frequently as BIG TROUBLE. My first
viewing was back in the early 80s when I
got my first VCR and would rent anything
on the horror shelves at the local video
store. While this habit often worked in
my favor (leading to viewings of classics
like BLOODSUCKING FREAKS, the original TOOLBOX
MURDERS, and the where's-a-proper-DVD-for-this-one
known as PIECES), it could also lead to
plenty of dreck (too long a list to go into
at this time).
RIPPER failed to impress me
at the time, but I felt compelled to view
it again when it was time to compile the
Klaus Kinski Tribute Issue of ER several
years later. Still no epiphany.
Now, thanks to DVD, Jess Franco's
"director's cut" of JACK is finally
available, complete with lost scenes and
a widescreen presentation that some suggested
to me was like seeing a whole new movie.
Unfortunately, after recently checking out
the disc, I can report that it's still the
same movie and still leaves me scratching
my head as to what all the fuss is about.
The story of the real Jack
is one most everyone is familiar with and
it's been the subject of plety of films
over the years, including the time travel
fantasy TIME AFTER TIME, the Holmesian (Sherlock,
not John) mystery MURDER BY DECREE, the
revisionist tale JACK'S BACK (starring everyone's
fav suave scum James Spader), and more recent
re-workings like the laughably overrated
FROM HELL. Even the Anthony Perkins Jeckyll/Hyde
flick EDGE OF SANITY touches on the Ripper
legend. But in this grim Jack tale,
the facts and speculations are played with
loosely in order to create a horrific, if
not all that captivating tale.
Kinski's Ripper is Dennis
Orloff, a London doctor using his talents
to treat those who can't afford to pay for
health care. Little do his patients, or
his ultra-horny lady landlord, know that
in the dark hours the kindhearted Dr. Klaus
is out picking up hookers – and then
picking hookers.
Over the years the theory
has been advanced that the real Ripper was
in fact a doctor, suggested by the killer's
apparent skill with a surgical blade. However,
the way that this reel Ripper butchers his
victims it seems odd anyone would actually
suspect he was even a butcher, let alone
a surgeon.
Admittedly, "screenwriter
Franco" capably creates a number of
interesting characters who populate the
flick, including several London whores who
knew the victims well, a blind man (Hans
Gaugler) with the deductive powers of Sherlock
Holmes, and an old bitty who thinks she
may have seen the killer running from one
of his attacks. In particular, a scene in
the office of Inspector Selby (Andreas Mannkopff),
the Scotland Yard inspector in charge of
the case, comes across rather well –
snappy dialogue, above average acting –
and it's too bad "director Franco"
can't carry this level of quality throughout
the flick.
JACK THE RIPPER has little
going for it. Aside from the few (and I
mean very few) scenes which actually click,
the film exists for little more reason than
to allow K2 to run around at his crazed
peak, scowling, frowning, oooggling and
running his hands through the poorly created
Spanish substitute for viscera. A few good
scenes, but not enough to recommend it to
anyone who isn't either a Kinski or Franco
completist.
Quite frankly, the highlight
of the new disc is an extensive interview
with RIPPER producer Erwin Dietrich who
talks about his business relationship with
Franco and even working with the notorious
Kinski. Dietrich dispells the volatile star's
reputation by remarking that Kinski never
gave him any problems on the three films
they worked on together (RIPPER, COMMANDO
LEOPARDS, CODENAME: WILDGEESE) and actually
helped direct each of the scenes he was
in. (This topic came up in a recent interview
I conducted for an upcoming Kinski-related
project which I'll share more details about
later.)
While RIPPER may not be worth
yet another repeat viewing, I'll surely
be watching this informative and interesting
bonus feature again.
