An often forgotten later Hammer film that boasts a clever and original plot. Network UK R2 DVD.
The Film
Whitechapel
- a mob chases through the narrow streets - the Ripper is at large,
arriving at his home, he brutally kills his wife and kisses his baby
daughter goodbye. Years later his daughter Anna (Angharad Rees) is
being looked after by a fake medium who makes her provide ghostly
voices - later, seemingly in a trace she brutally kills her foster
mother. A psycho-analyist, Dr. John Pritchard (Eric Porter), hears of
the killing and takes her into his care sure that she cannot be the
killer, but he is soon proven wrong and as he sets out to find out the
reason for her murder, the body count rises....
Jack the Ripper has been a star of dozens of films, Hammer themselves explored the subject with early neo-noir Room to Let
(1950). Just as their Dracula and Frankenstein films diverge from
the original stories in wild new ways, so does this adaptation of the
Ripper legend based on a short story by Edward Spencer Shew. For the
most part, the story is cleverly written and subtle with some
surprisingly mature themes - most notably the prostitution of Anna by her foster
mother. The addition of a sub-plot involving Pritchard's son and
fiancée could easily have been merely used as padding for the
story, but here it actually fits very well and helps to keep the film
moving. The references to class divides are similarly subtle and avoid
the heavy handed politics of many such stories.
Unfortunately the grim
atmosphere is often interupted by some
rather misplaced scenes; a short 'prostitute with a heart of gold' sequence is very
cliché and hardly in keeping with the tone of the production, obviously present only to help build up the body count.
The plot itself has problems - the revelation that Anna is the daughter
of Jack the Ripper is made from the start, and not the twist it could
have been, and more importantly, despite an interesting and realistic
build up with hints that Anna's 'posession' is psychological, Hammer
again go for the easy supernatural excuse to 'explain' everything.
Aside from this, however, the climax is fitting and nicely written.
Later
Hammer director Peter Sasdy gives a typically decent turn here, working
with his frequent collaborator, cinematographer Kenneth Talbot -
helping to convey the atmosphere along with an equally strong score.
The set design is very good, particularly the railway station and St.
Paul's sets, although not quite as grittily realistic as they seem to have
hoped. The gory effects are surprisingly realistic, without the bright
red blood of the Hammer vampire films and equally a match for the gorier Italian giallo pictures.
It is the acting department that sets Hands of the Ripper above many of the Hammer films. The wonderfully subtly beautiful Angharad
Rees gives a great performance as Anna, managing to look sweet and
innocent one minute and murderous the next, with some very realistic
trances. Jane Merrow as the blind Laura gives a highly authentic
performance that is sadly overshadowed by the film - surely if it was
in a "proper" film then such a performance would be considered award
winning. Eric Porter carries sufficient gravitas for his role, with a
harder edge than an actor like Peter Cushing would have brought. The
rest of the cast work well with the material.
Original, largely well written, and very well acted and directed, Hands of the Ripper
is a good film, although not as entertaining as many of Hammer's better
known monster horror films. Recommended to fans of Hammer's
psychological thrillers, and partly recommended to general Hammer, and
horror fans.
In Brief
Anyone famous in it?
No-one of note.
Directed by anyone interesting?
Peter Sasdy - a later Hammer director who also shot Countess Dracula (1970) and Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970) as well as several episodes of Hammer House of Horror.
Any gore?
Several very bloody and gory murders.
Any sex?
A very brief topless scene.
Who is it for?
Recommended to fans of the darker Hammer productions.
Good soundtrack?
A standard, but well written, orchestral score.
The DVD
Visuals
Original Aspect Ratio - 1.78:1 widescreen (might have been shown 1.66:1 in Europe). Anamorphically enhanced. Colour.
The disc is strong visually, decent colours (although rather like Countess Dracula the skin tones are rather orange in some scenes - possibly intentional) , some grain but almost no print damage.
Audio
English mono audio - good throughout.
Subtitles
none
Extras
The disc includes:
Audio commentary with Angharad
Rees and British horror experts Kim Newman and Steven Jones. With lots
of interesting stories and information. New to this DVD.
Thriller episode Once the Killing Starts (1974) - a 1970s British television show with horror and mystery themes, similar in format to the Hammer House of Horror series. This particular story stars Hands of the Ripper's
Angharad Rees and is nicely written (if a rather overused story today)
with a nice, long build up and mysterious elements. (1 hour)
Original cinema trailer.
Stills gallery. Publicity shots and posters, included as a video file with no background music or scrolling.
A booklet of notes from Kim Newman and Steve Jones, some interesting information.
Region
Region 2 (UK, Europe) - PAL
Other regions?
No other DVD releases.
Cuts?
This print is believed to be fully uncut. English language print.
Summary
Original, well written, acted and directed - although not as entertaining as many of Hammer's monster movies. Recommended.
Strong
looking film print with a good audio commentary track - the episode of Thriller serves as a good introduction to this series. For
anyone who owns the existing UK DVD, this set might be worth the upgrade for the new commentary track.
