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
4K Release – 4.5/5
Tagline – “Slashing up women was his pleasure”
Over the last few years I’ve found myself becoming obsessed with Italian director Lucio Fulci. When I was in high school I watched Zombie, City of the Living Dead, and The Beyond but recent years has saw more and more obscure releases of Fulci get widespread release. Last year I watched his 1982 film The New York Ripper for the first time when Blue Underground release it on blu. That was a phenomenal release but BU recently announced a new 4K Ultra HD release of the film. I was curious how, if it was possible, that this release was better than the blu. Thanks 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. The 4K release does look great but doesn’t bring that much of a difference than the blu release. If you have yet to own this film I would go for the 4K release over the blu BUT if you have the blu I would have a hard time justifying the double dip.
Special Features:
4K Restoration
Commentaries
Theatrical Trailers
Interviews
NYC Locations Then and Now
Poster Gallery
Still Gallery