Can be fittingly described as a "Classic"
Welcome to Hammer's outstanding "Hands of the Ripper", one of the studio's last movies and one of their best. The story tells of Anna, a young girl who is actually Jack the Ripper's daughter, and who was traumatised as a toddler by witnessing a vicious killing (seen in the prologue). Now an adult, she is prone to murderous seizures which provide the many grisly highlights of the film. It sounds rather lurid, but the film takes the subject seriously, and as a whole, the plot is tremendously engaging. Anna's rages are only triggered by a specific set of circumstances, and the script creates a surprising and clever staging for each one, following on every time with a suitably gory slaughter. The film features great performances from its prestigious cast, particularly Angharad Rees who is luminously beautiful as Anna, and Eric Porter as the doctor who realises her identity but is compelled to try and cure her rather than turn her in (as well as falling for her charms, as she has...
Synapse Films Fulfills Its Promise
Back in 2010, a number of film websites announced that Synapse Films acquired the negatives of the elusive three Hammer Film titles which were much sought after by collectors. 'HANDS OF THE RIPPER', 'TWINS OF EVIL' and 'VAMPIRE CIRCUS' all released in 1970 were the only titles not available on Digital transfers . Available in the 90's on imported Laser Discs or VHS copies, these were the severely edited versions released to US theaters and were not seen since their original theatrical runs in Europe. Well, Synapse kept to their word and released one film each summer restoring the films to their most complete running times culminating in this last title Director Peter Sasdy's 'HANDS OF THE RIPPER', a different type of Ripper film and which emerges as Hammer's most tragic and poignant film in its repertoire. Heavily hyped as one of the company's most gruesome titles, it shows how Hammer was particularly scrutinized by the critics for its use of gory set pieces yet US grind house and...
Way too good a Hammer film to be as obscure as it is today
Hands of the Ripper is a shockingly neglected and obscure little atmospheric masterpiece from Hammer Studios. It's a veritable showcase of classic horror at its best, with several somewhat bloody scenes thrown in for good measure. Beautifully shot and scored, the film simply oozes the aura of Victorian London, and the cinematography of the final shot is, ahem, to die for. The entire cast is wonderful, particularly Eric Porter and Angharad Rees, the latter being a delightful young actress I had never encountered before.
I know you're probably wondering if the film is about Jack the Ripper. Well, yes and no. The story is ostensibly about his daughter. You can imagine how screwed up in the head a daughter of Saucy Jack might be; now imagine that this little girl saw her father murder her mother right in front of her eyes. Freud would have wet himself over such a poor, young thing. Now a young lady, we find Anna working as a fraudulent medium's secret little helper...
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