Jack l'Éventreur

Trailer—Jack the Ripper

source: Jack the Ripper

Jack the Ripper

This film, starring Klaus Kinski, and directed by Jesus Franco, proves very disappointing viewing unless one has an affinity for gross-out gore (which this film delights in with numerous scenes of the Ripper dismembering his lady victims). Me I prefer the focus remain of the story at hand and this tale has been adapted better for the screen many times before.THE LODGER and MAN IN THE ATTIC being two of the better examples..Kinski does have a moment or two where he shines a little but it isn't enough to save this film.

Normally one would have the right to call this movie "disappointing" (after all, it is about the arguably most famous serial killer of all time), BUT...it's directed by Jess Franco, so how could one expect a good movie anyway? But even if you can ignore the puerile psychology, the unintentionally funny dubbing and the dim lighting (all too often you'll find yourself staring at a black screen), it's more difficult to ignore that Klaus Kinski is not as lively as you might expect in the role of the Ripper. Someone in the film says that "he can't control his compulsion to kill". It looks more as if he can't control his boredom. (*1/2)

A serial killer (Klaus Kinski) whose mother was a prostitute starts killing streetwalkers as a way of paying back his mother for her abuse. How do we know this is a Jess Franco movie? Because it has a character named Dr. Orloff and features his muse, Lina Romay. Beyond that, I have not quite figured out what his directing trademarks are... his films range from decent to abysmal, so it is hard to pinpoint a running theme. This happens to be one of the better ones. The copy I watched was taken from a terrible print and the dubbing is awful, but the overall mood and atmosphere is good, and the effects are above average (the eye is nasty, some of the gore is a bit gross). Maybe the one from Image Entertainment is better...

Although this movie is completely historically inaccurate as far as Jack the Ripper goes, it's surprisingly well made for a Franco movie. It's one of the few horror movies, however, that could actually benefit from some more cuts as the gore sequences, besides being nasty and misogynistic, are also just plain stupid and inept. The sequence with Kinski and a young Lina Romay (Mrs. Jesus Franco, for the uninitiated)is one Franco's best and one of Romay's best performances (especially considering she has her clothes on for most of it), but it is almost ruined in the end by an extremely gruesome and completely pointless bit of gore. Still, this is one of the few Franco films that has a more or less coherent plot to go with the occasionally impressive visuals. It definitely won't please the "Ripperologists", but it's worth a look, especially if you like Franco, Romay, or Kinski.