THE RIPPER (VIDEO 1985)
Not bad... For a high school student film
2.5 out of 10 stars Time to Read:
BASIC PLOT:
Jack the Ripper's ring is found in an antique shop, and bought by Richard Harwell (
Tom Schreier) a college professor. A string of ripper-like killings begin, and Steve (
Wade Tower), one of Richard's students begins to suspect his teacher is the new ripper.
WHAT WORKS:
*CINEMATOGRAPHY IS OK For the most part, I didn't have a lot of problems with the blocking, setups, framing etc. It's decent for a student film, which is what it seems to be.
*ORIGINAL SCRIPT OR TREATMENT (NOT EXECUTED SCRIPT) ISN'T BAD I can see the writer's intent, and it wasn't bad. What they did to his vision is the real bloodbath.
*SEVERAL PLOT DEVICES AND CHARACTERS AREN'T USED CORRECTLY Fred (
Randall White) for instance, the flock of seagulls nerd who knows about "Star Trek", and brings his dog to class with him, is a great character. Push him into knowing about the occult, make him team up with Steve & Carol, and there's a workable plot device about how they all discover what the ring is doing to Richard. It's a more enjoyable path as well, instead of haphazardly jumping from scene to scene, with no explanation as to how we got here.
WHAT DOESN'T WORK:
*THE ENGLISH ACCENTS ARE LAUGHABLE The English accents in the opening scene are so bad they are laughable.
*NO BREASTS In this type of movie, if you're going to include a five minute make out scene, there needs to be breasts.
*WHY DID THE MOTORCYCLE EXPLODE? There's a scene where a motorcycle rider lays down his bike, and then in the distance, we see an explosion. WTH?
*ACTING IS WOODEN Acting is beyond flat. It reminds me of a high school student film, where there's no budget, no rehearsals, and made by people who are still learning.
*WHY IS JACK THE RIPPER DRESSED LIKE A VAMPIRE? It doesn't make sense.
*NO SUSPENSE, NO BUILDUP TO VIOLENCE
This is the biggest problem, because it robs the viewer of the fear factor. It instead leaves the ultra violence feeling cartoony, and lackluster. It doesn't help that they continually mention films that are full of suspense and terror.
TO RECOMMEND, OR NOT TO RECOMMEND, THAT IS THE QUESTION:
*I cannot recommend this to anyone but aspiring screenwriters, and as a cautionary tale of what NOT to let happen to your work.
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rw2499279)
CLOSING NOTES:
*THIS IS A STRAIGHT TO VIDEO MOVIE, please keep that in mind before you watch/rate it. Straight to video movies have a much lower budget, and so your expectations should be adjusted.
*I HAVE NO CONNECTION TO THE FILM, or production in ANY way. This review was NOT written in full, or in part, by a bot. I am just an honest viewer, who wishes for more straight forward reviews (less trolls and fanboys), and better entertainment. Hope I helped you out.
