The ripper - Nel cuore del terrore

Stayed up late to watch this on TV, being a bit of a J the R geek, always ready to read or see another take on the mystery. Oh my... Almost every known fact was either omitted, twisted or misused to serve a half-baked and ludicrous movie. It would have been more logical to make this a complete fiction and call the criminal Bert The Slasher, cos this has nothing to do with the London murders of 1888. I know it's 'just a film', and actually the true story wouldn't be very satisfactorily filmic, as there's no structure, no love story and the villain remains unknown, but a few arty cuts (no pun intended) and camera angles don't make this a good film. Bergin's accent wobbles, and West's pantomime psycho act makes the best of a potty script, but really, there are better things to be doing at 1 a.m. than watching this nonsense.

Not blazingly original, but still a well made film about the infamous Ripper murders. The cast is good, Bergin and Anwar are excellent and West is perfectly cast. Costuming, atmosphere and the like are up to big screen standards. Events and characters are modified a little for dramatic purposes, so true blue Ripper enthusiasts might find fault, but recommended for fans of Victorian period movies and general thriller/mysteries.

In 1888, in London, a prostitute is slaughtered on the street. The Scotland Yard Chief Inspector Jim Hansen (Patrick Bergin) is in charge of the investigation and realizes that the killer is a person with skill in dissection. Hansen belongs to the lower class and aspires to socially climb. Soon there are other murders and the ex-prostitute Florry Lewis (Gabrielle Anwar) witnesses the killer killing a prostitute and is forced to go to the precinct to provide a lead to the Scotland Yard. Inspector Hansen assigns Sgt. Tommy Bell (Adam Couper) to protect Florry and he investigates the murder cases. Prince Albert Victor (Samuel West), who is the heir of the throne of England, becomes his prime suspect but his chief Sir Charles Warren (Michael York) tells that they need to have strong evidences against the prince to proceed the case. Sir Warren decides to use Florry as bait but Inspector Hansen has fallen in love with her and objects. But his chief makes clear that this is the only way to stop the ripper. What will Inspector Hansen do?

"The Ripper" is a surprisingly good movie for television with a different version of Jack the Ripper. Great performances, engaging screenplay, wonderful locations and cinematography make this movie worthwhile watching. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "O Estripador" ("The Ripper")

Come on guys, give it a break. It wasn't all that bad. As an amateur historian on the history of England, I know perfectly well that it's HIGHLY unlikely that Prince Eddy did it. Proving who Jack the Ripper was, however, did not seem to be the main objective of the film. It was entertaining, no matter what its historical value is.

In casting Sam West as the villainous and elusive Prince Eddy, the filmmakers managed to take an actor that was so unbelievably wholesome looking and turn him in the epitome of evil. Sam West is one of my favorite actors and I admit that this may make me a little biased in his favor. BUT, his skill as an actor is undisputed by critics everywhere. His portrayal of Eddy made you hate him and pity him all at the same time. This is an extremely hard thing to do and I admire him for it. The fact that one knows that it is Prince Eddy from almost the first scene makes this even more apparent.

Patrick Bergin seemed to play backseat, but his subtle East End accent and pure innocence in the ways of polite Victorian society, made him the perfect actor for the character. Perhaps if his character had been slightly more developed, he could have stepped to the same level as West, but the script did not allow for it. Given what he was given, I think that Bergin did a wonderful job.

Gabrielle Anwar did a good job as the feisty ex-prostitute heroine, but her character wasn't given much breathing space. She was playing a stereotype and this was one of the things that annoyed me greatly. The character of Florie seemed to play into the stereotype of saucy-romance-novel heroine. Perhaps if she had not been so tragically good, brought down by her surroundings, it might have been more tolerable, but as her character was predictable (though of course admirable), it would have been better for the film.

Michael York irritated me, but that's probably just too much prejudice on my part anyway. Apart from a few complaints about the story-line (the romance aspect), I think that the film set out what it meant to accomplish--to prove both that royalty is fallible (and periodically homicidal, though this might be a bit of a stretch given the world's current monarchs) and that you can't always judge a book by its cover. Apart from the sadistic little moustache (the height of fashion at the time--everyone was doing it), Sam West appears to be the perfect company. Except the fact that he's a homicidal maniac inside. That might dampen dinner a bit.

Overall, not bad. Rent it, don't recommend buying it unless you're a die-hard Sam West/Patrick Bergin fan. You probably won't be hideously disappointed unless you're a Ripper-ologist, in which case, you might want to skip it because its little historical inaccuracies are irritating. The acting, however, will not disappoint.

I loved this film. I am a lover of british movies and found this one to be unbelievable. I feel the theories about Jack The Ripper are put to rest in this film. I feel the actors were superb and the play it is based on is awesome as well.