L'Éventreur de New York

An elderly man is walking his dog one afternoon, he decides to throw a piece of wood and have his canine companion fetch, but when the dog brings back not a piece of wood, but a human hand the owner is reasonably perturbed. Thus begins Lucio Fulci's most notorious film "The New York Ripper", the most misogynistic film this side of William Lustig's "Maniac". Police detective Fred Williams (Jack Hedley) is after one sicko who cuts pretty women up in the cruelest fashion. The killer's Donald Duck voice is ludicrous and annoying, but the rampant nudity, over the top gore, red-herrings and the ultra-sleazy atmosphere make up for that in spades. It doesn't hurt that this is tightly scripted and nicely filmed either. This would be the last film in the second (and starting with "Lizard in a Woman's Skin" best) era of his three part career. The last and worst part would start with his next film "Manhattan Baby"

My Grade: B

Anchor Bay DVD Extras: Uncut version; Theatrical trailer and Lucio Fulci bio

When the dog of an old man finds a decomposed hand in New York, the police identifies the victim as the model Ann-Lyne. Lt. Fred Williams (Jack Hedley) is assigned to investigate the crime and is informed by Ann-Lyne's landlady that she had received a phone call from a man that spoke like a duck. While going to Staten Island, the bicycle rider Rosie (Cinzia de Ponti) is stabbed to death in the ferry by a man with duck-like voice. Lt. Williams teams-up with the psychologist Dr. Paul Davis (Paolo Malco) to hunt down the serial-killer. Meanwhile other women are attacked by the murderer. When the beautiful Fay Majors (Almanta Keller) survives the attack of the man, Lt. Williams and Dr. Davis have a lead to be followed but Dr. Davis questions whether the identified man is the killer since he believes the serial-killer has another profile.

"Lo squartatore di New York", a.k.a. "The New York Ripper", is an engaging Italian thriller directed by Lucio Fulci. The plot is interesting, the actresses are sexy, but the conclusion is disappointing. Most of the deaths are brutal and even gruesome as expected by fans of the giallo genre. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "O Estripador de Nova York" ("The New York Ripper")

But I liked it! Obviously not Lucio Fulci´s best ("The Beyond" still holds the top, followed up by "Zombi 2"!), but nevertheless "The New York Ripper" is another gorefest that delights the fans and despairs the censors (Actually this flick is banned in many countries like Australia, the U.K., Germany or Norway...)! Endowed with some nudity (Maybe the sleaziest flick Fulci ever directed...) and elements from Giallo this gem has got some really unforgettable moments: I like the scene when Alexandra Delli Colli (She plays a woman which is permanently on the search for sexual adventures...) gets stimulated by two Latino-boys in a billiard bar and the take where wonderful Zora Kerova ("Cannibal Ferox") was maltreaten by bottle is pretty gut-wrenching! The bloody climax however is when the ripper tortures a prostitute to death with using a razorblade! Really shocking and disturbing!! People who demand a clever story surely will be disappointed, gorehounds however will find a revelation in this! So if you had fun with William Lustig´s "Maniac" (1980) you will also like this effective shocker!!!

While this movie contains plenty of graphic violence beyond most horror movies, I cannot deny a certain brilliance in Fulci's direction. Sure there were plot holes, the dubbing was bad, the duck sounded ridiculous, those were part of the reasons I enjoyed it, simply because a logical movie doesn't play with my mind like this one did. Fulci deals with a lot of psychological issues and the areas of the unknown. There is enough unsaid that keeps you guessing until the very end (some which never gets said, but we won't go there). In my opinion, this movie had a faster pace and more solid plot than most of Fulci's more popular efforts. It was simple: someone who talks like a duck is killing beautiful women in New York. I did find it scary. Sometimes I'm intrigued how they think up some of the things they did in this movie. Maybe it should be called "The Amsterdam Ripper" because of the extreme sex, violence, and drug atmosphere. But on the Anchor Bay DVD uncut release, the cinematography was amazing. I do love that this is an Italian movie filmed in New York, another totally illogical thing to do in my mind, yet on some level, it works for the sheer creativity and guts to do something new. No Academy Awards, but they sure don't make movies like this anymore! I'll give it 3 quacks out of 5.

The late Italian director Lucio Fulci remains a controversial figure among horror film fans. Some view him merely as a hack exploitation director, who unsuccessfully tried to mimic the ideas and techniques of skilled horror directors such as Dario Argento and George Romero. Others view him as a directorial genius with his own distinctive style. Upon viewing my first Fulci film, THE NEW YORK RIPPER, I am inclined to believe that Fulci has not been given as much credit as he deserves.

THE NEW YORK RIPPER is a good example of an Italian "giallo" film, which blends the graphic gore sequences typically found in "slasher" films with the police investigations typically found in crime dramas. The film's plot is simple: a psychopath who talks like a duck is killing beautiful young women in New York City in vicious ways. Burned-out Lieutenant Fred Williams (Jack Hedley) is assigned to investigate the case, and soon gets taunting calls from the killer. At the same time, the one woman to survive the killer's attack, track star Fay Majors (Almanta Keller), finds that her life remains in peril.

THE NEW YORK RIPPER is unapologetically sleazy. The gore effects are very well done, and will make even the most hardened fans of gore wince at their brutality. There is also plenty of sex, which is quite explicit even by today's standards. In short, THE NEW YORK RIPPER is tasteless. But that doesn't mean it's bad. The film is well paced and there is hardly a dull moment. The murder mystery aspect of the film will keep you guessing until the film's climax. Fulci also delivers stylish direction and the film has some nice atmospheric shots of New York City.

One of the main criticisms of THE NEW YORK RIPPER is that it is brutally misogynistic. On the surface, this appears to be true. The killer's victims are almost all sexually promiscuous young women, who are killed in a brutal, sexual manner. However, in my opinion, the film is not so much anti-woman as it is anti-humanity. Fulci's New York City, much like Martin Scorsese's in TAXI DRIVER, is a seemingly inescapable hell, filled with perverts, sex shows, prostitutes, and "42nd Street gigolos." It should also be noted that the film's one strong and sympathetic character is a woman, Fay Majors.

Also, it is often said that THE NEW YORK RIPPER is Fulci's ripoff of the 1980 film MANIAC (also one of my favorites). This is simply not true: their only similarity is that they concern a psycho killer on the loose in New York City. MANIAC is a character study horror film, while THE NEW YORK RIPPER is a mystery thriller, much like Brian DePalma's DRESSED TO KILL(1980).

Lastly, I must say that the recently released, uncut, widescreen version of THE NEW YORK RIPPER is a major improvement over the old video version. While the dubbing remains shoddy in some parts, this new edition looks beautiful in its widescreen format. Additionally, the old edition chopped up some scenes which contained crucial clues about the killer's identity. With these scenes now intact, the killer's identity is not as totally out of left field as some critics have charged.

*** out of ****