Klaus Kinski is Jack the Ripper in Jess Franco's unsucessful historical thriller from his Erwin Deitrich period. Anchor Bay UK R0 DVD.
The Film
Victorian
London, a prostitute is brutally killed in a foggy street - Jack
the Ripper (Klaus Kinski) is at large. But we discover that during the day, Jack is
actually a philanthropic doctor, providing medical services to poor
people who cannot afford to pay him. Meanwhile, Scotland Yard's
Inspector Selby is investigating the case, and interviews a blind man
who was near the killer and noticed several distinctive smells -
particularly that of a rare greenhouse plant, and medical alcohol.
Later, Selby visits his girlfriend Cynthia, a ballet dancer, but
they are distant - he is under immense pressure to find the killer. We
find Jack lying in bed, tormented by the vision of his murdered
prostitute mother - he angrily sets out to find a whore, and brutally
murders her. A local fisherman named Charlie (Herbert Fux) retrieves
the hand of the first murdered prostitute from a canal and is invited
to take part in a police-artist experiement - he recognises the man
drawn as being that of the doctor who had previously treated him.
Rather than turning the doctor over, he tracks him down to offer a
blackmail instead. Meanwhile, after another brutal murder,Cynthia, who
has grown tired of being apart from Selby, attempts to capture the
Ripper herself, disguised as a street-walker, but she is
putting herself into real danger on the dark foggy London streets...
The
real legend of Jack the Ripper is interesting and has fuelled many film
adaptations over the decades, however, Franco's self-penned film
completely fails to follow any of the facts behind the case - only the
presence of a man killing prostitutes in Victorian London remains. The
killings are not accurate to accounts, nor are the police procedures or
the absence of the media (Jack the Ripper is believed to be the
first media-frenzy inspiring serial killer case). Franco chooses not to
speculate on the true identity of the killer and only gives slight,
unexciting hints as to his motives. This leaves the film without any
real focus - with the identity, and motives of the killer established
early on, it is not a mystery film, this similarly deprives the police
procedurals of any tension or excitement; as a horror picture it boasts
some gratuitous gore but no scares or tension; as a sex film it fails,
having only a few brief nude scenes. There are a number of possible
paths that Franco could have followed to make the film more interesting
- a giallo
or even Sherlock Holmes style mystery picture; a Dr. Orloff inspired
medical horror, with the 'Ripper' killing the woman for their organs
(in the real case, organs were stolen from the murdered women); or a
Jekyll/Hyde horror picture with the Ripper torn between anger and
kindness, tensely stalking women
down the streets. As it is, we get Klaus Kinski killing a few women and
looking moody while Inspector Selby engages in some very slow paced
police procedurals and interviews, aided only by an amazingly helpful
blind-man, and a rather dull ending.
Franco's direction solid is but unspectacular
with nothing particularly distinguishing. All that keeps the film from
being a complete bore is the impressive set design and constumes that
do create a very dark and realistic looking atmosphere. Dietrich's top
composer Walter Baumgartner provides a light but largely unnoticed
score with a nice nightclub act. The gore effects look pretty poor and
there is an obviously post-production inserted stabbing shot during one of the murder scenes.
Like his earlier collaborator, Harry Alan Towers, Erwin C. Dietrich
was able to supply Franco with sufficient budget to secure some top name actors - in this case,
legendary German actor Klaus Kinski who Franco personally insisted on for the role. Famed for his wild over-the-top
performances, Kinski gives a very repressed performance for the most
part, but with some impressive anger as he kills his victims. The rest
of the cast are unremarkable, but watch out for frequent supporting
actor Herbert Fux with more screentime than usual and Franco's favourite, Lina Romay, in a brief appearance as a doomed prostitute.
Ultimately, despite being a pet project of both Franco and Kinski for several years, Jack the Ripper
is an unremarkable film with little to recommend it. The storyline
doesn't go anywhere fast and misses a load of opportunities for
excitement, wasting a good Kinski performance. Set design is good and
realistic, while the direction and editing are notably average. Franco/Dietrich era fans, and Kinski completists might enjoy this film, but it is not recommended.
In
Brief
Anyone
famous in it?
Klaus Kinski - Top name in Euro-cult who also worked with Franco on Count Dracula (1970).
Directed by anyone
interesting?
Jess Franco - the biggest name in euro-cult cinema with over 180 films to his credit, everything from black and white horror Secret of Dr. Orloff (1964) to DTV softcore horror Tender Flesh (1998)
Any gore?
A few very gory sequences.
Any sex?
Several nude scenes and sexual assauts.
Who is it for?
Not recommended. Only for Kinski or Franco/Dietrich era completists.
The
DVD
This
DVD is part of Erwin C. Dietrich's
'Official Jess Franco Collection'. The film has been completely
restored from the original negatives making it look better even,
apparently, than the original cinema prints. For this very dark film, a
good print is essential, and this DVD has very impressive detail on the
dark/foggy streets. The extras are interesting - a pair of features on
the film and its restoration, and a commentary track with plenty of
details - although it is a pity that neither Franco or any other
cast/crew were interviewed or involved.
Visuals
Original
Aspect Ratio - 1.85:1 widescreen. Anamorphically enhanced. Colour.
The disc is very strong visually, some grain, strong colours. No print damage at all.
Audio
Original
German and English audio tracks - the German track sounds good, but
with some hiss. The English track sounds better but has some terrible,
fake cockney accents.
Subtitles
English translation of German dialogue. English translation of German audio commentary.
Run-time
Feature: 1hr 28m 15s
Extras
The disc includes:
Audio Commentary with Erwin C. Dietrich. German with English subtitles.
Documentary on Jack the Ripper including interview with Dietrich. German, with English subtitles. (21m 43s)
Feature on the restoration of Jack the Ripper from original vault elements. German, with English subtitles. (17m 25s)
Original cinema trailer. Unsubtitled German. (2m 25s)
Stills gallery - a collection of 29 behind-the-scenes stills, manual scrolling.
Jess Franco, Klaus Kinski, Dietrich and the real Jack the Ripper on-screen text bios.
Region
Region 2
(UK, Europe) - PAL
Other regions?
Other similar 'Official Jess Franco Collection' discs are available in USA, Switzerland and Australia. US
and Swiss discs include a bonus trailer and deleted scenes as well as
more language options. The UK disc is the only one to include English
subtitles for the German audio track.
Cuts?
The film is completely uncut. German language print - credits are in German.
Summary
An unimpressive film with no particular focus, but with a decent Klaus Kinski performance and period feel.
A
very good looking print and some decent extras. The British ABUK disc
is the only version to include English subtitles so that English
speakers can use the superior German audio-track and therefore is the
recommended disc for this film.
