The New York Ripper is hardly perfect but does have some interesting elements, most notably a serial killer who quacks like a duck, comes across more bizarre than scary or even creepy.
The New York Ripper
(1982)
Genre(s): Horror, Suspense, Mystery
Blue Underground | NR – 93 min. – $49.95 | August 25, 2020
Date Published: 08/25/2019 | Author: The Movieman
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Blue Underground provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Blog Post.
The opinions I share are my own.
Note: The screen captures come from the Blu-ray disc and do not represent the 4K picture.
THE MOVIE — 3.0/5 |
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Plot Synopsis: A blade-wielding psychopath is on the loose, turning The Big Apple bright red with the blood of beautiful young women. As NYPD detective Fred Williams (JACK HEDLEY) follows the trail of butchery from the decks of the Staten Island Ferry to the sex shows of Times Square, each brutal murder becomes a sadistic taunt. In the city that never sleeps, the hunt is on for the killer that can’t be stopped. Quick Hit Review: I’m not the biggest fan of some Italian horror mostly finding some of the dubbing to be pretty distracting but beyond that, the storytelling and character development, and more to the point their decision-making, does tend to reach ridiculous levels. That said, I do find some of them somewhat entertaining and one of the maestros in that realm was Lucio Fulci, the filmmaker behind many horror movies such as Zombie (1979), a movie I surprisingly enough enjoyed. The New York Ripper was released in 1982 and is one those films that showed off the grungy, dirty, decaying, crime-filled New York City from the 70s and 80s that both was revolting yet also gave a certain flavor of the era (see: Death Wish, The French Connection, Shaft, Basket Case and many others). This movie was no different, showing off the XXX areas along with the grimy subway system that really set the mood quite nicely in a disturbing sort of way. And on that front, I did find this to have a certain uniqueness. On the other hand, the story itself at times felt disjointed and not entirely engaging, not helping were some uninteresting characters, though did kind of like the gruff Detective Williams, played by Jack Hedley but does have the distraction of dubbed actors (Edward Mannix dubbed over Hedley). Although The New York Ripper wasn’t as entertaining as Zombie (hard to surpass a zombie punching a shark) it did surpass Manhattan Baby, my only other Lucio Fulci movie I’m all that familiar with, but it did have the psychotic killer quacking like a deranged duck, so it had that going for it, though it was more bizarre than terrifying (and the reason behind it was on the eye-rolling, absurd side). |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 4.25/5 |
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This release comes with a embossed slip cover. Audio Commentary – Author Troy Howarth (“Splintered Visions: Lucio Fulci and His Films”) is pretty much a staple on many these horror releases and gives his examination on the movie providing bits of trivia and all around information about Fulci’s career, the history of the actors, and other items on the production itself. Interviews:
I found each of these to be pretty fascinating, especially the ones with the actors who give their thoughts and recount memories of working on the project with Fulci while “The Beauty Killer” gives more analytical thoughts on the movie. NYC Locations Then & Now (4:08) is a cool featurette where we are taken on a tour of the filming locations and see how they look today, well 2009 anyway. Theatrical Trailer (3:20) Poster & Still Gallery |
VIDEO – 4.75/5 |
| Blue Underground releases The New York Ripper is presented with a 2.38 widescreen aspect ratio and given a 2160p high-definition transfer which was taken from the original 35mm 2-perf camera negative and scanned in 4K 16-bit, which is likely the source of the Blu-ray release, just now in true 4K resolution. As such, the Blu-ray was already great looking and this one takes it up a notch, the original film noise showing off excellent detail particularly on the close-ups with some nice definition on the more distant shots. Colors are very impressive, bright without appearing overly so or over exposed. |
AUDIO – 4.5/5 |
| The disc comes with a new Dolby Atmos track taking over for the Blu-ray’s 7.1 DTS-HD MA track (here it’s replaced with 5.1). Comparatively, it’s probably as aggressive in some respects, but in others, especially with Francesco de Masi’s catchy score/soundtrack, there is some nice depth showcased here. Dialogue comes through with good clarity as well, but the bulk of this movie seems to be centrally located with some ambient noises of the NYC streets outputting through the rear speakers. Also available are both English and Italian language DTS-HD Master Audio Mono tracks. |
OVERALL – 4.25/5 |
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The New York Ripper is hardly perfect but does have some interesting elements, most notably a serial killer who quacks like a duck, comes across more bizarre than scary or even creepy. Even so, the gritty New York City setting does make it interesting to watch. This 4K Ultra HD release from Blue Underground has a nice selection of features and the video/audio transfers are both well done. |