JACK THE RIPPER (1976)
Director: Jess Franco
Image Entertainment

Years after his association with wealthy British producer Harry Alan Towers had ended, Jess Franco came knocking on another reputable producer's door--Switzerland's Erwin C. Dietrich. The determined Spanish director came into Dietrich's office, asking for finances to complete his 1975 women-in-prison effort, BARBED WIRED DOLLS. Dietrich supplied the money and lab facilities to complete it, but was completely appalled by the unprofessional results of the film! Deitrich eventually released it, and allowed Franco to direct more than a dozen titles for his company, commencing with 1976's JACK THE RIPPER. The lead would go to international star Klaus Kinski, who collaborated with Franco on several films years earlier.

The plot involves Kinski as Dr. Denis Orloff, a mild-mannered and respected London physician, well at least during the daytime. We immediately learn that he is actually "Jack the Ripper," and during the night assaults and rapes helpless prostitutes, hauling their corpses back to his clinic for dismemberment. After some slicing and dicing, The Ripper drops the extremities in the Thames River with the help of his loyal housemaid. When a hand turns up at the end of a fishing rod, a fisherman (another great sleazy turn by MARK OF THE DEVIL's Herbert Fux) goes to the police and a manhunt gets underway with the help of a blind beggar with sub-human scent skills. The main inspector on the case (Andreas Mannkopff) has to contend with his upper-class girlfriend (Josephine Chaplin, Charlie's daughter) going undercover as a lady of the night, but she too finds herself in the killer's clutches.

Better than most of Franco's endless series of sex and horror forays of the early 70s, JACK THE RIPPER is a superior work of the director, but still no masterpiece. The incredible Kinski is perfectly cast as the Ripper, but his performance is either unenthusiastically boring or brilliantly underplayed, depending on how you look at it. Lina Romay has a great bit as a fanny-wiggling dance hall girl who is viciously attacked by The Ripper, her body swaying like a lifeless puppet against a tree. The dismemberments allow for some unsettling gore from the H.G. Lewis school, and Romay's character gets it the worst.

Technically the film is also superior, probably due to the involvement of Dietrich. The usual dizzy zoom shots are not present, but rather some pleasing camera work by Peter Baumgartner. The location shots in Switzerland are very atmospheric and provide a decent substitute for London, and the scene of The Ripper's prostitute mother haunting his inner thoughts is a highlight. If you can forgive Franco's sluggish pacing and some sloppy continuity, then this is definitely worthwhile viewing.

Originally distributed on disc by the Swiss company, VIP, Image Entertainment has thankfully picked up this maiden title in "The Official Jess Franco Collection" for U.S. consumption. This DVD transfer (supervised by the original cinematographer) was restored from the original negative, reportedly in rough shape after years of abuse and being shuffled from one country to the other. You would never think that now, since the image is virtually flawless, Anamorphic and letterboxed at 1.85:1. There is no noticeable print blemishes whatsoever. Colors are vibrant, grain (in darker scenes) is very limited, and the image is crisp throughout. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono is very clean and presented in four languages: English, German, French and Italian. Unfortunately, the English dub does not contain Kinski's actual voice.

The disc features a number of really cool extras. There are two documentaries. One is an interview with producer Dietrich that tells a lot about his company, how he met Franco, and what it was like working with Kinski. Interestingly enough, he paints Kinski as very agreeable and professional man, even working double days without demanding extra payment. Dietrich also explains how the film ran into censorship problems in Europe. The other documentary is a fascinating look at the painstaking involvement that went into restoring JACK THE RIPPER for DVD. It visually shows all the steps going into making this film look pristine, and fans of the format will appreciate all the effort that goes into remastering a title for a fine presentation. Both documentaries are in German with English subtitles.

There is also a running commentary with Dietrich, in German with English subtitles. The commentary is well worth a listen, and elaborates more on what he said in the documentary. There are a number of nice tidbits about Franco, Kinski, the other actors, the crew, the locations, and Dietrich's career in general. Dietrich also makes an open plea to Franco to get in touch with him to hopefully involve him on further releases in this collection. Other extras include bios on Dietrich, Franco and Kinski; three still galleries featuring lots of behind-the-scenes shots; a deleted scene of Lina Romay's mutilated dummy culled from a European Super 8 release of the film; historical background on the real Jack the Ripper; and original German trailers for JACK THE RIPPER and LOVE LETTERS OF A PORTUGUESE NUN (promoted as the next entry in "The Jess Franco Collection").

This is a classy, nicely produced release that Franco fanatics will love, but fans of European horror in general won't want to pass this one up either. Hopefully, Image Entertainment has sights on releasing all of the Dietrich-owned Franco titles in this collection. (George R. Reis)

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