Ripper's Revenge

I came by this film expecting a cheap slasher style film and was pleasantly surprised by a well acted drama.

This is in no way a horror like the poster suggests but the story definitely keeps you engaged. Chris Bell and Rachel Warren do really well leading the film. Costumes look authentic and the director clearly has a good eye for talent and creating this type of film.

Would have been better with more locations and a few more ripper bits but it still works well as it is.

I enjoyed the twists and the fact that just when you think you have worked out the story, theres another twist around the corner.

This will be a DVD ill be keeping.

There's something very eighties about these movies by Steve Lawson. By that I mean that back in the days of video stores, we all used to judge the quality of the movie by how the front cover looked on the shelf. The better the cover, the more likely we were to rent the movie. The number of times that we took home movies only to be disappointed by them within the first half an hour. Just like Rippers Revenge.

In truth, the set up is not that bad. The problem with all Lawsons movies is the lack of budget and thus production values.....and maybe talent.

Nevertheless, I must give credit for getting the thing made.

Just one question. Why the naked woman committing suicide in the opening scene?

I went into this with no expectations whatsoever. Well that's not exactly true. I really expected it to be another 'churn 'em out, never mind the quality just get the money in', waste of resources with no artistic or even commercial merit. I was quite wrong.

First thing to say is that this isn't a Jack the ripper story, nor is it a morally dubious slasher movie. It's more of a whodunnit, thriller type story set against the background of the Whitechapel murders. Anyone looking for a gory horror is going to be very disappointed. As for the storyline, there are so many twists in the second half of the film a comparison with 'Double Indemnity' is quite fair. A couple of times I found myself thinking "Yes! I knew it, it was obvious....er...oh! I didn't expect that...".

The design, costumes, make-up, dialogue and photography are generally good, evoking real life in 1880s London, but the errors are intensely jarring - the use of what looks like a farm building to represent an East End warehouse, the sight of Portcullis House in the views of Parliament, and no woman would ever be seen on the streets dressed like the prostitutes here without being arrested. A lot of things can be forgiven when the filmmakers have a very tight budget, but the film is really let down by these. The biggest flaw, though is the music. It's far too intrusive. When the audience pays more attention to the music than to the drama, you know it's wrong.

All those criticisms aside, I still really enjoyed the film, and it's worth another viewing.

The opening moody shots across what is supposed to be Victorian London should be warning enough to give this movie a miss as it showed Portcullis House which was only opened in 2001 having been built in the late ninties. The plot was awful as was the acting, how this movie ever made it to the production stage is a mystery. The plot line was, at the very least, only suitable fo a pre teen viewing audience and even they would have found it tedious, even the "twist" at the end wasn't even worthy of a primary school exercise. A particular point was that all the costumes provided by the wardrobe department was always in a pristine, freshly laundered state, not commensurate with the period and setting at all. A very dismal waste of time, avoid at all costs.

Once again Chris Bell knocks it out the park with his portrayal of Stubbs in this sequel of the Ripper tales!

Along side Rachel Warren the pair really drag you in to the plot as it twists and turns toward the final conclusion!!

Chris has many titles to his name and they just keep getting better. If you are a fan of Jack the Ripper stories then this one's for you!

Chris really pulls you in and brilliantly helps you create a love/hate relationship with his character! As always he is made for the loveable rogue portrayal.

Rachel plays the perfect partner in crime with her wicked streak portrayed perfectly as Iris which paired perfectly along side Chris they keep you guessing till the end.