Hands of the Ripper

I am an enthusiastic fan of the Hammer Studios, and my admiration for this brilliant Production Company gets greater with each film I see. The Hammer Studios are most famous for their films made in the late 50s and 60s, most prominently for the (awesome) "Dracula" and "Frankenstein" series. As far as I am considered, however, some of Hammer's films from the early 70s are just as brilliant as their older successes. One of their greatest and my personal favorite of their films, the brilliant "Vampire Circus" was made in 1972, for example, and the early 70s also brought a variety of other classics, such as "Dr Jekyll & Sister Hyde" or "Scars Of Dracula", which is easily the nastiest entry to Hammer's Dracula series. "Hands Of The Ripper" of 1971 is yet another great Hammer production that is immensely atmospheric, genuinely creepy, well-acted and stunningly suspenseful, and an absolute must-see for every Horror-fan.

As a toddler, little Anna has to witness the murder of her mother by her own father - none other than the notorious serial killer Jack the Ripper himself. At the age of seventeen, Anna (Angharad Rees) lives at the house of an elderly lady, a phony medium who is perfectly willing to leave her 'granddaughter' to rich 'gentlemen' for money. After this 'grandmother' is brutally murdered, the rich doctor John Pritchard (Eric Porter), a humanist and follower of Siegmund Freud, decides to take custody of poor Anna, both out of sympathy and for research reasons...

"Hands Of The Ripper" is a vastly underrated Hammer gem that is ingenious in many aspects. The film is immensely creepy and scary, with a suspense level that is higher than in most Hammer flicks, and the murders are brutal and very bloody. The atmosphere is eerie and tense and, as usual for Hammer, the film is shot in great Gothic locations. The performances are great. Eric Porter delivers an excellent performance as Dr. Pritchard, and Angharad Rees deserves special praise for her outstanding performance in the role of Anna. All said, this is a shamefully underrated film. Creepy, stylish, excellently acted and stunningly suspenseful from the beginning to the end "Hands Of The Ripper" is a great gem from Hammer that no lover of Horror can afford to miss!

I'm a big fan of Hammer Horror; their inventive camp styling puts their output above the majority of other horror studios. Adding to that is the fact that when you watch a Hammer film, you know that you're in for a good time. While Hands of the Ripper isn't the best film to come out of the studio, it still represents another success for the studio and it's a film that will no doubt delight their fans. The great plot line follows the daughter of the infamous murderer; Jack the Ripper. After witnessing her father kill her mother, the young girl is permanently scarred and now, years later, her past is beginning to surface. The film finds a space between a psychological thriller and the familiar 'slasher' sub-genre (and it's yet another film in this style that pre-dates Halloween), and it blends brilliantly. The first thing you will notice about this movie is the way that the murders are done - stylishly, brutally and extremely camp! They're extremely over the top and a great treat for the horror fanatic.

Eric Porter stars as a psychiatrist who takes our heroine in after she murdered the woman who was looking after. Porter gives a fine performance as the good doctor, and keeps in with the style of the older leading male that Hammer have created. The film is noteworthy for it's excellent creation of the period in which the film is set, and that too adds to the delight of the film. One thing that I have noticed about Hammer's product as they entered the seventies is that the films lost that colourful camp edge that epitomised the earlier films and it had been replaced by a more European style. Captain Kronos is the prime example of that change, but luckily Hands of the Ripper is more like the Hammer films of yore. Not as colourful, but it still has that Hammer charm that us fans love so much. As usual, the film isn't quite perfect; it's dogged by a less than perfect script, and at times the psychological elements of the film ground down to walking pace, which makes the film boring; but generally this is a lovely piece of kitsch and Hammer fans won't be disappointed!

Anna (Angharad Rees) suddenly begins murdering any other young female who unluckily crosses her path. All for no apparent reason. Dr. Pritchard (Eric Porter), a psychiatrist, believes that she's suffering from schizophrenia and needs proper care.

Since it's the Victorian era, psychology is in its infancy, and considered by most people to be tantamount to voodoo.

Pritchard has his work cut out for him, as Anna continues her rampage. Then, things take a strange turn into the realm of the supernatural.

HANDS OF THE RIPPER is another superb film from Hammer studios...

'Hands Of The Ripper' is one of the most interesting Hammer movies. An odd mixture of Edwardian costume drama, pop psychology and proto-slasher gore, which may not be 100% successful, but it does make for some fascinating viewing. Eric Porter (who some may remember from the 60s TV series 'The Forsyte Saga') is perfectly cast as the detached and driven Dr John Pritchard who unexpectedly encounters Jack The Ripper's daughter Anna (the lovely Angharad Rees). She has no idea of her background and is working for a fraudulent medium that Pritchard and his son visit. After Anna is implicated in a brutal and bloody murder he "adopts" her, and hopes to unlock her secrets using the new fangled theories of one Sigmund Freud. Can he help this confused and potentially lethal young woman before she kills again? I leave it up to you to find out. While I don't rate this one quite as highly as many, I thoroughly enjoyed it, and it is yet another example of just how most of Hammer's output has been largely underrated over the years.

While just a young child, Anna (Angharad Rees) witnesses the brutal murder of her mother by father ‘Jack the Ripper'. Fifteen years later she begins to enter trances and appears to be possessed by the Ripper himself. A friendly psychiatrist, Dr. Pritchard (Eric Porter), unaware of her past and believing her problems to be purely in the mind takes Anna in while he attempts to cure her. However, he soon regrets his decision.

‘Hands of the Ripper' is a rather underrated and enjoyable Hammer film. The film is slow, methodical and story based which may not appeal to those who like lots of `action' in their flicks, but anyone who likes classic horror wonderfully entwined with a near-gripping thriller should find something enjoyable in ‘Hands of the Ripper'. Director Peter Sasdy does well in building the tension and ensuring that the audience remains enthralled throughout the slower paced thriller aspects. Peter Sasdy does his best in making the most of the screenplay and adds some wonderful touches to the visuals of the film which really stand out and help to make the movie what it is. The sporadic flashback sequences may not be entirely original in horror but few are quite as effective. Some beautiful and often despairingly solemn musical arrangements accompany the film and induce the necessary mood in the viewer in order to fully appreciate this interesting piece of cinema.

The film is made all that better by some great performances from Eric Porter, Angharad Rees and Derek Godfrey in the short role of Dysart. Unfortunately, while one expects a certain degree of camp from a hammer movie, there did seem to be a slight overabundance of camp or hammy performances from some of the cast. However, one can take solace in knowing that the majority of these moments were towards the beginning of the film. Sadly, the poor performances were not the only thing that damaged this movie. There was an occasional lack in useful dialogue which lead to some of the scenes seeming distracted or unbelievable. This was accompanied by a couple of scenes which seemed bizarre and incoherent in their reasoning of the characters actions.

Nevertheless, the film manages to entertain and should hold the interest of fans of other Hammer films. Compared to modern day horror movies, ‘Hands of the Ripper' is a slow moving film that probably has little appeal for the `nu-horror' fans but fans of classic horror should find the film to worthy of at least one watch. The death scenes may be a little of an anti-climax and there are some storyline problems, but ‘Hands of the Ripper' is an entertaining movie that seems to be rather underrated. A bizarre yet enjoyable mixture of horror, thriller, period drama and the work of Sigmund Freud. My rating for ‘Hands of the Ripper' – 7/10.