HANDS OF THE RIPPER
UK, 1971, 83 minutes, Colour.
Eric Porter, Jane Merrow, Angharad Rees, Keith Bell, Derek Godfrey, Dora Bryan, Marjorie Rhodes.
Directed by Peter Sasdy.
Hands of the Ripper is an effective horror story. It is yet another look at the Jack the Ripper legend. There have been many versions of the Jack the Ripper story including fictional stories as Hitchcock's The Lodger, and its remake. Jack the Ripper was also linked with Sherlock Holmes in A Study In Terror, 1966. This film was made by Hammer Studios and uses much of its rather gory tradition. However it is well written and interesting as well as horrific and is quite a good addition to the filmology of Jack the Ripper
1. An entertaining horror film?
2. The continued fascination with the story and atrocities of Jack the Ripper? A healthy response? Curiosity?
3. The character of Anna, interesting to explore? Did the audience share Dr Pritchard’s fascination?
4. Did the seeing of the river kill his wife and his kissing of Anna adequately explain Anna’s madness? Could she have been cured?
5. Did Dr Pritchard have the right to bypass justice, experiment with a psychologically dangerous person? How responsible was he for Anna’s killings?
6. Were the number of murders in the film enough or were they overdone and unnecessary – in themselves, in some details? How effectively were they filmed for the development for the plod and audience involvement? Mrs Goulding the medium, Dolly the maid, Long Liz, the prostitute? Madame Bullard, Pritchard, the attempt on Laura?
7. Was the subplot of Michael and Laura important for the film? Laura’s blindness?
8. How did Michael and Laura provide occasion for the characters of Pritchard and Anna to be developed more fully?
9. Was the re-creation of the period effective – not only in the sets but in the characters, the mediums, politician Dysart and his worries and reputation, Freudian studies?
10. How effective was the climax? The symbolism of the final image? Is solitary, individualistic and obsessive medical research destructive?
