Ripper: Lettre de l'enfer

I paid £1.49 for this and I'd say I got my moneys worth. As you'd expect it's very derivative of most films of this genre and treads a fine line between credibility and hokum.

However it's not cringe-inducing bad and I'd probably rate it a lot higher if it weren't for the lack of a clearcut resolution at the end. Even the Director's Commentary failed to shed any light on the definitive solution, basically saying it's up to the audience to decide for themselves - acceptable in a more highbrow production but a bit annoying for a film of this level.

Still I've seen a lot worse and it's worth the small change from anyone's pocket!

When people ask me what are some of the best things in life, I being a horror guru reply, a good direct-to-video horror flick. Straight on the heels of above average (or well above average) direct-to-video horror movie such as, Cube, Ginger Snaps, Cut, and The Truth About Demons, comes the latest DTV installment, Ripper: Letter From Hell. While one may find the premise to be undeniably cliched (it is), the film comes off stylish and ultimately becomes engaging as the body count increases in a most elaborate fashion.

Now for that all-too-familiar premise: Molly Cook, young woman who survives the attack of a sadistic killer now finds herself in a college course studying serial killer theories. When the people around her begin to die, she believes a new serial killer is hunting them down, imitating the slayings of Jack the Ripper.

The killings in Ripper: Letter From Hell, are much more extensive than the average slasher film. Horror fans are used to seeing the killer show up, swing his weapon of choice, and then the scene is cut, going back to the more boring part of the movie. In Ripper, the killer spends more time with his victims, making them scream in agony, stabbing them to death, and then heaving them through a window, or ramming them off a cliff and leaving them to hang onto a rock before finishing them off.

The direction by John Eyers keeps the film moving along at a brisk pace. While the editing tends to be a little MTV-ish at times, it is not overdone. The fast action editing actually works well and adds to the brutality of the killings in the movie. The beginning comes off as a Brothers Grim-like fairy tale with the serial killer's pursuit of Molly through a dark, rainy, forest. The scene in the club where the camera follows the trail of blood from the ceiling and onto the dance floor, is one of the most stylish murder scenes I have seen in a while and dare I say it, reminded me of those elegant murder scenes from the Italian giallos of yesteryear.

There are some major set backs in the film such as a highly unlikeable cast of characters. A.J. Cook (Molly) holds her own and is a convincing lead character. She gets support from veteran actor Bruce Payne. The script has more than a dozen ridiculous lines as one user pointed out, "Shut up!"..."No! You shut up!" However, dialogue in the class lecture scenes about Jack the Ripper are impressive and well researched.

The ending is a grand showdown as the killings become even more graphic and intense. The handful of suspects begin to wind down, and although you may have it figured out who the killer is, you'll be flip-flopping back and forth until the final scene. It's a beautiful scene, without giving anything away, as we are given a glimpse of 1800 London. It's an ending you will either love or hate or just not grasp entirely.

Ripper: Letter From Hell is a stylish, well orchestrated effort and deserves a spot with the recent array of worthy direct-to-video horror movies.

Molly Keller (A. J. Cook), the only survivor of a violent massacre when she was sixteen, is now a student enrolled in a forensic science course at Berkeley. When her fellow classmates start dying at the hands of a mystery killer, who is following the modus operandi of the infamous Jack the Ripper, she suspects that the murderer from her past is back to finish the job.

Molly and the remaining students from her study group pool their profiling talents in an attempt to discover the identity of the maniac.

Director John Eyres directs this slab of stalk 'n slash with both eyes firmly fixed on the teen market, and what may have been a nice addition to the genre becomes an annoying and unwatchable piece of garbage due to its MTV trappings. So obnoxious are the trendy narcissistic teens that make up teacher Marshall Kane's (Bruce Payne) class of wannabe Clarice Starlings, that you'll find yourself rooting for the killer. Main character Molly is perhaps the most annoying character of all; her emotionally troubled, spunky, grunge-chic heroine is carefully designed to appeal to the widest possible teenage demographic; angst-ridden loners, trendy fashion followers, horny guys—she's supposed to appeal to them all. Well I'm not a teenager anymore, and I hated her with a passion! And while I'm having a rant about the students, could someone please explain to me how they all became so damn erudite. From hacking into a police computer undetected, to conducting an autopsy, to fixing a satellite dish, nothing seemed to be beyond their capabilities.

And now onto the death scenes. The first murder is the most impressive—a multiple stabbing followed by defenestration—and it is also the bloodiest. The rest of the killings are relatively gore free and disappointing. The nastiest deaths actually occur by accident, when two characters fall in front of the whirring buzz blades of a sawmill.

Toward the end of this drivel, which at 115 minutes is way too long, I gave up following the ludicrous plot. There was some rubbish about the victims sharing the same initials as those killed by Jack the Ripper, a pointless (non-explicit) sex scene, and various characters were revealed as red herrings. The finale is completely confusing and I ended up unsure as to who the killer really was.

Apparently, the director deliberately wanted the ending to be ambiguous, with the viewer making their own mind up about who was responsible. Well I'm not going to be ambiguous about what I think of this film—it was awful.

When I saw the title and cover I was hoping that the movie would be like "Ripper" (videogame 1996 starring Christopher Walken). It was an excellent game that combined the old legend about Jack the Ripper with cyber technology. The result a "killer" thriller. But sadly I have to report that "Ripper: Letter from Hell" is nothing like that game. It is just a slasher movie with a very pretentious story. First of all there were some good moments. But overall I missed tension. The murders seem brutal and bloody, but the violence isn't explicit. Also a big problem is that the characters are not very likable. So you won't care for them if they die. The only exciting thing is wanting to find out who the killer is. When the characters have a dialog in one scene it somehow doesn't connect with what happened before the scene. I got the feeling that scenes were missing. This should not have been a problem if the the story was straightforward and clear. This is not the case. The story is confusing as hell. (Maybe that is why we would need a letter to explain things.) And if you were hoping for a decent climax than you will be disappointed. The way it is presented leaves room open for different interpretations. Normally I would love such an ending. Here it isn't very effective. The ending doesn't clear up motive for the killings. Also the connection between Jack the ripper and the killer is not explained very well. There is very little background given on the original Jack the Ripper murders. Assuming that you are not familiar with the murders committed by Jack the Ripper you could easily put some other famous serial killer in his place. The end result would be the same. Since good old Jack still makes quite the impression today he deserves much better treatment. I could have forgiven the pretentious ending if the movie would have been entertaining and exciting but as I said earlier the movie lacked tension and is quite boring. Jurgen Prochnow and Bruce Payne should be ashamed with their performances. It clearly shows that they don't believe in this project and only are in this movie for the money. You know I get it sometimes you have no choice but to be in certain films in order to make a living. But is it that too much too ask that once you are involved you can give it a little effort.

I know that like me some of you will be intrigued because of the name Ripper but believe me that nothing remotely interesting has been done with it. A giant waste of your time.

In this one, someone is killing students at a college campus using the same techniques as London's very own Jack the Ripper. The students try and catch him. The audience falls asleep.

This is another misogynist fantasy in which several young women are brutalised by a killer with a stainless steel kitchen knife. One of the suspects looks and acts like a young Bobcat Goldthwaite, Bruce Payne proves once again that he's Britain's most embarrassing export since Julian Sands, and Jurgen Prochnow, as a twitchy detective, continues his regrettable career slide. Rubbish.

Oh, and although I'm no expert on the history of serial killers, I think I can safely say that Jack the Ripper never ran any of his victims over in a jeep.