The New York Ripper Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.0

The New York Ripper Blu-ray Movie Review

Blue Underground delivers a stunning transfer for a classic exploitation flick.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman October 23, 2009

It was good, efficient butchery.

Tucked away in that little corner in the back of the video store, the one that's far away from the cartoons and Comedies and that promises a goldmine of cinematic perversion, sleaze, and brutal violence, sits The New York Ripper, the 1982 Lucio Fulci (Zombi) film that revels in equal parts debauchery and vile grotesqueness. That's all that really needs to be said about The New York Ripper; edited here, banned there, this is a film that lives on "the list" of pictures often deemed too perverse for audiences, decided, of course, by some bureaucrat that has nothing better to do than decide for folks what they can and cannot watch. That's reason enough to give The New York Ripper a watch, and for those that choose to do so, Blue Underground's Blu-ray release serves up the film exactly as it was meant to be seen: slathered in nude bodies, covered in blood, and appropriately cheesy in those scattered scenes that feature fully-clothed individuals and nary a drop of the red stuff in sight. It's certainly not for everyone, but it's nice to know it's out there -- uncut and looking and sounding as good as it does on this Blu-ray disc -- and available for those that dare soak up the perversion.

This can't end well.

The city that never sleeps is about to wake up and take notice of a series of grisly murders. Young women are the target, and the slasher is unforgiving in his method. On the case is Detective Fred Williams (Jack Hedley), and he enlists the help of university professor Dr. Paul Davis (Paolo Malco) to help piece together the clues and save the next victim before its too late. Unfortunately, the ripper is one step ahead. Taunting Williams over the phone and even killing a victim while the detective helplessly listens in, it seems the only hope is that the killer will stumble and leave behind some sort of clue. The police just might have what they are looking for when a young student, Fay (Almanta Keller), survives a brutal attack from the ripper. Though she dreams that the killer is in fact her boyfriend Peter (Andrew Painter), she describes a man with a disfigured hand as her true assailant. As the ripper slashes through the city, leaving a bloody trail in his wake, Williams and Davis must move quickly if they are to unearth the killer's true motive and identity before the city runs out of young women for him to butcher.

This is the sort of film that's somewhat difficult to critique because plot, structure, and acting all take a backseat to the exploitative shenanigans that define the film's very existence. It doesn't matter if the plot is interesting or even makes a whole lot of sense; it's but a means to an end to allow the camera to linger on nude women, erotic encounters, and plenty of blood spilling that, frankly, has nothing on more modern fare like Saw V or The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Sure, there are a few rather unnerving moments -- a razor blade slicing through an eyeball for instance -- but it's so campy and ridiculous that it's often just as laugh-out-loud funny as it is seat-squirmingly intense. To the film's credit, it does piece together a story that's not completely worthless; it's a nuts-and-bolts police procedural outside the sex and violence and there are a handful of twists and turns that aren't immediately obvious, but many viewers won't find much solace in the fact that there's a token plot behind the madness. No, The New York Ripper is exploitation at its finest; it's a mediocre movie that banks on the explicit to win over audiences, though ultimately, it's a love-it-or-hate-it sort, and most won't even have to watch to know what reaction The New York Ripper will engender.

The New York Ripper Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The New York Ripper tears into Blu-ray with a splendid 1080p, 2.35:1-framed transfer. Other than several scratches, speckles, and hairs found here and there over the print, this one's exceptionally reproduced. The image retains a moderately thick layer of grain that does a marvelous job in recreating the gritty and grim tone of the film nicely. Flesh tones often looks rather ghastly, but colors in general tend to sparkle. Whether the glitzy neon lights of one of New York's sleazier districts or the red, white, and blue of an American flag, this transfer does a superb job rendering the entire color palette. Detail is excellent throughout; facial hair, upholstery, brick buildings, and general minutia scattered about the city all lend to the image a good, realistic appearance. The image also features a solid sense of depth that's aided by generally clear imagery; backgrounds can go a bit soft, but foregrounds sparkle. Fans should be ecstatic with the quality of the Blue Underground release.

The New York Ripper Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The New York Ripper slashes into Blu-ray with a solid -- but not astounding -- DTS-HD MA 7.1 lossless soundtrack. The film's famed, dated, and decidedly 1980s title theme is delivered with excellent clarity throughout the entire range. The sounds of the city -- screaming sirens, passing cars, honking horns, pedestrian footsteps, the cry of a ferry's whistle, a gentle breeze, a subway car rumbling down the track, and other assorted goodies -- are heard seemingly exclusively across the front half of the soundstage and adequately recreate the sounds of New York, but listeners will never once be fooled by the track into believing they're in the midst of the Big Apple. Various screams and the killer's psychotic, high-pitched, quacking voice is adequately reproduced, even over the telephone. There are noticeable lip synch issues and obvious dubbing, but dialogue is nevertheless soundly reproduced in every scene. All in all, The New York Ripper's lossless offering delivers a good soundtrack that betters the mono presentation in clarity but doesn't give in to the temptation to go beyond that.

The New York Ripper Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The New York Ripper features but a few fleeting extras. 'I'm an Actress!' -- Interview With Zora Kerova (1080i, 9:30) features the actress who played a particularly sleazy part in the film recalling her experiences with The New York Ripper, from her initial shock at what she was asked to do for the film to her famous death scene. She also discusses some of her subsequent roles, particularly that in Cannibal Ferox, and her memories of the late Director Lucio Fulci. The piece is presented in Italian with English subtitles. NYC Locations Then and Now (1080i, 4:08) looks at how the city's landscape has changed in the years following the filming of The New York Ripper. Also included is the film's theatrical trailer (1080p, 3:20).

The New York Ripper Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The name alone should be enough to ward off potential viewers with no desire to witness wave after wave of nude bodies, stabbings, razor blade slices, stitched-up corpses in the morgue, and plenty of gushing blood; The New York Ripper is the quintessential "off limits" movie that seems only to live in sleazy movie houses, bootleg videocassettes, and that scary back corner of the neighborhood video store. But no more. Blue Underground has released this classic of exploitation cinema for all the world to see, and the results are marvelous. Technically, this is about as good as this one is going to get, and the 1080p picture quality in particular is breathtaking for a movie of this sort. Unfortunately, the supplements are few, but fans of trashy cinema should make this a permanent member of the Blu-ray collection. Recommended.