Jack the St. Ripper Review from The Enchanted Architect!
Now and then along comes a film like Jack the St. Ripper that challenges the viewer. At first glance said film seems to be aimed at one type of audience, likely repelling people from the other groups. The subject at hand is comparable to the outcries surrounding 2017’s Torment (see review here).
For anyone who doesn’t recall or are unaware, Torment was a film based around the crimes of John Wayne Gacy. Graphic and brutal, the violence hardly bothered anybody – the nude men did! I made a point once or twice on social media that the obvious unease revolving around the whole scenario wasn’t in fact anything to do with nude men, it was the fact that had nude women been involved, being sadistically messed with etcetera, would have been a whole different ball game. Yeah, blokes don’t have a problem with that. Torment challenged totally what is deemed the normal. On top of that, a man was suffering, truly suffering. I enjoyed it! I totally adored the reactions as well. Reality is a grim thing to face.
I imagine Jack the St. Ripper could garner some similar fallout. Before we go on, a quick interlude on George Nervada. The last time I entered his truly twisted fucked up world was back in 2017, as I viewed Scarecrowd (see review here) a totally way out of control vision of fuckery involving a few things which shouldn’t have made much sense but did all wrapped up in a nice Golden Age of Italy cinema feeling.
Using a script by Severed Cinema poster boy, Domiziano Cristopharo, George has totally switched up everything, ready to absolutely nail your eyes to murders. Our base of operations for the film is a group of young muscular mainly bearded men who are in a dance group of trainee strippers. The first few minutes and credits roll consists of slow motion like dreamy visuals as they dance and pose a bit while really beautiful piano music plays. I’m a sucker for piano. I own a lot of albums with simply pianos (sometimes violins and things too) and it all began in the early ‘90s when I watched Nekromantik. The haunting scores enthralled me… but that’s another story… on with the now…
There’s a few noticeably familiar faces (including Cleverson Rodrigues of Poe 4: the Black Cat – see review… and 7 Sins – see review…) among the gaggle of men who gather in the showers afterwards to watch a newcomer in their midst as he showers in slow motion. Jack is longhaired, rugged, and tattooed. Facing the shower wall, he doesn’t notice their stares until he turns and they see his smaller penis. Then the jibes and jokes begin.
Afterwards the guy who trains the men, Fred, attempts to befriend Jack, who is wary but kind of approachable. Soon we see his home life which involves his rather suspicious Mother who lays in her bed accusing him of so much and later being rather religious. I’m getting Carrie vibes here. An amusing moment has her watching Scarecrowd on her TV. Hey, the mum is actress Chiara Pavoni! I haven’t seen her for a while. She’s usually called upon to deliver a solid performance within many Domiziano flicks (and a few by others in his carnival) achieving just that! Solid and quality.
What is noticeable by the way is the extraordinary touch of VHS flickers throughout the film. And the colours are slightly worn giving us a brilliant ‘80s blast. Jack is taken by Fred to meet a guy called Mark, played by yet another recognisable face (if you’ve watched many creations by this large and ever expanding circle of fiends) Mark Thomas-Ashworth of Deep Web XXX (see review here). He is auditioning potential entertainers in his gay club including a semi-nude cowboy strumming a guitar whilst singing House of the Rising Sun. The added worn tape lines are far more noticeable over that part… hmm…
Ruben (Cleverson) has a shot. He admits to all present that he does nothing, but he has something… unzipping his pants many eyebrows raise. Meanwhile behind the scenes, gloved hands inject something into a bottle. Jack gets his turn on stage to gestate and dance with a crucifix. Hahaha, the tape is worn again. That made me laugh due to reminding me of many decades ago I found a WWF wrestling video tape whilst walking around with my mum ‘n’ dad. Being that we watched wrestling, we sat and viewed it. Great show in fact, but we all burst out in hysterics as one worn out part of the tape happened to be Miss Elizabeth removing her skirt to distract the opponent. Bless, the previous owner would have sweated so much over that minute or so.
It all goes to pieces when it’s revealed that Jack has padding in his briefs and he collapses in stress. Mark is unimpressed, telling Fred he is never to set foot in the club again. Ruben is highly amused. However, it’s after this point that the killings begin and they are plentiful.
For those who cannot step beyond their narrow closed in prejudices and fears, well to hell with them because they are missing a film that is incomparable to any other. Jack the St. Ripper is a fluid and visually marvelous giallo. All said and done this is practically a Domiziano movie, with a different director helming the shots. However, both men are identical in their way of bringing out colours and the darkness in shots.
I should and will devote a section to the completely jaw-dropping audio experience which is the soundtrack. Piano and melodies switch up to classical, then to thumping ‘80s electronic. This is all any cult music collector needs and has to hear. A classical tune is used to prelude the arrival of our masked and gloved killer, playing in another room to draw the victim through.
The only negative I can find with and see unfortunately falls upon some of the FX work. A splash of overly CGI’ed blood, a plastic severed ear, but more than not the work hits the right areas. That’s a small grumble because Jack the St. Ripper is a decent homage to the splatter fests a lot of us grew up with and truly great artwork. The choice of lighting makes this suitably creepy and nostalgic giving out a warm feeling deep inside.
Long term horror lovers recall their younger days because the memory and influences scar deeply forever more. So, it’s nice to relive it all via something new now and then instead of just re-watching the older classics and hunting out forgotten obscurities. Thanks George and Domiziano.
Directed by: George Nervada
Written by: Domiziano Cristopharo
Produced by: Domiziano Cristopharo, George Nervada, Coulson Rutter
Cinematography by: Domiziano Cristopharo
Editing by: Domiziano Cristopharo
Music by: Alexander Cimini
Special Effects by: Athanasius Pernath
Cast: Alexio Cohen, Fabrizio Occhipinti, Chiara Pavoni, Mark Thompson-Ashworth, Cleverson Rodrigues, Antony Ferry, Gabrielle Bergere
Year: 2021
Country: Italy
Language: Italian (English Dubbed)
Colour: Colour
Runtime: 1h 24min
Studio: Enchanted Architect
