new york ripper

The essay included in Blue Underground's 3-Disc Limited Edition of Lucio Fulci's The New York Ripper boldly proclaims, "This is the type of horror film our mother's warned us about!" And that statement couldn't be more correct. This is a film that wallows in sex, sleaze, and gore in a way that, even by Italian standards, pushes the boundaries of bad taste. And yet, perhaps because it's so artfully shot while being fearlessly inappropriate, it's more compelling than almost any other exploitation film out there.

Sometimes it takes a foreign director to uncover the hidden beauty (or dark underbelly) of locations we all take for granted. The maestro of Italian gore, Fulci had several nauseating set pieces to his credit already in the early '80s. But he gets the most out of his visit to New York this time around, with surprisingly effective use of famous iconography, including a beautifully filthy 42nd steet contrasted with the stunning NYC skyline. The opening murder sequence on the Staten Island Ferry is so gorgeous it makes you wonder why another director didn’t think of it first.

Speaking of which, The New York Ripper is essentially a hack-n-slash remake of Brian De Palma’s Dressed To Kill. But Fulci goes straight for the jugular, showcasing some of the most gruesome murder sequences of his career. There's not a genuinely sympathetic character in the bunch, so each gruesome fate is by and large deserved. But claims of misogyny are certainly warranted as the victims are all women who are mutilated in the most elaborate manner practical sfx could manage at the time.

Yet it’s how Fulci mixes the violence with sexual perversions big and small that makes Ripper such a prime example of over-the-top Italian excess. No matter how you feel about the content, there’s no denying that Ripper is an elegant looking film, even more so now thank to Blue Underground's 4K restoration. The unbelievable transfer is a big selling point, but it's accompanied by a huge slate of extras plus a CD soundtrack of Francesco De Masi's eclectically catchy score and collectible 3D lithograph packaging.