| Review | Jack the Ripper (1988) | Director | David Wickes |
|---|---|
| Writer | David Wickes and Derek Marlowe |
| Cast | Michael Caine, Lewis Collins, Ken Bones, Armand Assante, Ray McAnally, Lysette Anthony, Susan George, Jonathan Moore and Jane Seymor |
“Somebody somewhere knows something!” – Abberline
The mystery surrounding Jack the Ripper and his killing spree has fascinated amateur sleuths as well as bona fide detectives for well over a century. Much of said mystery stems from the fact that the killer was never caught and many theories have emerged as to his identity. I’m far from a scholar in Ripperology but I have seen a number of films concerning the character, read one book and spent some time on the web reading this and that concerning the Ripper. Four films in my collection cover the investigation of the murders and reveal the identity of the culprit; “A Study in Terror” (1965), “Murder By Decree” (1979), “Jack the Ripper” (1988) and “From Hell” (2001). All the films are good and, more importantly, all arrive at the same conclusion as to who the Ripper was. The film in the spotlight here details in the beginning that the filmmakers were granted authorization to look into the official files so it’s fairly likely that many arrived at the same conclusion…as scandalous and nearly unbelievable as it is. But many scholars on this subject claim to have definitively proved the identity of the Ripper as someone not as noteworthy as these four films do.
“A Study in Terror” and “Murder By Decree” are more fictional in that they both put Sherlock Holmes as the detective on the case. “From Hell” is the only film to really amp up the bloodletting and terror and “Jack the Ripper” is the most fact based and procedural film on the subject.
A reign of terror descends over the Whitechapel district in London in the year 1888. A prostitute named Mary Ann Nichols is discovered butchered in the streets. Assigned to the case is Inspector Frederick Abberline (Caine) and Sergeant George Godley (Collins). Right from the get-go there are a number of things that lead the pair to deduce that something is off with this simple homicide. For one; the victim was so horribly mutilated and torn apart that the gruesomeness can’t have been incidental; another is that the removal of some organs point to at least a basic knowledge in anatomy and surgical skill and; an inquest is held the next day so as to give the detectives very little time to collect evidence. Abberline and Godley interview hundreds of witnesses but find no clues. Soon another prostitute is killed, Annie Chapman (Deirdre Costello), and pressure mounts on Abberline to produce a culprit as the townsfolk grow restless. Things really escalate when two other prostitutes are killed, Elizabeth Stride (Angela Crow) and Catherine Eddowes (George), and Abberline’s best guess has a link to the Royal family.
“Jack the Ripper” was a TV film in two parts (totalling 198 minutes – some call it a miniseries) and it really benefits from it’s relaxed runtime. A lot of effort on part of the detectives on the case is well covered and receives a lot of screentime and shows well how they arrived at the conclusions. Interesting to behold are their interactions with seer Robert James Lees (Bones) and actor Richard Mansfield (Assante) who was actually a suspect as he was portraying Dr. Jekyll in the production of “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” in London at the time and was most convincing in his transformation scenes. Also portrayed are scenes showing the public unrest that was mounting which further urged the capture of a culprit and even reduced the authorities to remove possible clues from the public eye to prevent outrage. Since this was made for TV there’s not a lot of bloody mayhem on display but the Ripper’s atrocities are conveyed well enough to the audience nonetheless. The only aspect here that feels like padding is Abberline’s relationship to drawing artist Emma (Seymor) but thankfully it doesn’t occupy a lot of screen time. Director Wickes keeps things moving along nicely and those atmospheric Whitechapel streets at night sure look ominous.
This was a handsomely mounted production and the look of the film is fantastic. The film obviously had a healthy budget and it was produced to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the Whitechapel murders. Authentic London locations are well utilized and technically speaking everything here is first rate. The cast is solid too. Michael Caine gives a terrific performance as Abberline and that’s no surprise as the veteran performer can always be relied upon to give his all whether he´s acting in Oscar worthy films or bottom of the barrel trash. Collins is rock solid as his partner, Assante is enjoyable as the narcissistic actor and Bones is really fine as Lees. In fact; every part is well cast though I did find Moore a bit too cartoonish as a newspaperman.
Like I said earlier; I’m no expert on Jack the Ripper but a little net surfing showed that the historical inaccuracies were at least fairly few here compared to other films concerning the character. His identity will always be shrouded in mystery and undoubtedly continue to inspire further speculating. The theory presented here is very well pieced together, very entertaining to watch unfold and certainly a juicy piece of conspiracy theory for those interested in the English elite in the 19th century.
Physical Copy
My copy of “Jack the Ripper” is the region B Blu-ray issued by British label Network in 2017. The image is simply fantastic but I viewed the film in it’s original 1.33:1 television ratio. The restoration job here is terrific and the mono audio sounds just fine. Included as a special feature on a separate disc is a Widescreen version with a 5.1 sound mix. I haven’t viewed it and I doubt I will since I’d rather see these television productions presented as originally screened. Then there’s also a featurette called “Rushes - Barry Foster Version”. - Jack the Ripper was originally planned as a Thames Television videotaped drama starring Barry Foster as Abberline. This was cancelled part-way through recording when American co-funding became available for a bigger budget production. The raw studio recordings are all that remain of the original version.
Why physical copy?
I always encourage the acquisition of physical copies as I dread the day when films will only exist as files on computers and through streaming services. The companies that put the effort into making the discs, create new artwork or reproduce the originals, issue booklets and much more deserve all the financial support they can. Therefore I will always mention the Blu-rays or DVD’s (and yes; also if I review something streamed through Netflix or the like) even though I gain nothing from it personally.
