MY REVIEW OF IT

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NEW YORK RIPPER(1982)
(Directed by Lucio Fulci)

Plot: A serial killer preys on women in New York, and it’s up to a detective and psychologist to stop him.

Review:

“New York Ripper” is Lucio Fulci’s controversial film. That in itself is pretty impressive, considering Lucio Fulci’s filmography is full of them. I mean, “Don’t Torture a Duckling” didn’t get much of a release, most of his films were banned form the U.K, and movies like “Ghosts of Sodom” were so horrible, you simply wish you never watched them. Anyway, “New York Ripper” not only was banned from the U.K, but all copies of it were deported from the country. Yikes! It’s also the one Fulci movie that has fans almost completely divided. People think that it’s either genius or crap, which is even more diverse than “Zombie”, which is another movie that you will either like or hate.

Before I go into the actual movie, I want to bring up a few common criticisms of the movie. The first is that it’s misogynistic. I really hate that word, especially when it’s brought up in movies. If a guy kills only guys, do people complain about that? No, and I don’t think feminist critics should complain either. Furthermore, I don’t think the movie is misogynistic, as the only likeable character is female. In this movie, man and women suck equally. People often mistake a misogynistic character(which this movie has plenty of), for the movie being misogynistic. None of these characters are sympathetic, so this criticisms are biased and annoying. The second is that people tend to think this movie is boring. I think it’s because slashers usually are so…absurd, even to the point of almost being fantasy(“Halloween” and “Friday the 13th” are obvious examples), that we tend to enjoy it a lot more. “New York Ripper” is bleak, depression and we find ourselves not enjoying these murders at all. Fulci attempts to disturb us, not entertain us. So keep that in mind as to why so people hate this movie.

Here is ultimately what I love about this movie, even though I don’t really love it. It opens with a shot of New York, which is interesting considering it’s an Italian production. Most of it seems to be shot on location, so you don’t get any laughable “Do not entry” signs which were present in “The Beyond”. The shot gives New York a very attractive and peaceful appearance. Our guards are slightly let down when we see a man walking his dog. He plays fetch with the dog, but it comes back with a rotting hand. The credits begin and some tacky music plays. By this point, we’re already drawn into the true New York(according to this movie), which is ugly and grimy. But we’ll go into that a bit later.

We are quickly introduced to Lt. Fred Williams, who is ultimately the main character, even though it doesn’t always feel that way. He is interrogating an annoying Landlady about the dead girl. First real criticism: The characters feel like foreigners interpretations of Americans based on American movies, not real life Americans. But now forget that, because then we follow an attractive girl on her bike. She accidentally runs into the guys car. She apologizes, her excuse being she was thinking about Boston(??), but the car owner doesn’t care. Her basically insults her for being a woman. She calls him an *beep* and rides off. When she arrives at a Ferry, she finds his car and begins to vandalize it. Then she is suddenly killed by the ripper, who uses a Donald Duck voice when he kills her. This instantly sets the tone. Humanity sucks, and this movie is going to be pretty tacky if the killer uses that duck voice. But we were already tipped off to the last part with the music. A lot of people complain that Fabio Frizzi, who scored the last few movies, didn’t return for this one. In fact, most of Fulci’s collaborates really didn’t want anything to do with this project, but I don’t see that as a complete detractor. I love Frizzi and all, but his music is often even cornier than this.

Anyway, the coroner tells Williams that he thinks the most recent dead girl was murdered by the same man who killed the first one. He says something along the lines of “I’ve seen plenty of dead girls”, and this reminds us of one of Williams early lines, “12 people die in New York a day, half of them are women”. This treats misogyny as something of a tragedy, but also touches on the feminist perspective of this. Half of the victims being female means half are male. But we bring us the females as if that’s worse. I really doubt that Fulci intended these lines to represent something, but this is what I got from it. Anyway, Williams brings in psychoanalyst Dr. Paul Davis to help evaluate the killer. Along the way we meet Jane, a married nymphomaniac, as well as Faye, the good girl. We also meet Peter, Faye’s boyfriend and Mickey, a suspicious gigolo.

The characters are part of the reason that this movie works. Unfortunately, this also brings up another criticism. They really have no arc or any development. There are static characters that remain static. However, that doesn’t mean they aren’t interesting. Williams is a stereotyped detective, but what makes him interesting is what an unlikable hero he is. He’s rude, he’s indifferent and he is entirely unsympathetic to the victims. Yet he is always human. He’s middle aged, but not married and spends his time with a prostitute, who almost treats as his wife. When the prostitute is in peril, we see him immensely conflicted between his image and his duty. Jane isn’t much different. She’s married, but it’s an open relationship so even though she screws around, she isn’t really cheating. People who call this film misogynistic towards women probably will use Jane as an example, as if she represents all women. If someone attempted to rape her(and two people KIND of do), she’d probably let them and get into it. Yet one close-up on her face shows how lonely she is as well. Her life of glamour and sex is simply sugarcoating her misery. Paul is my favorite character in the movie. He’s interesting, amusing but he also treats the case without passion. He even says in a quite upbeat tone, “Now we wait for another murder”. He’s also revealed to be homosexual, but isn’t open about it. He’s just as repressed as the rest of the cast. Then we have Faye, the good girl. In truth, she’s pretty boring, which may have been the intent. She always seems cheery, but drops this façade once. However, there is an alternate interpretation of this scene so that just makes her more boring. Peter and Mickey are less in importance and really feel more like plot devices, but that’s okay.

Now let’s get back to New York and the part it plays. How do I describe most of the characters? Repressed and lonely. They use sex to make up for it, whether it’s looking at gay magazines, screwing prostitutes, going to live sex shows, or killing women by stabbing them in their vaginas. Er…..Anyway, while there is a murderer, the true villain itself seems to be New York. Here, New York is simply a place where people can enact their shallow fantasies. But there is no love, even familial. Characters are lost, ready to be swallowed whole by the city, including the murderer. Society being the cause of problems is a common Fulci attribute. “A Lizard in Womans Skin” slams the higher class society and the problems it causes, and “Don’t Torture a Duckling” did this with the rural folk. “New York Ripper” attacks everyone. No one is spared. The movie actually has a huge downer ending. Even though the murderer is defeated, which is what happens in all giallo, so don’t think I’m spoiling it for you. There is no sense of victory. You feel that in the end, everyone lost. But then it cuts to those wide shots that were present in the opening shots of the movie, showcasing New York as being peaceful and attractive. So you know that it’s probably all going to happen again, which Williams and the Coroner keep reminding us throughout the movie. Someone else must suffer.

Lucio Fulci does very good as the director. Sure, the movie isn’t as lyrical as “The Beyond” or as stylish as “A Lizard in Womens Skin”, but it has it’s own tone and it’s pretty effective. At times it is haunting with its strong sense of decay. This decay causes some very sexual scenes to feel more menacing than sexual. In fact, this movie does work as a good cold shower. He handles the suspense well, shining especially during Jane learning she might be in bed with a killer and the train station sequence. In fact, the train station sequence was very surreal in its use of colors. It’s use of red, blue, purple and green colors made for an interesting feel. The editing is sharp as well, and I liked how scenes flowed together.

“New York Ripper” is a very nihilistic and cruel movie, portraying an evil New York filled with emotionally dead inhabitants. The extreme gore and disturbing content is likely to turn you off. You might either find this movie to be offensive, or simply boring. But I admire it for it’s ambiguous twists, it’s interesting characters, wacky direction and dark cinematography. It might not work for you, but it did work for me, even with its flaws.

Jack Hedley(Williams) is perfect casting as the detective. He simply feels like he was born to play a burnt out cop. Paolo Malco(Dr. Paul Davis) is the most interesting character as the psychoanalysis. Alexandra Delli Colli(Jane) brings depth to what could’ve been a one dimensional nymphomaniac. Antonella Interlenghi(Faye) reminded me of Catriona MacColl(“House by the Cemetery), who apparently was the first choice for the role but she turned it down. Anyway, she does fine but she has little to work with. Howard Ross(Mickey) blended creepiness and a rough charm as the mysterious gigolo. Andrea Occhipinti(Peter) does good as the detached boyfriend. Even though the dubbing is occasionally off, the acting is pretty good. Look out for Lucio Fulci’s cameo as the chief who has the worst dubbing of them all.

Violence: Not Rated: NC-17 worthy with some of the most graphic kills to come from a non-supernatural slasher. They are often sex related, so you get some nipple slicing and women being stabbed in the genitalia. The eyeball scene is one of the most disgusting moments in the history of cinema.

Nudity: With the exception of Faye, I think every women gets naked and shows just about everything. There is lots of sex in many different forms. There is a scene that can be argued as a rape scene, but being she gets into it pretty quickly……..oddly, there is no real rape, even though there is lots of symbolic rape. I mean, a knife is a pretty phallic symbol.

Overall: “New York Ripper” isn’t a movie I’d recommend to everyone. There is nothing fun about it. But it is pretty disturbing, and I’d definitely recommend it to fans of Lucio Fulci in general, although you might not necessarily like it.

3/4 Stars

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