azathothpwiggins
Walking along the harbor, a man's dog makes a gruesome discovery. Lt. Fred Williams (Jack Hedley) is on the case, of what turns out to be a series of grisly murders by THE NEW YORK RIPPER. Someone is stalking and mutilating young women, all while quacking like Donald Duck! The killer also speaks, sounding like "Fats" the ventriloquist dummy from MAGIC! Williams teams up w/ an expert named Dr. Paul Davis (Paolo Malco- HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY), in order to track down the madman. Simultaneously, a bored, sexually-starved doctor's wife (Alexandra Delli Colli- ZOMBIE HOLOCAUST) indulges in everything from live sex shows, to indecent, anonymous foot massage! Yikes! Containing his usual gore overkill, this could be Lucio Fulci's most crackpot film, due mostly to an obsessive focus on the perverse and lurid. In this story, just about everyone's a pervert, creep, or perverted creep! Delli Cossi's character in particular, is so reckless in her adventurous endeavors, as to beggar belief! Sleazy from start to finish, the mega-violence is just the bloody icing on the meat cake. It's understandable to a point, in that Fulci is exploring the 42nd Street underbelly, but this movie takes it to its ludicrous extremity! Today, in the internet-driven world, such a film is rather quaint, even farcical. It plays more like a parody of its subject matter, though that may not have been Fulci's intent...
MonsterVision99
This movie its amazing, not only is it a well made giallo but its also one of the sleazier ones, one of my favorite Lucio Fulci movies, there's gore, nudity and even better, one of the most memorable killers on cinema history, a killer that talks like Donald Duck, just genius, the movie its you typical giallo or slasher movie, there's a killer who kills people and the police must catch him, but its the way its done what really matters, Fulcis direction its very spectacular in all of his movies, in this one hes a bit more subtle than in something like The Beyond, but still very good, there's a lot of debate regarding to who the killer is, many people suggest its one of the people who helped to catch him or the character that's the more likely to be, the father, the characters are great, they are all sleazy bastards, there are great quotes on this movie and some memorable moments, its great.
m_n_tomlinson
Anyone expecting some low grade, squalid video nasty is going to be sorely disappointed. This is one of those films that's much better than its reputation suggests. What we actually have here is a highly intelligent and articulated thriller! Sure there is some of the Fulci trademark gore, but in this case it's better handled, more taut, and less excessive! The film also utilizes some great location shots in and around New York, and the camera-work and editing is top notch! I found the film to be outstanding in it's competence, and wish there were more out there like this. This is a work of an experienced director and crew and not amateurs. I fear it may have been banned, cut and trashed mainly due to it's association with the director's name, and the highly evocative and chilling, but iconic title of the film! Finally I found what could have turned out to be silly.. the maniacal quacking of the Ripper to be inspired and genius. This alone raises the movie 'beyond' the realms of your standard murder, mystery and suspense fare!
gridoon2018
"The sickest movie ever made!", proudly proclaims one of the many different DVD covers for the "New York Ripper"; I wouldn't go that far, but it's certainly one of the sleaziest and most misogynistic. If that's what you're after, you probably won't be disappointed. If, on the other hand, you're looking for a good mystery, you probably will be: there are only two real suspects for the killings, and one of them is soooo obvious that you know it has to be the other (despite one last-minute dishonest red herring thrown in by Fulci - I'm talking about the last phone call). And then there are a couple of Hall Of Shame lines, like "we know from his blood sample that he's lived all his life in New York"!!! The on-location New York shooting and Francesco De Masi's score give the film a flavor of authenticity, but otherwise Fulci's directorial style is mostly point-and-shoot (or is that point-and-slash?) this time around. As for the cast, only Jack Hedley provides a center of sanity here, though Almanta Suska is not bad considering this was her first screen role. I will give "New York Ripper" ** out of 4 because it's certainly memorable in parts, but from an artistic point-of-view it has little value.
AD
