THE NEW YORK RIPPER Review On "Violent Maniac's Cage"

NEW YORK RIPPER, THE

ALSO KNOWN AS: The Ripper.

(Italy, 1981)

DIRECTED BY: Lucio Fulci.

One of Lucio Fulci's better gore films. Unlike Gates Of Hell or House By The Cemetary this one is less on the cheesy side, except for the duck voiced killer. We have a sex murderer who during the film knocks off around four girls in various grotesque ways. A dectective with the help of a college prof (Paulo from HBTC) seek out the deranged lunatic. There's quite a bit of style to this film and you won't be able to guess who the killer is until the final confrontation. There's a lot of softcore sex and nudity in this as well so take note. The killers duck voice is really cool and adds a comedic touch to an otherwise serious film.

The detective narrows down the killer to a gigelo who is found dead later on himself. A victim of the Ripper who managed to escape him ends up stopping him(sort of). It turns out the killer is actually this victims boyfriend who is killing because of the guilt facing him due to a young bed ridden girl. As with most Fulci films there is absolutely no character development and most of the characters are unlikable including the detective hunting the killer.

The murders are quite gruesome. We have a woman who while writing an obscene message on a mans car she ran into earlier on her bike gets offed on a ferry in that car. She is cut from the crotch up and her breast is also sliced along with her throat, all is shown. The second victim who is a live sex show adult performer has a broken bottle shoved between her legs messily. The next lady gets cut from the crotch up and she is slashed in other various ways.

The victim who escapes is slashed on the leg but in a dream sequance she is killed by her boyfriend (hint,hint) in a cool sort of Dario Argento fashion. The worst murder sequance has a naked chick whom the detective after the killer had a sexual encounter with. The young lady is slashed in close up down the stomach, across the nipple in close up and across the eyeball in every gory detail (with thanks going to Italian grue efx master Gino De Rossi).

Finally the guys girlfriend who escaped the ripper finds out that he's the killer. she stabs him until he falls down some stairs. She approaches him and he gets up quacking, frantically wrestling her to the ground. While he is on top of her the detective rushes in and shoots a nice sized hole through the killers head quite big for a handgun actually, nice gore scene though even if it looks fake. Before this ends we see that young girl who the killer felt guilt for suffering in her hospital bed. This is definetly one of Fulci's better movies and its even better with LBX.

Rating: 3½ Skulls

Review by: Richard J. Taylor

Email: rtaylor@roadrunner.nf.net

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