There are a handful of films that even with my jaded tastes make me wanna soak in a shower for hours, lathering myself up until my lumpy frame wrinkles up like a prune. One of note that does just that incredibly well is Lucio Fulci's highly controversial, The New York Ripper. Censored just about everywhere it's been released because of it’s over the top sadistic violence towards women,The New York Ripper has a special place in many a gore fans black heart. It's truly a unique beast as it's not only horrific but it's also hilarious. Shameless Screen Entertainment has taken this Video Nasty on by creating the most complete version ever to be released in the UK. This Shameless Blu-ray release, although slightly cut, is still the longest version of the movie available.
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Lucio Fulci's daughter, Antonella Fulci, kicks off the Blu-ray release with a brand-new introduction to the feature. She also appears in the discs other extra features, but we'll hit on that later. For those of you not in tune with the plot - what there is of it - of The New York Ripper, there's a serial killer running around with a straight-razor slashing and gutting women around the Big Apple. The ladies don't just get stabbed or sliced - their brutally mutilated by this menace. To make things more interesting (or ridiculous) the psycho quacks like a duck.
Leave it to Lt. Fred Williams (Jack Hedley, For Your Eyes Only) to save the day..err at least until the bodies pile up to a sufficient amount to please Fulci. The acting is pretty bad in The New York Ripper and the horrible dubbing doesn't help either. It really doesn't matter though as this film is all about the Grand Guignol antics. You get the impression after viewing The New York Ripper that Fulci didn't care what people thought. He set out to put on screen what he wanted whether it offended or not. This is why he's truly one of a kind.
(Spoilers)
The gore is a big part of what makes The New York Ripper a near genius exploitation film. British censorship seems to have some dislike towards Fulci's sickie though. Thankfully, Shameless has gone back and forth with the BBFC to make this Blu-ray complete. It's almost there. One victim is getting tortured and slashed up by the quacking maniac with small razor. The one bit cut from the film is a nipple slicing that the ripper performs on the bound woman. Would I like to have had this scene in? Yes. I will say though the editing is very well done so it really isn't noticeable unless you've seen the film several times like I have. I still think there are much nastier scenes in the film aside from the one in question. Alexandra Delli Colli's character, Jane, gets cut from her vagina up through the top of her stomach. That and all the other grue are present in Shameless' version as is the rampant sex and perversion that takes this feature into a special realm of sleaziness. What's different about this release as opposed to previous incarnations? There is some additional footage of the professor. While not earth shattering it's still interesting to see the new footage added.
Shameless has done an excellent job on the transfer. It's really quite lovely at times and noticeable early in the film. During the opening scene that shows a man playing fetch with his dog, it's especially vibrant in its detail. The audio is clear and on par with the picture quality. The English dub is available as are subtitles and an option for the original Italian language track.
The extra features include some excellent liners by the the always thorough genre scholar, Stephen Thrower. There are also some new interviews with Antonella Fulci and writer Dardano Sacchetti. The featurette runs at just about twenty minutes and is an enjoyable watch that touches on some specifics on the production. Naturally, the sadism the film is so famous for is covered as well as some other Fulci bits. Antonella seems to be quite proud of her father and his legacy amongst the genre community. Shameless has also included an extensive trailer reel of many of their Euro-trash releases. There are dozens compiled here - including their upcoming releases of Almost Human and Torso.
(Spoilers)
The gore is a big part of what makes The New York Ripper a near genius exploitation film. British censorship seems to have some dislike towards Fulci's sickie though. Thankfully, Shameless has gone back and forth with the BBFC to make this Blu-ray complete. It's almost there. One victim is getting tortured and slashed up by the quacking maniac with small razor. The one bit cut from the film is a nipple slicing that the ripper performs on the bound woman. Would I like to have had this scene in? Yes. I will say though the editing is very well done so it really isn't noticeable unless you've seen the film several times like I have. I still think there are much nastier scenes in the film aside from the one in question. Alexandra Delli Colli's character, Jane, gets cut from her vagina up through the top of her stomach. That and all the other grue are present in Shameless' version as is the rampant sex and perversion that takes this feature into a special realm of sleaziness. What's different about this release as opposed to previous incarnations? There is some additional footage of the professor. While not earth shattering it's still interesting to see the new footage added.
Shameless has done an excellent job on the transfer. It's really quite lovely at times and noticeable early in the film. During the opening scene that shows a man playing fetch with his dog, it's especially vibrant in its detail. The audio is clear and on par with the picture quality. The English dub is available as are subtitles and an option for the original Italian language track.
The extra features include some excellent liners by the the always thorough genre scholar, Stephen Thrower. There are also some new interviews with Antonella Fulci and writer Dardano Sacchetti. The featurette runs at just about twenty minutes and is an enjoyable watch that touches on some specifics on the production. Naturally, the sadism the film is so famous for is covered as well as some other Fulci bits. Antonella seems to be quite proud of her father and his legacy amongst the genre community. Shameless has also included an extensive trailer reel of many of their Euro-trash releases. There are dozens compiled here - including their upcoming releases of Almost Human and Torso.
The New York Ripper gets a very solid release by the folks at Shameless. Fulci completists will be pleased to see the additional footage and extra features on the disc in addition to a sound restoration of one of the most vile slashers ever produced. Quack! Quack!
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