Hands of the Ripper [Blu-ray]

Synapse Films Fulfills Its Promise
Back in 2010, a number of film websites announced that Synapse Films acquired the negatives of the elusive three Hammer Film titles which were much sought after by collectors. ‘HANDS OF THE RIPPER’, ‘TWINS OF EVIL’ and ‘VAMPIRE CIRCUS’ all released in 1970 were the only titles not available on Digital transfers . Available in the 90’s on imported Laser Discs or VHS copies, these were the severely edited versions released to US theaters and were not seen since their original theatrical runs in Europe. Well, Synapse kept to their word and released one film each summer restoring the films to their most complete running times culminating in this last title Director Peter Sasdy’s ‘HANDS OF THE RIPPER’, a different type of Ripper film and which emerges as Hammer’s most tragic and poignant film in its repertoire. Heavily hyped as one of the company’s most gruesome titles, it shows how Hammer was particularly scrutinized by the critics for its use of gory set pieces yet US grind house and Drive-in theaters were flooded with European Giallo and exploitation films showing far worse than Hammer ever conjured. It is wonderful that Synapse has allowed audiences that have never experienced the film before to see it for what it truly is, an exercise in psychological terror utilizing a Pygmalion motif and serial killer theme predating the Slasher film cycle by almost a decade. It does boast an excellent cast headed by Eric Porter playing the medical doctor, Jane Merrow as a handicapped heroine and in an outstanding performance, Angharad Rees as Anna, the daughter of Jack The Ripper. The film is one of Hammer’s best and show the direction the studio could have taken if not for the fan hunger for another Dracula/Frankenstein release and more gore along with it. Bonus features includes a 28 minute featurette ‘THE DEVIL’S BLOODY PLAYTHING-POSSESSED BY HANDS OF THE RIPPER showing the evolution of the film and a brief history of its Producer Aida Young with interviews by many writers and actress Jane Merrow and Director Peter Sasdy. Unfortunately, Angharad Rees passed away in 2012 but their is an audio interview with her which is interspersed throughout the featurette. There is a startling motion still gallery of rare images called ‘SLAUGHTER OF INNOCENCE-THE EVOLUTION OF HAMMER GORE’ which highlights the studios gorier moments from their library of titles, the US 1976 Television introduction which was filmed to fill up the running time due to the excessive cuts to the print, a stills gallery for the film, original trailers and TV spots , and an isolated music and effects track only found on the Blu-Ray disc and which gets you to appreciate composer Christopher Gunning’s hauntingly underrated score. The Blu-Ray is in a gorgeous 1.85 1080P transfer with not a blemish or speckle to be found with a DTS-HD MA English 2.0 mono track. This film along with the other Hammer titles belongs in every Horror fans library and hats off to Synapse for fulfilling their promise and allowing audiences to appreciate this underrated title from Hammers heyday.

BD image and features a 5 . Film a 3 .
The print and it’s Blu-ray representation here prompted me to put several Hammer horror Blu-ray titles that I already own on DVD in my wish list in a hurry . That’s some of the very good news . I’d acquired several other similar titles on Blu including Twins Of Evil and Vampire Circus as well as the Amicus film Horror Express . I had not visited these films on Blu-ray yet as I’d seen them (at least once) and now own them . Having tried to watch this particular picture via streaming and having jumped ship about half way through , I didn’t fancy myself a candidate for ownership . Ultimately , I’m a Hammer cat though and finally relented owing to all the favorable reviews here , on the internet and in a couple of quarterly publications I receive . I’m glad I did . As to the film itself , that’s subjective . I “liked” it but was not blown away . To each their own . Again though , prior to owning and seeing this set , I considered it silly (for myself) to upgrade any Hammer title I own on DVD to Blu-ray . That changed dramatically within about thirty minutes of so . Very impressed indeed and the features are fascinating .

Review of the Synapse Films Blu-ray DVD. Another wonderful Hammer horror movie. Very good period piece. Good acting throughout and the movie transfer is very good. Comes with some interesting extras. Well worth the purchase.

Not a bad HD Transfer at all. Not perfect, but on the whole very good. Probably the best it’s going to be, and DEFINITELY better quality than you’d have seen on TV, when it would’ve been shown as a Friday night horror movie in the 1970s/80s. Very watchable, and very Hammer-esc. A great twist on the story of “Jack The Ripper”! But I’m not giving ANYTHING away. Just buy it! It belongs on your shelf and it deserves to be watched.