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JACK EL DESTRIPADOR DE LONDRES/JACK THE RIPPER OF LONDON1971 | |
| Cast: Paul Naschy
(Bruno Dorini), Patricia Loran (Lulu), Andres Resino (Winston Darby
Christian), Renzo Marignano (Commisioner Gambit), Orchidea De Santis,
Franco Borelli, Irene Mir Director: Jose-Luis Madrid Producer: Jose-Luis Madrid/Cinefilms & International Apollo Films Sceenplay: Jose-Luis Madrid, Jacinto Molina, Tito Carpi Music: Piero Piccioni
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Spanish poster currently unavailable |
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| A low budget and
generally lackluster direction hamper JACK EL DESTRIPADOR DE LONDRES from
realizing the promising possibilities strewn throughout a concise,
moderately interesting script. Naschy plays an ex-circus performer who,
wrongly suspected of being the contemporary version of the famed serial
butcher, must hide away from the police as he tries to avenge the murder
of his wife. Oddly enough, he doesn't get much to do, except drink at pubs
or in bed and get into fights. In fact, he is more a secondary character
than anything else. The teasing tension evoked by certain P.O.V. shots
notwithstanding, the greatest fault of the film lies in playing the
killings so matter-a-factly. They are set up with little suspense, almost
no explicit gore, and no revealing nudity. For a Jack the Ripper film (and
one made in the 1970s) this is an inexcusable sin. Even the poorest
Italian gialli exhibited some exploitation scenes that made them
noteworthy, but this joint Spanish-Italian production steers clear of
such, leading one to suspect the existence of a "harder" version.
[Source print: Video Search of Miami 83 minute version, titled JACK THE MANLGER, which is a dupe (a few generations removed) of the Italian print of the film, 7 CADAVER PER SCOTLAND YARD/SEVEN BODIES FOR SCOTLAND YARD. The video quality is fuzzy, but VSoM's own exclusive English subtitles are clear and easy to read, and right now the only way for Anglos to understand the film. Apparently an English-language version once existed. Its discovery, which would hopefully recover whatever sex and violence may have been shot, will mandate a revised opinion of the film.]
Top left and
right: Italian posters
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