Review of Hands of the Ripper (1971) by Stuart K — 23 Apr 2012
From Hammer, directed by Peter Sadsy, (Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970) and Countess Dracula (1971)), this is a refreshingly dark and beautifully lavish change to the usual kinds of horror films Hammer made at that time.
It showed a more psychological side, but with room for bloody violence, but it's maybe Hammer's best looking film. It begins at the house of a bogus seance, held by Mrs. Golding (Dora Bryan), one of the participants Dr.
John Pritchard (Eric Porter) discovers Mrs. Golding's guardian Anna (Angharad Rees) has been the voices behind the seances. But, when Mrs. Golding turns up dead, Dr. Pritchard takes her in, unhappy at seeing her share a prison cell with prostitutes.
Dr. Pritchard wants Anna to live with him, his son Michael (Keith Bell) and his blind fiance Laura (Jane Merrow). But, when Anna psychologically kills the maid Dolly (Marjie Lawrence), Dr. Pritchard believes something psychological is causing this to happen, and uses Freudian experiments to get to the cause of it, but Anna ends up leaving the house, and going on a rampage.
It's much more cerebral than other Hammer Horrors, but it's got a very good cast and beautiful sets and lavish cinematography. This is the sort of direction Hammer should have gone in, but they were well into their downfall by then.
Pity really.
This review of Hands of the Ripper (1971) was written by Stuart K on 23 Apr 2012.
Hands of the Ripper has generally received mixed reviews.
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