D V D C R Y P T

THE NEW YORK RIPPER

Directed by Lucio Fulci
Written by Gianfranco Clerici, Vincenzo Mannino, Dardano Sacchetti & Lucio Fulci
Cinematography by Francesco De Masi
Music by Luigi Kuveiller
Cast: Jack Hedley, Almanta Suska, Howard Ross, Andrea Occhipinti, Alexandra Delli Colli, Paolo Malco, Cinzia de Ponti & Zora Kerova

1982/93 mins/Color/Dolby Digital Mono
2.35:1 anamorphic/English/Italy/NTSC Region 0

Review from the Anchor Bay Entertainment DVD

An old and tired New York police detective teams up with a psychoanalyst to find a blade-wielding maniac. He's on the loose killing young women the most vicious and vile way imagineable. Can they find him before the Big Apple turns bloody red?

Due to its extremely violent crimes against women, the movie has been accused of misogyny. And why would that be? Well the killer brutally uses his razorblade on the victim's face, eyeball, throat, breast and there is one very nasty nipple slicing sequence. Plus, the women in the film are either victims or sexual object. Zora Kerova (here called Zora Kerowa) of CANNIBAL FEROX fame, has a broken bottle rammed into her vagina. Yet for me, this hybrid of slasher and giallo makes THE NEW YORK RIPPER one of the last great exploitation flick of the 1980s and Lucio Fulci's last great film.

Apart from William Lustig's 1980 masterpiece MANIAC, no other movie represent New York City in such a cold, raw and corrupted place as in Fulci's film. And there's actually no doubt that pretty much everyone in this film actually get what they deserve.

Like all of Fulci's movies, we get plenty of extreme close-ups of the eyes of every characters. The whole explanation of the killer's motive and why he uses that Donald Duck voice turned out a huge letdown. Catherine McColl of Fulci's CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD, THE BEYOND and HOUSE BY THE CEMETARY was first offered the lead role but turned it down.

The movie was heavily censored for its US theatrical release. It was later released pan & scan on video in 1987 by Vidmark with a running time of 87 minutes. It wouldn't be until 1994 that Cine City would finally released it "uncut" and letterboxed on laser disc. This edition had a 91 minutes running time.

Anchor Bay released THE NEW YORK RIPPER as part of their Lucio Fulci collection. Finally all of the violence, sleaze and repulsion was made available for fans to witness. The movie is presented in its original 2.35:1 aspect ratio and it is anamorphic. The image is grainy. The Dolby Digital Mono English track sounds good but it's nothing spectacular. There's also the theatrical trailer and bio on Fulci. The movie is separated n 25 chapters, features static menus with music, an inlay card and comes in a red keep case.

The movie has been released numerous time on DVD. In Autralia, Stomp Entertainment released its with a 87 minutes running time, PAL Region 0. In Holland, Italian Shock Entertainment released the movie in NTSC even though the package reads PAL. Both edition feature English audio track, the trailer and a image slideshow as the only extras. It was also released by DFW with an anamorphic transfer, English audio and Dutch subtitles. Astro and Laser Paraside both released their edition in Germany, the later being a "Blood Edition". In Japan, Creative Axa released the movie in full screen NTSC. In France, Neo Publishing released the movie with a running time o 93 minutes (NTSC standards-coverted to PAL). This edition has French, English and Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono. It also features a commentary track with a Fulci "historian", trailer, bios, photo gallery, 16 pages booklet and many long interviews with cast and crew. The image is also much clearer and brighter. So it's not wonder that this is the edition to get.

(Original title: LO SQUARTATORE DI NEW YORK)

Image:

Audio:

Extras:

Packaging:

This Film Features: