3-Disc Limited Edition 4K Remaster
Label: Blue Underground
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 93 Minutes
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.40:1)
Audio: English 7.1 DTS-HD MA, English 1.0 DTS-HD MA Mono, Italian 1.0 DTS-HD MA Mono, English Dolby Digital Mono, English 5.1 Dolby Digital, Surround EX, Spanish & French Dolby Digital Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Director: Lucio Fulci
Cast: Jack Hedley, Almanta Keller, Howard Ross, Andrea Occhipinti, Alexandra Delli Colli, Paolo Malco, Cinzia de Ponti, Cosimo Cinieri, Daniela Doria, Zora Kerova
In Lucio Fulci's notorious and controversial 80's slasher film The New York Ripper (1982) we have a misogynist killer on the loose in NYC viciously slashing young women to death with a razor-knife. The killer has a strange vocal affectation, sounding a lot like a sadistic Daffy Duck, which comes off as a bit ridiculous, offering a sickly tinge of humor to contrast to the graphic killings of women throughout the film. The film opens with a man playing fetch with his dog under a bridge, a horrified look washes over his face when the dog returns from the nearby bushes with the decaying hand of a woman in it's mouth.
Investigating the case is a conflicted NYPD Lieutenant Fred Williams (Jack Hedley, Witchcraft) whom the killer taunts via phone, which is taken to the next level later on in the film when the killer dedicates a murder to the detective, forced to overhear the murder of his prostitute lover Kitty (Daniela Doria, Black Cat) from a payphone. The cop teams-up with psychology professor Dr. Paul Davis (Paolo Malco, The House By The Cemetery) who helps him create a psychological profile of the sicko serial killer, but it seems to do little good as the bloodied corpses of women continue to pile up.
As the film plugs along the killer continues ripping women, including a bicyclist (Cinzia De Ponti, Manhattan Baby) who the killer corners while she's vandalizing a car on the Staten Island Ferry, and a sex-performer (Zora Kerova, Cannibal Ferox) gets a impromptu hysterectomy with the jagged edge of a broken wine bottle in her green-lit dressing room! Then there's a bored housewife type (Alexandra Delli Colli, Zombie Holocaust) who has an open marriage with her impotent doctor husband, ending up slashed in the hallway of an apartment building after a night of rough-sex with a three-fingered murder suspect, and that's after she's been seduced by a trio of men in a seedy bar, a seduction involving the use of a bulbous big-toe. This big-toe scene for me is far and away the most disturbing part of the film, even if she hadn't ended up slashed to ribbons she definitely would have been self-applying some gyne-lotrimin the next day to take care of what surely would have been a very painful yeast infection.
Fulci's 80's films were prone to offend, and I sort of love his punk rock nihilism, his apparent glee at pushing buttons and getting under viewer's skin with the profane, but I don't think that this sickie slasher is as misogynist as some would have argue. The killings are certainly vicious and prolonged with women meeting a violent and bloody end, but the women themselves are actually likable, independent and free-thinking. The killer on the other hand is the true misogynist, and when his motivation for the killings are revealed in the final frames it's a bit silly, even the duck-voice he employs is explained in the final few seconds of the film.
The plot and storyline of The New York Ripper is not very deep, far from Fulci or screenwriter Sacchetti's best collaboration, but the film looks great and has a solid score, plus the kills are ferocious, making this a notorious entry from Lucio Fulci a must-own for fans.
Audio/Video: Fulci's The New York Ripper arrives on three-disc Blu-ray/DVD/CD from Blue Underground with a brand new 4K restoration sourced from the uncensored original camera negative, and it looks terrific. Grain appears organic throughout, the colors are vibrant and textures are lush and velvety, this really is an outstanding restoration. Black levels are deep and inky with some excellent fine detail coming through, this easily blows away the 2009 Blu-ray release from Blue Underground.
Audio comes by way of English DTS-HD MA 7.1 and DTS-HA MA Mono 1.0, plus Italian DTS-HD MA Mon0 1.0 with optional English subtitles. The mono channels offers a clean and crisp sound reproduction, but the 7.1 has a richness that hard's to deny, spreading the Francesco De Masis (The Hanging Woman) score and atmospherics to the surrounds, but as usual I tend to prefer the mono presentation for these English-dubbed Italian productions.
With the A/V nicely buttoned up Blue Underground go the extra mile with a set of extras that push this release over-the-top, beginning with a new audio commentary from author Troy Howarth, author of 'Splintered Visions: Lucio Fulci And His Films'. Howarth has been a favorite commentator of mine these past few years, offering studied insights into the film, the cast and director, along with his personal opinions about the film. Pretty much any new commentary from Howarth makes a genre release a day one pick-up for me, and in this case it's only the tip of the iceberg as extras go.
Other new extras include a series of new interviews in conducted in Italian with English subtitles, beginning with a 30-min chat with screenwriter Darndano Sacchetti, 13-min with actor Howard Ross, 18-min with poster artists Enzo Sciotti, 12-min with actress Cinzia de Ponti, and 10-min with Zora Kerova.
There's also an English-friendly 23-min appreciation by Stephen Thrower, author of 'Beyond Terror: The Films of Lucio Fulci', which is a definite highlight of the set for me, he being one of my favorite taking heads when it comes to Lucio Fulci and Jess Franco. Thrower offers plenty of anecdotes about the making of the film, and placing it in context of Fulci's career, addressing claims of Fulci's misogyny, the controversy around the film and the ensuing censorship.
Also carried over from the previous release are a 10-min interview with Zora Kerova plus a 4-min then and now location featurette, both of these coming from the previous 2009 Blu-ray from Blue Underground.
Extras are buttoned up with an extensive gallery of images including lobby cards, stills, movie posters and various home video releases. Also included is a 20-track CD soundtrack containing the score from Francesco De Masis, which is a great extras, plus the accompanying DVD features the same 4K restoration and duplicate extras in standard-definition.
The three-disc release comes housed in a clear over-sized Blu-ray keepcase with three trays housing the Blu-ray, DVD and CD discs, plus a 20-page booklet containing a new essay, "Fulci Quacks Up: The Unrelenting Grimness of The New York Ripper", loaded with lobby cards and movie poster images, plus cast and crew info, a chapter selection for the film and a track listing for the CD. This release comes with a reversible wrap featuring the original movie poster and an alternate artwork by Enzo Sciotti. The alternate artwork is also featured on the very cool 3D lenticular slipcase. I am absolutely loving these three-disc limited edition sets from Blue Underground, they look stunning and are packed with extras and high-grade packaging.
Special Features:
- Audio Commentary with Troy Howarth, Author of Splintered Visions: Lucio Fulci and His Films
- The Art Of Killing - Interview with Co-Writer Dardano Sacchetti (30 min) HD
- Three Fingers Of Violence - Interview with Star Howard Ross (16 min) HD
- The Second Victim - Interview with Co-Star Cinzia de Ponti (13 min) HD
- The Broken Bottle Murder - Interview with Co-Star Zora Kerova (10 min) HD
– I'm An Actress - 2009 Interview with Co-Star Zora Kerova (10 min) HD
- The Beauty Killer - Interview with Stephen Thrower, Author of Beyond Terror: The Films of Lucio Fulci (23 min)
- Paint Me Blood Red - Interview with Poster Artist Enzo Sciotti (18 min) HD
- NYC Locations Then and Now (5 min) HD
-Theatrical Trailer (3 min) HD
- Poster & Still Gallery (69 Images) HD
- THE NEW YORK RIPPER Original Motion Picture Soundtrack CD by Francesco De Masi (29 Tracks)
- 20-Page Collect able Booklet with new essay by Travis Crawford Travis,
Fulci's mean-spirited slasher has never looked better on home video, the nipple-slicing bit of sleaze gets a definitive 4K restoration from Blue Underground, absolutely on par with their excellent restorations of Lucio Fulci's Zombie (1979) and William Lustig's Maniac (1980). This definitely has me looking forward to their upcoming 4K restoration of Gary Sherman's underrated slice of the macabre, Dead & Buried (1981).
