THE NEW YORK RIPPER (1982) (Blue Underground 3-Disc Limited Edition Blu-ray Review)

THE NEW YORK RIPPER (1982) 

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).

 

ANTHROPOPHAGOUS (1980) (Severin Films Blu-ray Review)

ANTHROPOPHAGOUS (1980) 

Label: Severin Films 
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 90 Minutes 
Region Code: All regions.
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.66:1)
Audio: English and Italian DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono with Optional English Subtitles 
Director: Joe D'Amato
Cast: George Eastman, Tisa Farrow, Saverio Vallone, Serena Grandi, Zora Kerova

Italian gore film Anthropophagous (1980) is a pretty well-known video nasty, a gut-munching slice of bad-movie making from notorious director Joe D'Amato (Beyond the Darkness) about a group of tourists who set sail to a tiny Greek island only to discover that the place is strangely uninhabited. Among the group we have siblings Alan (Saverio Vallone) and his psychic sister Carol (Zora Kerova, Cannibal Ferox), Carol's boyfriend Daniel (Mark Bodin, Alien 2: On Earth), couple Maggie (Serena Grandi, Delerium) and Arnold (Bab Larson, Angelfist) who are expecting a child, and newcomer to the group Julie (Tisa Farrow, Zombie) whom they've only just met. Exploring the island they find no one around, everyone on the small island community seems to have disappeared, except for a mysterious woman in black who keeps her distance when spotted. As the sun sets the group settle into a mansion for the night, where they are startled to find a young blind woman named Henrietta who leaps from a barrel of wine with a knife, superficially slashing an unsuspecting Daniel. In a state of shock the traumatized girl tells the group of a flesh-eating madman who has been stalking the island murdering everyone in sight, saying she can tell when he's near because she can smell the blood! 

The bloodthirsty madman turns out to be a disturbed man named Nico (writer of the film George Eastman, 1990: The Bronx Warriors) who we find out through a flashback was stranded at sea with his wife and young son. Starving he turned to cannibalism to survive, a horrific act that drove him to the point of insanity. Somehow returning home he set about slaughtering everyone in sight and hiding their bodies around the island, and now he has set his sights on the newly arrived strangers!

Unfortunately after an initial killing of a tourist couple at the start of the film, which includes a meat cleaver to the skull, the film settles into a slow-burn of character build-up with the small group, becoming a real slog with only a few atmospheric moments to keep you plugged in, namely an ominous tarot card reading on the sail boat courtesy of psychic Carol. 

As the group continues to explore the island they discover a few corpses that look to have had their faces chewed off, and soon enough they begin to fall prey to the gut-munching maniac themselves. The deaths begin with the maniac decapitating the head of a sailor, it's a ridiculous set-up, with the pregnant woman freaking out when she discovers that the bucket she is soaking her feet also contains the sailor very fake looking head. The lunatic then abducts the poor pregger Maggie, later ripping her unborn child from her womb and eating it in one of the film's more notorious scenes! The film is a bit of a slog but it does offer up some truly memorable gore-gags, aside from the womb-ripping we also get a throat tear, a throat slash, a pick-ax to the guts, a suicide by hanging, and the eating of ones own intestines, all pretty memorable stuff. 

The good gore is appreciated but the film is languidly paced and not particularly well-shot, the plot is a bit of a predictable bore and the characters all make bone-headed decisions prior to their demise, so it has a lot going against it, but if you're just in it for a few gore-gags it has that going for it, but if this wasn't a video nasty I doubt it would be as notorious as it has become. George Eastman does what he can with the killer maniac role, lumbering around with rotting teeth, his blistered and decaying skin peeling right off his face, but the staging and execution of the film is rather poor. Enhancing the film quite a bit is the cheesy-synth score from Marcello Giombini (The Eerie Midnight Horror Show) whose sickening synths conjure up some real nausea at points. 

Anthropophagous is a bit of a plodder, sure it definitely delivers the gore, but it's just too bad we don't get a more stylish presentation to deliver the skinned-rabbit gags, but it still manages to get by on gore and cheap atmosphere, but just barely. 

Audio/Video: Anthropophagous (1980) arrives on Blu-ray with a new 2K scan from the original 16mm camera negative, presented in 1080p HD and framed in 1.66:1 widescreen, with 'The Savage Island' title card. The new presentation looks solid with some good detail and textures coming through, the grain is uniform but also pretty ugly looking. The film does show it's age and limitations with minor print damage seen throughout and the blacks aren't as deep as you would hope for, but I will say that it's a serious upgrade from the old Shriek Show DVD. Audio on the disc comes by way of English and Italian DTS-HD MA Mono 2.0 with optional English subtitles. Either option sounds about the same as as fidelity goes, the English track is slightly more robust, but boxy and strange sounding as expected. The score from Marcello Giombini (The Eerie Midnight Horror Show) benefits the most from the lossless audio bump, the sickening synth sounds pushed all the right buttons for this sort of film. 

Severin do not skimp on the extras, beginning with a new thirteen-minute interview with writer/star Luigi Montefiori [a.k.a. George Eastman] who discusses how he came to work with D'Amato and why he enjoyed working with him, discussing their career together, admitting he thinks that this film is shit, and commenting on why D'Amato never went on to do more mainstream movies. Actor Saverio Vallone shows up for 13-minutes to discuss his leading role in the film, working with D'Amato, how he began his career working behind the camera. 

There's also a brief interview with FX Artist Pietro Tenoglio who discusses his collaborations with D'Amato, and how some of the gruesome gore was achieved using skinned rabbits and pig skin. Editor Bruno Micheli gives a brief recounting of his career working with D'Amato, co-editing with his sister, and touching on why he stopped working with D'Amato, describing him as a gifted man, though saying not quite as gifted a Fulci, lol. 

There's also a vintage interview with Actress Zora Kerova, not sure when this was filmed but she was still looking real good! She speaks about her early career in music and modeling, her work with D'Amato on this film, and her friendship with Tisa Farrow and George Eastman. All of the interviews are in Italian with English subtitling. 

The single-disc release comes housed in a cool-looking black Blu-ray keepcase with a 2-sided sleeve of artwork, we get the familiar illustration of George Eastman;s maniac chowing down on his own intestines, plus an alternate artwork featuring the wine-drenched character of Henriette emerging from the wine barrel with knife in hand, not sure if this is a new design or a vintage one, but I dig it, it's my preferred display option! The disc itself has has the Eastman gut-munching illustration on it. 

Special Features: 
- Don't Fear the Man-Eater- Interview with Writer/Star Luigi Montefiori a.k.a. George Eastman (13 min) 
- The Man Who Killed the Anthropophagus - Interview with Actor Saverio Vallone (14 min) 
- Cannibal Frenzy- Interview with FX Artist Pietro Tenoglio (6 min) 
- Brother and Sister in Editing- Interview with Editor Bruno Micheli (7 min) 
- Inside Zora's Mouth- Interview with Actress Zora Kerova (10 min) 
- Trailer 1 (3 min) 
- Trailer 2 (3 min) 
- Trailer 3 (2 min) 

Anthropophagous (1980) certainly deserves it's video nasty infamy, the gore is stomach-churning, but the movie is poorly made and a real slog at times, simmering for far too long before culminating in a satisfying spree of blood and guts. The new Blu-ray release from Severin looks about as good as it ever could, keeping an aged cinema cheese patina, with Severin packing in some cool extras.