New York Ripper

Introduction

All's not well in the Big Apple as there's a killer on the loose preying on attractive young women and making taunting phone calls to the police, in which he manically quacks like a duck. With no leads and the only evidence on the autopsy slab, Lt. Fred Williams (Jack Hedley) turns to famed psychoanalyst Dr. Paul Davis (Paolo Malco) whose speciality is serial killers. All they know is that the killer is left handed and uses a sharp blade, probably an open razor, to mutilate his victims before killing them.

As the victims start piling up, they are able to use the phone calls and M.O. to narrow down the search.

Although set in New York, this is very much a Giallo, and particularly a Lucio Fulci film. Using frequent collaborators such as his cinematographer of choice Sergio Salvati, together with three other writers who were no strangers to controversy: Gianfranco Clerici (Cannibal Holocaust), Vincenzo Mannino (The Antichrist) and Dardano Sacchetti (Zombi 2).

Video

A very clear picture with some typical Fulci gore (look out for the eyeball slice!) which looks great though not entirely realistic and some lovely cinematography which really enhances the tension although it's a shame that the picture is letterboxed and not presented anamorphically.

Audio

The Dolby Digital 2.0 mono soundtrack is clear with decent dubbing that doesn't sound out of place and a pretty good score by Francesco De Masi.

Extra Features

You get the theatrical trailer and the Shameless forthcoming attractions reel that's also available separately on the main menu.

Conclusion

Lucio Fulci has always been a director whose strength lies in gore rather than tension and this is the case here: the murder scenes are, pardon the pun, executed brilliantly but the film falls down somewhat when the narrative drifts and fails to hold your attention. Fulci and the other three writers introduce so many characters with flaws and possible motives that there are more red herrings than you'd find in a fishmongers so, by the end, I was genuinely surprised by the murderer's identity.

Whilst not entirely successful as a taut and well-constructed Giallo, this nevertheless provides interesting viewing for gorehounds and is great to see available on DVD - it was refused a certificate when given to the BBFC for their perusal before a theatrical release. Some cuts remain because of the Video Recordings Act (1984) and its stance on sexualised violence (the cuts were of "a naked and bound woman's stomach and breasts being mutilated with a razor"). This version is as complete as you're going to get in the UK and, to be honest, the brief cuts, totally 34 seconds, don't bother me much but, if you want to watch the film as Fulci intended, you're going to have to import the Swedish version. As it stands, the omissions aren't noticeable so there's no problem with watching this - some films look butchered when cut, this doesn't.