New York Ripper, The

The New York Ripper (1982)

I’m not sure if I would consider this a slasher or an ultra violent giallo, but either way the movie delivers a bloody good time. A serial killer who has a penchant for carving up young women is terrorizing New York City in this bloody Fulci directed outing. Not only that but he likes to call the police and potential victims and speak to them in a silly “Donald Duck” voice. A police detective tries to track down the killer with the help of a psychologist, who seems to be more interested in who is paying for his services then actually catching the killer. But then the cop doesn’t seem to want much to do with the case either. That is until the killer makes it personal and the cop’s favorite prostitute is killed. Eventually by working with the only survivor of the killer’s attack they eventually figure out who the killer is and bring the nightmare to an end.

This is one of those movies that is light on plot, but makes up for it by being over the top with the gore and sleaze. The story is hard to follow at times and the audience is expected to accept some pretty big coincidences. There are also parts to the film that tend to wander around with characters being introduced at random throughout the film. Hell even the cop’s “girl” is only introduced to be killed off by the maniac without any attempt to explain why. But if you are looking for a finely crafted narrative why are you watching a slasher movie? More importantly why are you watching one from Lucio Fulci? The performances are about as good as you can expect given the script that the cast has to work with. I can’t imagine how the actors tried to come up with characterizations when the plot is silly and makes no sense at times. This makes for a couple of abrupt changes in personality for the characters, which I again attribute to the script. But then where else are you going to hear great dialogue like when the coroner (pointing to a victim’s crotch) says the classic line, “he started at the joy trail”. I’ve never heard a disemboweling described that way before. Oh and I almost forgot the sleaze. Lets see we have live sex shows, much female nudity, prostitution, grubby foot sex in a pool hall, and a killer who guts women starting at their naughty bits. Now is Fulci awesome or what?

But there are only two reasons to watch this movie, and they are good ones. First of all is the killer, who after the reveal doesn’t look special at all. But the voice used in the phone calls taunting the police is brilliantly twisted because it is Donald Duck. I’m sure they can’t actually say it for fear of the Disney “beat stick” but it clearly is. Long before I knew anything else about this movie I had heard stories about the voice, so it is a pretty big deal. The other reason to watch this movie is the gore. The effects in this movie are incredible, including the brutal killing of a prostitute that involves the killer taking a razor blade to the woman’s chest and carving her nipple in half! I consider myself a seasoned connoisseur of gore, but goddamn that is over the top and awesome. This my friends is why I’m a Fulci fan; the guy just didn’t know when to stop.

So lets review, shall we? The movie has a weak plot and honestly can be slow when the killer isn’t doing his thing on screen. But there is plenty of sleaze in the dialogue, a live sex show, some hot toe in the panties action, and of course a Donald Duck voiced killer. This movie is a definite must for Fulci fans and gore hounds. Plus if you just are a sleazy son of a gun then check it out as well.

3 out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer