Tacticalin
An absolute waste of money
Maidexpl
Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast
Dynamixor
The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.
PaulyC
This movie qualifies for a certain category. That being"Cheesy, 80's Horror." A tired and worn out cop, must investigate the murders of several women brutally cut up with a knife by a killer who kills his victims talking in a duck-like voice. No joke. He even taunts Police by calling them and talking in the same "duck" voice. Believe it or not, this quirk by the killer is explained in the end. Kind of amusing actually. As someone who is oddly obsessed with just about all movies taking place in the 70's or early 80's in Manhattan, i automatically was interested in this. All the 80's cheese is firmly in place. The cheese ball dialog, "You got a brain of a chicken!", the sub-par acting, etc. Lots of nudity and blood fill the screen which is the main attraction for this kind of film anyway. Directed by Lucio Fulci, this is known as one of his most brutal horror films in a resume of many. An okay movie for what it is. If you like movies as I've just described, check it out!
Michael_Elliott
The New York Ripper (1982)*** (out of 4) A washed-up detective (Jack Hedley) teams up with a psychoanalyst (Paolo Malco) to try and catch a psycho who is running around New York City cutting up women. What makes this psycho different is that he talks with a duck's voice but after letting one victim escape, the police have a good idea who is doing the slashing.The giallo genre offered up quite a few bloody and graphic movies but Lucio Fulci's THE NEW YORK RIPPER is without question that most vile, disgusting, sexually perverted and notorious of them all. Whatever "shock value" the Italian director got out of films like ZOMBIE, CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD and THE BEYOND couldn't match what people would get with this film, which was obviously heavily censored throughout the world. If you're looking for an intelligent thriller then this here certainly isn't for you but if you just want something dirty and something that takes pleasure in its sleaze then you're not going to find anything better than this.Again, if you're wanting a story then just avoid this because logically the film makes very little sense and at times I wondered if they were even using any sort of script. The film really does seem like they were just shooting things as they went along and Fulci pieced everything together in the editing room. I'm not going to ruin the ending but most people still debate what actually happened and even after a half a dozen viewings I'm still confused. With that said, not too many people come to any Fulci film for the story but what also helps is the scope cinematography that perfectly captures the dirtiness of New York City. The porno theaters and sleazy bars just make for a wonderful setting and the music score is also just something you'd expect to hear in a porno movie from the era.What THE NEW YORK RIPPER is known for is its graphic violence. The gore level is certainly high here as the ripper lights to slash women from their vagina to their breasts and the gore comes flowing. The most notorious scene involves a razor and an eye, which will have most people turning away from the screen. Another plus is that the cast, for the most part, is entertaining and makes up for the lack of a real story. THE NEW YORK RIPPER isn't a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination and there are countless flaws but there's still no question that it deserves credit for being willing to be as trashy as it is.
alexanderwilson45
The most infamous film of Lucio Fulci (at least in the UK that is) The New York Ripper is also one of his best. The film is infamous for its violent murder scenes separated by a number of sleazy ones. The film is the giallo at its darkest with a number of unsympathetic and debauched characters. The film stars British actor Jack Hedley as tough New York cop lieutenant Frank Williams. He is investigating a number of violent crimes against women in New York City. The killer frequently calls the police to boast speaking in the voice of a duck. He is helped by a mathematician and psychiatrist played by Paolo Malco. The films heroine survives an encounter with the killer and follows a lead of her own. The film was made in the early 80's during Yorkshire ripper murders and the video nasty scare that effected Britain and the time. This may explain why censor chief James Ferman refused the film a certificate without even viewing the film. When the film was released on DVD in this country it was still shorn of 19 seconds for a scene involving sexual violence.
KenLiversausage
Lucio Fulci's films – at least the ones I've seen – never make much sense. That's fine when you're dealing with a fantasy subject like zombies. But in a would-be 'proper' whodunnit thriller such as The New York Ripper, plausibility is important if the thriller element is to work, and hence if the film as a whole is to work.Unfortunately, old Lucio and scriptwriter Dardano Sacchetti fail to grasp even this most basic tenet of the thriller genre. The 'plot', such as it is, is ludicrous, and the murderer even more so. As most of you will know, he's basically a psychotic version of Keith Harris minus Orville, ie he quacks like a duck when he's slitting women's throats, or gutting them like deer, or scoring their naked bodies oh so slowly and precisely with a razor blade.Which kind of makes you wonder what the point of this odious little film is. It isn't in the least bit thrilling, as it's quite obvious who the killer is from about four minutes in. Oh yeah, I know what the point of it is. The point of The New York Ripper is to showcase the graphic and sadistic murder of scantily clad or naked young women.Apparently chief British censor James Ferman was so outraged by The New York Ripper when it was screened for the BBFC back in the day, that he ordered all prints of it to be escorted from the country immediately, like it was a load of toxic nuclear waste that might infect people by osmosis if they even so much as went near it. And much as it pains me so say it, he kind of had a point.Because this is a deeply repellent film. It has no redeeming features whatsoever. It is badly made, badly acted, the special effects are rubbish, the plot is rubbish, the whole film is rubbish on every level. And of course, it features a series of highly graphic, pointless, sadistic and truly misogynistic murders. I should imagine Ian Brady would have liked The New York Ripper, but I cannot imagine any normal, sane person finding anything to enjoy in this piece of nasty trash.I don't believe in banning films, but if any film ought to be banned this is it. At least Fulci's zombie films are entertaining. The New York Ripper is about as entertaining as a hernia. And Fulci's zombie films, despite being replete with gore, are so silly and over the top that the gore is never offensive. There is a long and (fairly) honourable tradition of 'splatter' movies, and the Italians have long been in the vanguard. But with NYR Fulci drags that splendid reputation through the mud.As a long-time fan of horror movies, I confess I watched this movie on YouTube out of sheer curiosity. I now wish I hadn't. It made me feel dirty, ashamed even. Maybe that was the point, I don't know. But call me old fashioned, aren't films supposed to entertain in some way? There's nothing remotely entertaining, nothing remotely artistic about NYR. It's just sick, plain and simple. The people who made it are sick, and anyone who 'enjoys' it is sick, and quite possibly a danger to society.Writing about another horror film, a reviewer said "to sicken and disgust is about as artistic as picking your nose in public". Preach it brother.*****One deeply depressing footnote. According to what somebody has posted here, the US version of NYR "cuts out some sex scenes to avoid an X rating, but all the violence is intact". So the good old MPAA think its wrong to show women having sex, but fine to show them being tortured and murdered. What is wrong with the world?
