Lucio Fulci made his first violent and gory horror film in 1979 with Zombie Flesh Eaters AKA Zombi 2. He followed those up with his Gates of Hell Trilogy. The New York Ripper is him taking those violent images and putting them in a real New York City setting. This movie is violence and sexuality in so much excess that I'm almost embarrassed to say it's one of my top 5 favorite movies ever. At the same time that is what makes this movie so good to me. Fulci makes us feel guilty and takes us to our breaking point as an audience. You want a sexual and violent horror movie, so much so you may not enjoy showing it others or having to admit you like it? Look no further. I think he was saying be careful what you wish for. What is interesting about this movie is how well edited and shot some of the suspenseful kill sequences are. Fulci adds a sense of twisted humor to the excess by having the killer quack like a duck. While Fulci was accused of being a misogynist, it is the likability of some of the film's characters that actually make some of the kill sequences more suspenseful.
The movie starts with a man walking his dog finding a decomposing hand near a New York harbor. This opening scene all ready starts Fulci's trademark style of a close on someone's face becoming an extreme closeup as the hand is revealed. The film transitions to the opening of Francesco De Masi's funky, and disco score. The body is revealed to be that of a model. Lt. Fred Williams (Jack Hedley) talks to the woman's nosy landlord and she reveals that she had agreed to meet a man with a voice that quacked like a duck. As this is one of Fulci's much more faster paced movies the film transitions quickly to the second victim (Cinzia De Ponti). While Fulci is apparently a misogynist, he certainly isn't afraid to use it as something to garner sympathy for a character in his movies. Cinzia's character accidentally hits a man's car while riding her bike. His response: "You woman should stay home where you belong! You're a menace to the public!" This sets her up as sympathetic, or at least a character who doesn't deserve to die. She goes on the ferry to vandalize the man's car and she is cornered by the ripper. While the close ups of the blood and the knife are awesome, I actually find Fulci does a great job of staging this scene to give a sense of peril. Cinzia is pinned to the wall and unable to escape as she can't get out the door of the car giving the scene a feeling of doom.
The police find that this killing, the one of the model with the severed hand, and another one in Harlem are are all smiliar. Fulci cameos as the police chief telling Lt. Williams to keep a lid on the serial killer talk to the public. Meanwhile Jane Lodge (Alexandra Delli Colli attends a live sex show, along with a man with two fingers missing on one hand, Mickey Scellenda (Howard Ross). The woman performing naked in the live sex show is Italian Genre cinema regular Zora Kerova. This is the first of some overtly sexual but also somewhat meta sequences. Not only are we watching two people have sex, we're watching people watch them. Jane is seen getting off and recording her reactions and the sounds of the performers. I really think Fulci is trying to make us feel uncomfortable for us. He's trying to say I know you enjoy this but let me present it as you are watching. In an era now where so many people watch porn or so many people have and subscribe to things like Onlyfans, I think this movie translates well. Fulci is trying to call us out for all having some kink or sexual interest we are afraid to show or talk about. While those people in this movie who are actually more liberal are the ones we root for.
The woman performer goes back to her room after the show is over. The movie makes sure to highlight that Mickey has left his seat. What comes next is one of the most suspenseful and best shot kill sequences in any giallo movie. The performer's room is in this dark green light. Fulci builds the suspense by making the music silent and the killer's quacks being the thing that breaks the silence. A broken bottle is stabbed into the performer's vagina. I enjoy how dark the blood looks in the green light. There is a funny exchange between the coroner (Giordano Falzoni) and Lt. Williams. The coroner says "A knife was stuck right up her joy trail. It was good, efficient butchery." Lt. Williams later consults the sarcastic, but lively Dr. Paul Davis (Paolo Malco) on the case. Davis in a scene with no consequence later is shown to be gay as he guys a gay pornography magazine from a stand. Again, Fulci is not afraid to show us an audience that some of the people in this movie are more liberal about their sexuality. The heroes of this movie, interestingly enough end up being people with little to no sexuality or people who try to hide it. That is true in the case of Williams, who is banging a prostitute, Kitty (Daniela Doria) but never admits to it and is all concerned when the Ripper calls him at her house.
The film finally transitions to our main female character, Fay Majors (Almanta Suska). In another great suspense sequence she is stalked on a train by Mickey. This sequence is particularly well done as he is on the other side of the train but then the lights go out and he is right in front of her. Again great use of silencing the music and then making it loud when he appears in front of Fay. Fay manages to get away but is stabbed by an unknown foe outside of a theater. While taking cover in the theater she is cornered by a killer (Andrea Occhipinti) who stabs her across the stomach and in the neck. The rushing blood out the neck is an incredible part of this kill. While Fay wakes up hurt, at least part of her ordeal is revealed to be a dream sequence. On top of it the man who stabbed her is revealed to be her boyfriend Peter. Meanwhile Jane is revealed to make the recordings for her husband, Dr. Lodge (Cosimo Cinieri). She goes to a dive bar and is recipient of a man putting toes in her vagina for a thrill. Again this sequence while gross and uncomfortable at times shows Jane's interests and doesn't necessarily denigrate her. She eventually meets up with Mickey for a sexcapade. Mickey makes a phone call, implied to be the killer. This sets up a confrontation and Mickey becoming the number one suspect for the police.
Spoiler Section
This is another fantastic sequence as Jane hears Mickey being named the number one suspect in the killings on the radio next to her. The problem is she is tied naked to the bed right next to him. In another great suspense sequence she manages to get away from him without being detected. Just when you think she might be okay she is killed by the ripper. Meanwhile Fay goes back home with an injured leg. Davis and Williams clash over the case. Davis thinks that Scallenda was just a person getting bait for the killer and a just a common gigalo. The killer is more intelligent to him. Williams who really couldn't be bothered to think more just thinks it's Scallenda. Williams goes to visit Dr. Lodge and tells him "Your wife was free to live, and free to die." Williams is.a total hypocrite and he's the main hero. Again Fulci is trying to say that the lively people, the one's free to live are the ones who die. The killer targets Kitty. The police trace a call to the phone booth and in a Dark Knight style bait and switch the killer is all ready in Kitty's apartment. In one of the most awesome and vicious kill sequences ever put on film the killer slices Kitty's stomach, slices her nipple in half and slices vertically across her eye with a razor blade. This is where Fulci's seeming desire to push this movie towards a sexual and violent breaking point reaches it's peak. I can't deny that i like seeing this violence because it's awesome. I can't deny that I like seeing Daniela Doria, Alexandra Delli Colli, and Zora Kerova all naked because they are attractive. Yet, having to tell someone that and tell them how they die is something I would be embarrassed to talk about. How many of us have that kind of kink or guilty pleasure? That is what Fulci is forcing us to confront in this movie.
Mickey's body is found. The coroner rules he died eight days ago, four days before Kitty was killed. This sets up an awesome final reveal and confrontation. Fay is the other main character who isn't really shown to have much of a free sexuality to her. Unlike Williams, she is no hypocrite but she isn't very interesting. With Jane specifically Fulci does a great job of using her sexuality to show her character's personality. I do enjoy an exchange between Fay and Peter where he says something like how does a girl with an IQ of 182 want me? Peter leaves the house at one point and Fay is confronted by Mickey sometime before his death. Peter had gone to visit his daughter, Suzy. Suzy is terminally ill and will never grow up to be the a developed beautiful women, the type of women Peter was killing. He used Suzy's condition to create a second personality as the Ripper to justify his bloodlust. In another great sequence at the end you may not know who the killer is so hearing Peter talk to the Ripper on the phone is interesting. Fay eventually stabs him a couple of times. She remembers the knife on the concrete wall as proof that part of her dream was real and Peter did attack her. This sets up one of the best headshots ever as Williams shows up blows Peter's face apart. The movie ends on a very downbeat note as Suzy is seen crying for her Dad to show up. Davis gives us the typical Psycho ending explanation of the killer having two personalities.
The New York Ripper because of its excess sexuality and violence is one of my favorite movies of all time. It is essentially what if someone decided to push the breaking point of what slashers were doing at that time. The editing, cinematography, and music are all top notch. The dubbing and quacking duck adds some twisted humor to it that it really needs. The sympathetic victims give the suspenseful kills scenes more pathos. I love the over the top psychological motivation for the killer. Look for some other Fulci and Italian genre cinema regulars such as James Sampson as one of the men at the sex show. Barbara Cupisti plays Heather in one scene, one of Davis' students. Michele Soavi plays a newspaper buyer.
English Dubbing Cast:
- Edward Mannix dubs Jack Hedley as Lt. Williams
- Steven Luotto dubs Andrea Occhipinti as Peter
- Frank Von Kuegelen dubs Paolo Malco as Dr. Davis
- Robert Spafford dubs Giordano Fanzoni as the Coroner
- Pat Starke dubs Daniela Doria as Kitty
- Carolyn De Fonseca dubs Mickey Scallenda's Female Landlord
Rating: 10/10
Trivia: Catriona MacColl who played the main woman character in every movie of Fulci's Gates of Hell trilogy was supposed to play Fay in this. I don't mind Almanta Suska in the role but her character would have been more interesting and more sympathetic if Catriona had played that role.
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