The late great horror journalist Chas Balun wrote a small booklet in honor of Lucio Fulci shortly after the maestro’s death in 1996. It was titled Beyond the Gates, and is well worth checking out if you are a Fulci fanatic, as I am. It is fairly short, and not very in depth, but it gives a nice honest overview of the oeuvre of Fulci, and touches on his life story. When discussing Fulci’s infamous New York Ripper Balun states that
“The New York Ripper remains a hollow, forced, uninspired effort that very few have rallied to support… And why a fuckin’ duck?”
I, however, am going to support it. It is probably the second most infamous film to come out of the silver age of Italian horror, behind Cannibal Holocaust. It is a misogynistic, misanthropic, nihilistic, hyper violent, and insanely sexual film, and yes the killer does talk like a duck. It is a no-holds barred type of film, and that is why I unabashedly love it.
I first saw New York Ripper when I was 12 or 13 years old. It already had a reputation among the horror hardcore amongst my friends, and the local Video Library always had a copy in stock, so I took the gamble. Now I do not remember if this release was uncut, and since it was the early 90’s, it probably wasn’t. I do remember being let down. But my reasoning for that disappointment is long forgotten, one this recent Blu-ray rewatch I found myself loving the film. I didn’t even know the director at the time, to me it was just another slasher that I hadn’t seen. In comparison to the steady diet of slasher and splatter films I had been used to New York Ripper didn’t seem to be as shocking. It could have been the build-up, but Faces of Death had the same epic build up, and that one actually got to me.
The New York Ripper tells the story of a killer on the streets of New York City, who is brutally slaughtering women. A detective played by Jack Hedley leads the investigation with the help of a college professor played by Paolo Malco(House by the Cemetery). It is a pretty simple set up, but Fulci executes it well. The film is packed with the trademark grue that made his reputation, and his direction, while slightly workmanlike, is still quite effective. Some people are taken back by the fact that the killer does indeed quack like a duck during his murders, and on his taunting phone calls to the Detective. I, however, thought it was an effective decision, that made the killer seem all the more disturbing.
Blue Underground has presented New York Ripper in a quite amazing 2:35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer, with a AVC 1080p encode. The New York Ripper will probably never look better than it does on this blu-ray. The level of detail revealed in this transfer is nothing short of amazing. The colors pop from the screen (esp. in the strip club sequence), and everything down to the wrinkles on the actor’s faces are clearer than they have ever been before. Also, the gore still retains it’s original effectiveness in the jump to HD.
2019 Update – Blue Underground releases New York Ripper in a mind-blowing 4k Scanned transfer that puts the other one to shame, and I loved the older transfer. The film is presented 2:40:1 in a 1080p AVC encoded transfer. Everything here looks fantastic, detail is greater than ever, colors pop, and black levels are nice and deep. The grain is natural, and I have zero issues to pick on here.
2020 (4k Update) – I did not imagine I’d be updating this review one year later, but here I am. Blue Underground has jumped into the UHD disc game recently with amazing results, and New York Ripper is one of the first 5 titles.New York Ripper has been presented by BU in a 2160 Ultra HD resolution transfer in a 2:40:1 aspect ratio. It is taken from the transfer from the prior Blu-ray, but everything from that disc is opened up here. Detail is increased significantly, colors are much more vivid, and black levels are much deeper.
The film has been presented with 2 English audio tracks. A 7.1 DTS-HD track, and the original Dolby Digital 2.0 mono track. Both are uniformly excellent with no grain or background noise to be heard on either.
2019 Update – The audio is presented with a DTS-HD MA 7.1 track in English that sounds quite solid, crisp, and clear without obvious issues. There are also DTS-HD 1.0 mono track in English and Italian that bring the film’s natural audio tracks to HD life.
2020 4K update – BU upgrades the audio with a splendid Dolby ATMOS track that really pops from the speakers and brings a new found clarity and balance to New York Ripper’s audio.
The only disappointing thing about the film is the lack of any truly substantial extra features. The BD features a 10 minute interview with the actress who played a stripper in a few scenes. There is also a New York City then and now featurette, that shows New York as it was in New York Ripper, and those locations today. It really doesn’t add anything to the film, and is just a minor curiosity. The disc closes out the films theatrical trailer.
2019 Update – Blue Underground have LOADED up with new edition with a huge slate of extras. We have an commentary track by Troy Howarth that is reasonable in it’s issuing of facts about the film. There are also 6 interviews with members of the cast and crew, and also one interview with Fulci biographer Stephen Thrower. There are additional featurettes, trailers, liner notes, and a CD of the film’s
2020 Update – The extras are largely the same minus the CD and liner notes.
This is a film for the most hardcore of splatter film fans. Those of you who fit the bill, and haven’t seen it should definitely check it out. For those of you Fulci fanatics that are already familiar with the film, it has never looked better, and is definitely worth revisiting. The blu-ray looks and sounds marvelous, and it’s upgrade is PACKED with extra features.
I am sitting here stunned that after being a Spaghetti Splatter cinephile for 25 years we are seeing such massively gorgeous releases for films like New York Ripper. Not only could I not picture NYR looking and sounding better than it does here, but the extras are first rate. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
Director- Lucio Fulci
Cast- Jack Hedley, Daniela Doria
Country of Origin- Italy
Distributor – Blue Underground
Number of Discs –2
Reviewed by – Scott MacDonald
Date- 8/29/20