Brendan Jesus
Quick clarification on last week’s Stage Fright article. I made a statement regarding how they name and reveal Irving Wallace (Clain Parker) at the very beginning of the film, and how I wasn’t sure how typical that was in giallo films. But I didn’t remember it from the handful I’ve seen. Yesterday, after an interview with David Sodergren, we were chatting about giallo films and I brought it up. He confirmed that is far from typical for a giallo film to reveal the killer from the very beginning. In fact, it has caused some discourse in the genre community about whether or not that negates it from being a giallo film. At the heart of a giallo there must be mystique, so revealing the antagonist completely gets rid of that. Although I did feel vindicated when he said he would also consider it a giallo film.
This week I wanted to jump into a director I had only seen two films from previously, Lucio Fulci. Plus, after reading Sodergren’s latest novel And By God’s Hand You Shall Die, I figured I should keep things in the Fulci field a little bit longer. I finally settled on The New York Ripper, mainly because I love the cover art for the Blue Underground 4K release and wanted to see if I liked it before finally purchasing it. This film was…strange. I hesitate to label it goofy, but I am struggling to find the correct word to label it as.
The New York Ripper follows Lieutenant Fred Williams (Jack Hedley) as he tries to get to the bottom of the case of the Donald Duck killer. Yeah, you read that right. Realizing he’s out of his league, Lt. Williams enlists the help of local professor Dr. Paul Davis (Paolo Malco). Dr. Davis and Lt. Williams must work as quickly as possible in order to make sure the Donald Duck killer quacks his last quack.
Many aspects of The New York Ripper work for me, but there are a few issues I have with it that significantly affected my viewing. Though after sitting on the idea of this film it does work in hindsight. This film suffers from no main character syndrome. You could make an argument that Lt. Williams is the main character or you could make an argument that Fay (Almanta Suska) is. Both could be correct. I would wager to say neither of them really are. Fay isn’t introduced until nearly 30-ish minutes into the film, and we don’t really get enough scenes with Lt. Williams to consider him a main character. Now, do we need a main character? No. Did it make the film feel a bit muddled and all over the place? Most definitely.
The other just weird thing about The New York Ripper is the killer, or rather who isn’t the killer. 80% of the film is misdirection, making the audience believe the killer is Mikis Scellenda (Howard Ross). Part of me knew it wasn’t going to be him, it was too obvious. There’s no way I’d watch two giallo films in a row that break the killer reveal trope. By the time we get the actual killer reveal it feels a little underwhelming. And his motive feels really hamfisted. I understand how the killer doing the Donald Duck voice represents the loss of innocence in regard to his terminally ill daughter. It just sounds so annoying. It doesn’t even sound anything like Donald Duck, not that it really matters. The true issue with having Peter (Andrea Occhipinti) as the killer is that we meet him for two minutes halfway through the movie, and then he’s a nonentity for nearly the rest of it! There is very little setup for what is supposed to be a grand payoff.
What I can respect about the direction Fulci took regarding the killer is how it brought the mystique back into the fray. Even if we are suspecting Mikis to be the killer, when we find out he’s been dead for eight days and kills have still been happening it locks you right back in. I’m still not a fan of the direction they took with the killer, but it is fascinating enough to make it all kind of worth the deception. And don’t get me wrong, I love deception or red herrings, and I love ambiguity, my point is I just don’t think it worked in this setting.
Setting-wise, we are set in the beautifully frightening New York of the ’80s. In my piece on Larry Fessenden, I talked about how much I appreciate people like him, Abel Ferrara, and Frank Henenlotter, and how they capture their New York. And I’m not just referring to the Times Square peepshow billboards or the trash on the street, they truly capture the essence of how New York felt at that time. Fulci thrusts us into the seedy streets of Midtown, while also showing us the beauty that resides just blocks away. It’s incredibly impressive and makes me wish I could have been there during those times. And a recent example of how impressed I was with someone creating a true feeling of New York is in David Sodergren’s Fulci-inspired And By God’s Hand You Shall Die.
Even though I hadn’t seen this film before, I was somewhat familiar with the response, both from audiences and critics. Going into The New York Ripper I was expecting an all-out misogynistic sex and gorefest. After watching the film I understand why a lot of people felt that way, and I would probably land in the category of closer to misogyny than not. What I do appreciate about it is the agency of the two female characters with the most screentime Jane (Alexandra Delli) and Fay. Jane spends her day going through the streets of New York looking for different and unique sexual experiences, while by night she goes home to her doting husband Dr. Lodge (Cosimo Cinieri). Jane goes to a live sex show, pays Mikis for some BDSM sex, and then there is the pool hall scene. I’ve seen some people refer to this as molestation, and I can partially agree with that. This was probably the most confusing scene for me because it seems like she beckons them over and seems to be going with it, but when one of the men rips the table away she runs out. It was ultimately confusing and written poorly, but it does bring up a good point that everyone should remember: yes is yes until it’s no.
There are a lot of memorable kills in this film, and they are bloody as hell. From the first kill with Rosie (Cinzia de Ponti) in the VW to the shot of Peter getting shot in the face, each kill is impactful and ultraviolent. When it comes to the kill that is the most grandiose and visceral I think everyone would agree it is the death of Kitty (Daniela Doria). Kitty gets unfortunately trapped in the crossfire between the killer and Lt. Williams. She is a sex worker that the Lieutenant is a regular with, and when the killer decides to dedicate a kill to the Lieutenant it turns into a race to save her life. Little did they all know, she was already dead. Peter rips a razor up Kitty’s stomach, past her forehead, down through her eye, and finishing through the middle of her exposed nipple. This kill is degenerately dragged out, over the top, and exceptionally bloody. On top of how intense the kill is the practicals, while somewhat dated, are insane. Maybe it was puppeteering work, but it almost looks like Daniela Doria was actually getting her eye slit by the razor blade. Whether it was excellent puppeteering work on a dummy, forced perspective, or whatever they may have done, this has made it on my list of favorite intense kills in a genre film.
I was quite surprised by The New York Ripper, even with the issues I had with it. I can understand how it is held high in the genre community, while also understanding the criticisms behind it. The New York Ripper is far from perfect, but it was thrilling and gory enough to help me look past that. I don’t know what I’ve been learning from these few giallo films recently, all I know is it’s a strange journey and I love the ride it’s been taking me on. One more Saturday in July left means one more giallo film to round out Gial-ly. Not sure what it will be yet, but my plan is to find a humdinger of a film. I am looking for something that brings all of the elements of a giallo film, while still breaking the mold to create something unique and different. If you have any ideas please comment them down below!
