JACK THE RIPPER GOES WEST
(1974)
aka A KNIFE FOR THE LADIES
(part of BLOOD BATH 2: 4 MOVIE PACK)
Directed by Larry G. Spangler
Brentwood DVD
THE FILM
Jack The Ripper Goes West...and
he shoulda stayed there. Oy!
Hour-long vintage trash films. Life
just doesn't get much better than
that, eh? From Invitation
To Hell to Satan's
Black Wedding to Monstrosity, these digest-sized
squirts get in, get out, and shed
no tears for those with patience.
Satisfaction is pretty much guaranteed
and afterwards, the night is still
young. After making it through 51
minutes of Western vexation with
Mr. Jack T. Ripper, I need a cane
and a tin of dried prunes. Dear
god, where did the years go?
Jack The Ripper Goes West,
an acutely obscure slasher-western
from the vaults of 1970s distro-kings
Bryanston Productions, is a sensational
clump of botched potential. Shot
in Old Tucson, Arizona, it's like
watching an episode of McCloud
with a little blood, one boob, and
a lovely nose-hair clipping scene.
Basically, a guy wearing Beatles
Boots is stabbing prostitutes in
a small town. The sweat-stained
Sheriff (Jack Elam, Creature
From Black Lake) can't
handle the job, so Detective Burns
is called in. Although it's the
age of covered wagons, Burns shows
up with a perm and trenchcoat. There
are pointless establishing shots,
endless talk about things we don't
care about (mostly Syphilis), and
the Mom from The
Baby shows up. There's
also a bombastic theme song ("Evil
Lady") from ex-Monkees contributor
Bobby Hart. Davy Jones is probably
kicking himself for sleeping through
that session.
The cranky saloon owner, drywall
sets, and curiously terrible post-edits
were things of beauty. The stalk
'n' stab scenes were pretty fun
too. But it's no use. With a little
more weirdo sleaze, Jack The
Ripper Goes West could've been
a mindless delight. The concept
was there. Instead, we get a mundane
jog through the utmost minimum in
horror and western clichés,
but without any loony distinction.
If the talk doesn't kill you, the
horn section will. Double oy!
AUDIO AND VIDEO
Jack The Ripper Goes West
has never been released on home
video in North America, so I'll
take what I can get. According to
Brentwood, the film first hit theaters
as A Knife For The Ladies,
but was lost forever after, aside
from a rare Scandinavian VHS release.
They're not sure if the version
they licensed is cut, or if it is,
to what extent. Regardless, the
print is culled from an obvious
video master, with a few tape rolls,
a fake freeze frame title card,
and a low buzz that runs throughout.
Compression artifacting wasn't that
evident, but frequent slicing edits
sure were. I liked it just fine.
The sound was presented in your
choice of Stereo (sounded fine)
or a Dolby 5.1 mix (sounded the
same, but a little louder).
EXTRAS
The 4-film strong "Blood Bath
2" is Brentwood's most enjoyable
budget pack yet. Two flipper discs
hold this treasure trove of ultra-obscurities,
all of which were licensed from
Bryanston. Aside from the Jack-attack,
there's Legacy Of Satan
(extremely cheap 1976 horror from
Gerard "Deep Throat"
Damiano), The Bride aka
The House That Cried Murder
(debut from John "Nightmare
At Shadow Woods" Grissmer),
and Blood Song aka Dream
Slayer (Frankie Avalon
slasher that looks a million times
better than my ruddy HQV VHS). A
pleasant surprise overall, so let's
hope there are more sets like this
one on the way.
FINAL THOUGHTS
If you're curious, give Jack
The Ripper Goes West exactly
one watch and forget about it. That
said, you'll want to pick up "Blood
Bath 2" anyway, just to grab
the other films in the set. They're
worth the $7-10. Trust me.
— Joseph A. Ziemba, 06.29.06 |
Watchin' your every move
Anti-Syphilis
The go team
Old West slice
|
