RIPPER: LETTER FROM HELL

Molly Keller is the sole survivor of a massacre that occurred on an island. Five years later, the girl is taking a criminology course with the renowned criminologist Marshall Kane and is part of a study group tasked with creating the psychological profile of a serial killer. Suddenly, the members of the study group begin to die one after another, killed according to a macabre ritual that harks back to the style of history's first serial killer: Jack the Ripper. "Ripper – Lettera dall'inferno" can be considered the manifesto of slasher movie mediocrity: everything that characterizes this 2001 film inevitably harks back to situations already seen in dozens of other films, the characters are carbon copies of dozens of other characters already described in other slashers and truly nothing in this film can be of the slightest interest to the average horror movie viewer. The idea of depicting a killer inspired by the deeds of Jack the Ripper is the only original choice that, in practice, serves as the driving force for the entire film, otherwise the classic tropes of the slasher movie are explored; thus we will have an outsider protagonist with a traumatic event in her past, a killer with a mysterious identity who acts covered by black gloves and a hood, a series of ambiguous characters and a final twist that would not be hard to predict if one took a moment to assess the situation. "Ripper" features a series of well-choreographed murders (including the first murder at the rave party clearly inspired by Argento), but never venture into splatter, leaving the viewer craving strong emotions with a dry mouth. The direction by John Eyres ("Progettato per uccidere"; "Octopus – La Piovra") is diligent and nothing more, often devoted to the fast-paced style of music videos and accompanied by a heavy metal soundtrack not always pleasant. The cast is also mediocre: in the role of the protagonist is A.J. Cook ("Wishmaster 3"; "Final destination 2"), in the role of Professor Kane we find Bruce Payne ("Warlock 3"; "Dungeons & Dragons"), while in the part of the detective investigating the case is Jürgen Prochnow (the Sutter Cane of "Seme della follia"). In short, "Ripper" is mediocre in every way: from the story to the cast, from the direction to the emotional involvement of the viewer; there is also a sequel, "Ripper 2: Letter from within", distributed in Italy with the anonymous title "Death door – La porta dell'inferno", due to the poor success of the first chapter. Negligible.