Ripper: Letter from Hell (2001)

Plot Outline: Five years ago, Molly was the sole survivor of a serial killer’s murder spree on an island. Cue the present day and Molly is at a fancy college studying serial killers. But some maniac decided to crash in on the school and begin offing her study group one at a time in true Jack the Ripper fashion. Since they are studying serial killers, they decide to profile the killer. Who are they and what do they want?

The Review: Despite it's clichés (the same old characters, same old story, same old settings, same old "let's split up" moments, etc), Ripper: Letter From Hell still manages to lift itself slightly above the standards I have now come to expect of post-Scream horror. The film is pretty sharp and attempts to appear more clever than it really is. We get some fancy music, fancy lightning, etc. and an attempt to shock us with the finale. But these are just smoke screens to hide the clichés which roll thick and fast. Even the Ripper element to the film seems to have been added at the last moment. Since when did Jack the Ripper kill girls in a sawmill or run teenagers down with a jeep? However the Ripper element is quite good and some of the real Ripper facts are used creatively. Anyone who knows a bit about the real Ripper murders will be able to play spot the clue. The film keeps us guessing as to who we think the Ripper really is and in fact by the end credits, do we really know who was responsible? The lack of a clear ending confused the film (and me) but does anyone really care? The cast is made up of the usual teen cast (but the females are hot this time around) as well as some old hands to steady the ship. Most of the young cast aren't great and are there are Ripper-fodder basically. As for the oldies, Jurgen Prochnow does little more than scowl and wander around with a large knife and apple - an obvious attempt by the makers of this film to give us a red herring. Bruce Payne is probably the best actor here and manages to give us a sense that he is not all that he seems to be (although he just looks evil so as soon as you see him, you know something is up). Kelly Brook also manages to pop up and looks quite fit until she becomes a victim.

Final Verdict: If you are a slasher genre fan like myself and are used to watching the same thing rehashed over and over again then you may find something of interest here. In the end, it's still one slasher film too many though.

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