Jack The Ripper - Mark Whitehead [53]
Murder by Decree (1978)
Director: Bob Clark. Cast: Christopher Plummer, James Mason, David Hemmings, Genevieve Bujold, Anthony Quayle, John Gielgud, Frank Finlay, Donald Sutherland
Clark’s movie adapts the theory proposed in John Lloyd and Elwyn Jones’ The Ripper Files (itself based on the BBC drama-documentary) – the same one that would fuel Stephen Knight’s book. Sherlock Holmes (Plummer) and Dr Watson (Mason, a well-rounded portrait) are summoned once more to solve the Ripper murders and stumble upon a nest of corruption (illegitimate royal children, blackmailing prostitutes, Masonic cover-up). The drama is well judged but the pride of the film is its set design and cinematography
– rendering the East End streets as a surreal labyrinth of menacing alleyways and dark, dark recesses where corruption and terror hang in the air. The film has some truly disturbing scenes, such as when Holmes stumbles upon Spivey and Slade at Mary Kelly’s. With so much going for it, its convictions falter. Gull and Netley become Dr Thomas Spivey and William Slade. Anthony Quayle (Lord Salisbury) is only referred to as ‘The Prime Minister’. Most unforgivably, after a very lengthy explanation at the climax, Holmes goes completely against his character and lets the Freemasons off the hook.
The Ripper had already met Holmes on screen before in A Study in Terror (1965, James Hill) with John Neville as Holmes and Donald Houston as Watson.This is a fairly poor film which bumbles along tiresomely (not unlike Houston), throwing in some gory moments and fogbound sets. The cast’s obvious uncertainty as to how straight they should play it means that there are times it almost teeters into ‘Carry on’ territory. Barbara Windsor as one of the victims doesn’t help.
Time After Time (1979)
Director/Writer: Nicholas Meyer. Cast: Malcolm McDowell, David Warner, Mary Steenburgen
Proof that you can’t keep a good Ripper down, Meyer’s entertaining and bloody movie proposes another reason why the murders stopped: time travel. Warner’s Ripper, chased by the police, escapes using a time machine designed and built by his friend HG Wells (McDowell). Projected into modern San Francisco, Jack sets about his trade once more, with Wells in hot pursuit.
Other Ripper-thru-time movies came from the TV movie Bridge Across Time (1985, EW Swackhamer, aka Arizona Ripper, Terror on London Bridge). David Hasselhoff and Adrienne Barbeau have a hard time when they discover that the Ripper has somehow been transported to Arizona along with London Bridge (you saw the titles, you knew what to expect). William F Nolan rewrote his script as the short story, ‘The Final Stone’, which included a different identity for the Ripper. The Ripper (1985, Christopher Lewis) was an exploitation cheapie featuring effects and a cameo appearance by Tom Savini. The Ripper’s ring passes on his evil to a modern-day college professor. Screaming women ensue.
Sadly, these two were just three years shy of the Ripper Centenary, thus missing the boat. Jack’s Back (1988, Rowdy Herrington) was dead on time and played upon genuine public concerns that some maniac would see fit to celebrate in the spirit of the season. Or, perhaps, the real Jack would re-emerge. Not in this he didn’t. James Spader plays a struggling medico in the poor end of town. Women are dying in a Jack the Ripper style. Spader figures it out but the Ripper kills him. Enter Spader’s twin brother, err... James Spader, to flush out the killer. As a cash-in it’s pretty unfocussed but there are some neat twists and turns to the cheerfully convoluted plot. And it’s got two James Spaders. Ripper Man (1996) had none, instead featuring Timothy Bottoms as a modern-day