Czech/UK, 2004
Review:
JA Kerswell
Ooof. A largely terrible sequel that makes the first RIPPER (2001) look like PSYCHO (1960) in comparison. A shame because it plays with some interesting ideas but fails at almost every turn. After the events of the first film, Molly Keller is still incarcerated in an asylum but is offered a chance at sanity with new virtual reality treatment in Europe. Only, once she arrives, someone in black robes starts killing off her fellow patients with various medieval weapons. Or do they? Seemingly made with the leftover change from the catering budget on the first movie. The film credits two directors. Not usually a sign to instil confidence.
It was ambiguous who the killer actually was in RIPPER: LETTER FROM HELL, but we last saw the character of Molly locked away after flashbacks seemed to suggest she had killed her friends at the island massacre and perhaps those in her criminology class. It was never entirely clear if she had or was driven insane by events and the film’s ending even suggested two other suspects. Regardless, Molly (Erin Karpluk replacing AJ Cook) is still locked away and under psychological care. She continues hallucinations that she is Jack the Ripper, prowling the streets of Victorian London killing women.
Her psychologist (Curtis Matthew) - who she daydreams about sticking a letter opener in his neck - tells her that even shock treatment has not improved her condition. He says that there is an experimental treatment available in the Czech Republic (where, coincidentally, it is cheaper to film a movie) that is based on therapy via virtual reality. He tells her “It’ll all be in your head, Molly” - and then adds that it would be too dangerous to be allowed in North America. So much for pastoral care!
On arrival in Europe, Molly is taken to a sanatorium in a gothic castle where the walls are adorned with various sharp weapons such as swords and battle axes. Presumably, Head Doctor Weisser (Richard Bremmer) was a fan of Fernando Di Leo’s berserk giallo SLAUGHTER HOTEL (1971); which had a similarly cavalier attitude to freely available murder weapons for troubled inmates. Doctor Weisser - who for some reason shouts all his lines - tries to explain to Molly (and by proxy the audience) what the treatment will entail. It’s all some mumbo jumbo that doesn’t make much sense but seemingly boils down to putting her and the other patients into an induced coma and scaring them witless via their subconscious to help heal their various mental health issues. Sounds legit. He booms deafeningly: “YOU ARE IN AN INHERITED MEMORY!” after she wakes from wandering around a dime-store recreation of Victorian London.
However, after one of her fellow patients falls to her death after being chased by someone in flowing black robes (in one of the worst green screens I’ve ever seen), Molly suspects that they have died in real life after she awakes from her induced coma. Weisser lies to her and says that the patient has returned to London, but she actually lies dead in a bed nearby. Molly starts to question what is real and what isn’t after she and the other patients become trapped in their induced virtual reality with a killer intent on bumping them off one-by-one with the asylum’s arsenal of medieval weaponry …
RIPPER: LETTER FROM WITHIN is a frustrating experience. The first film had a generous budget and good production values which the sequel doesn’t share. Even the special effects are terrible and wouldn’t look out of place in a computer game made ten years earlier. That wouldn’t matter so much if it was a good movie - or a fun bad one, but it’s not. In an attempt to outdo the already muddled logic of the first film, it doubles down with its confusion. Playing with reality and virtual reality certainly had potential, but the switching back and forth just unanchors the film and it meanders aimlessly to its wannabe shocking conclusion - which is more like the slasher movie equivalent of Bobby Ewing stepping out of the shower. The film attempts to riff off the original’s best scenes with another rave scene set at a fetish club but has all the energy of a tea dance with gimp masks. However, if you want to see bored-looking women baring their breasts then this is the movie for you.
Karpluk isn’t bad as Molly and is certainly better in comparison to some pretty dreadful performances from some of her fellow cast - many of them moonlighting from UK soaps. The film seems to miss a trick by not having the killer dressed as Jack the Ripper - but rather, for some reason, as a medieval hooded monk. It doesn’t help that the filmmakers seem to think that suspense is generated by sharp cuts and loud stings on the soundtrack. It’s as grating as it is repetitive.
RIPPER: LETTER FROM HELL was a big hit on home video and DVD in Europe, but its sequel is a cheap-looking, lazy cash grab with virtually nothing to recommend it.
BODY COUNT 12:
Female 8 / Male 4
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Trailer for RIPPER 2: LETTER FROM WITHIN (2004)