Ripper: Letter From Hell (2001)

What could've been a really good horror film with a clever concept and a talented cast on board, its a shame to see how much of a disappointment "Ripper: Letter From Hell" turned out to be. Its a messy and poorly contrived film that does contain some good moments of scares and heavy suspense, but relies way too much on red herrings and cheap shocks to get reactions.

Molly (A.J. Cook) is a college student who has been studying on serial killers ever since surviving a bloody attack on her friends during a boat trip. For her latest class on forensics, she is assembled with a group of students (including a jock, slut, geek, airhead bimbo and a horny doofus) to look on past cases, only to find themselves up against a psychotic killer who starts to kill them off one-by-one with similarities to the infamous killer "Jack the Ripper." Not to sure of who to trust, the group try a little detective work of their own to try and stop this killer before more dead bodies start piling on.

After catching 2001's underrated "From Hell," I was excited about seeing this movie when it came out here at a far away multiplex, despite no publicity or any word of mouth. Of course, I never got to see the film since it vanished after a week of release. Now that Lion Gates picked it up and released it for VHS/DVD, I can't say I was satisfied with the movie when I finally got to see it, although it is slightly better than some of the other shitty teen horror movies to come out recently.

Director John Eyres provides nice camerawork throughout the film and the gloomy settings give this film an edgy feel and does provide a few frightfully good moments, most notably in the opening sequence that flashbacks to Molly's vacation. Its too bad that he can't cover up the flat storyline. The screenplay by Pat Bermel does have some good ideas in there revolving around the history of Jack the Ripper, but everytime this film tries to be a cut above the slasher genre, it often ends up being more inept and confusing.

Bruce Payne happens to be the best thing about the film, playing the part of a professor for crime classes that is suffering from personal demons of his own. Its too bad to see this guy still remains underrated since he's a versatile and well accomplished actor. I found more interest in his character than the other one-dimensional leads. Granted, I felt the young cast did really well with what they had to work with; its too bad to see they're reduced to annoying stereotypes, often making suspicious looks at each other during the movie. Jurgen Prochnow, gives the weakest performance in his film, sleepwalking his way through the useless part of a creepy detective who clings around a butcher knife and often spies on the leads.

What killed the movie for me was a ridiculously bad climax that almost turns the film into a parody and I stuck around the credits with my mouth agape, hoping there was more to it. This film is not a total loss since there's a fairly decent buildup and a few gory killing scenes that should give you a jolt or two, but the script is weak and filled with so many plot holes that made it more frustrating to watch as it progressed.

Rating: ** 1/2 out of *****

Review by Adam Eshack - (c) 2/16/02