Ripper (2001)

This is one of those films that occasionally manages to slip under my horror radar and considering it was released on video and DVD in time for Halloween , I should be ashamed of myself, although I am not completely to blame, as this buried treasure of a horror film received no marketing push whatsoever yet ultimately should have!!(my video store only had one copy!)

Molly Keller is the only survivor of a massacre on an island five years previously. As it was a major event in her life she has become obsessed with serial killers and therefore we meet her at Berkley where she studies serial killer profiling under esteemed ex-FBI agent Marshall Kane.

When one of Molly's classmates is killed, her study group decide to use their profiling skills to track down the killer.

What a great movie!! A wonderful cast of accomplished horror vets including A.J. Cook, Emmanuelle Vaugier, Daniella Evangelista, Derek Hamilton, Jurgen Prochnow and Bruce Payne are joined by fresh blood in the form of Ryan Northcott, Claire Keim and the UK's very own Kelly Brook in a nightmare world of great proportions!!

Director John E. Eyres injects Pat Bermel's wonderfully crafted script with inventive camera work, beautiful cinematography, art, symbolism and many wonderful references to Jack The Ripper.

The story is very intriguing, well researched and written, providing the viewer with many wonderful set pieces including a rave in a warehouse and some teens trapped in a sawmill!!

The film features many beautiful shots of the Canadian scenery and stunt work of a high standard too. I do not know what the budget was for this film but it is arguably good enough to compete with recent theatrically released horror films.

The only grumble I have is the ambiguous ending, which despite fan debate on various websites, still seems to be unresolved.

Despite this the film has more depth than 'Halloween Resurrection' and 'Fear Dot Com' put together and therefore should not be dismissed as straight to video clag.

I love my horror films to be dotted with little references which this does very well, what with an inverted cross above a potential killers bed, a cuckoo clock going off as the 'Killer' walks past, a musical reference to 'London Bridge is Falling Down' and many others.

OVERALL SUMMARY
A wonderfully crafted film made even better by the presence of a talented young cast, creative director (although I can't believe he wasted his talents on 'Octopus') and enough thrills and chills to give you goosebumps!! I am obviously not the only one to think this way as a sequel is on the way and that is very rare for a made for video film.