In reviewing this film it is important not to confuse it with the Boris Karloff anthology picture of the previous year unrelated to the actual murders of the infamous Victorian killer. Here we have a British film with two token USA actors who thankfully fit snugly into the cast full of wild cockney accents. This is a straightforward atmospheric telling of the murders, presenting a fog bound Whitechapel full of vice and squalor, indeed the setting adds hugely to the film. The sets, costumes and attention to details for a minor film is high and helps make the film having a feeling of the era. The cast is strong with many UK TV actors and solid character actors like George Woodward and John Le Meseriur.
Made by Monty Berman and Robert S Baker who tried to entertain the viewer, also of FLESH AND THE FIENDS and BLOOD OF THE VAMPIRE fame. The film moves at a pace through the narrow streets of old London, with the murders periodically providing the drama. The seediness of the setting means everybody is a suspect adding considerably to the air of mystery. However the glimpses of Jack The Ripper are genuinely chilling, seen in shadow, his horrible rasping voice asking "Are You Mary Clark?", a doctor's bag at his side. His atmosphere of evil and menace is well realised. The killings are remarkably brutal for the time, perhaps only allowed as the film is in black and white. We see blood on the bodies, the knife wounds clearly and violently shown. It is quite shocking and at the time must have seemed particularly gruesome predating the realistic PEEPING TOM by a year.
The entrapment of Jack The Ripper is executed well, eventually he is cornered beneath a descending lift. This gives little away as this scene has entered film legend over the years. There is a sudden splace of red blood in colour, this coming unexpectedly and providing a shock of horror even now in the context. On some prints this is missing, thankfully it is there on the print I saw adding a highlight to an already enjoyable, entertaining film.
In not trying to make a huge statement, but to entertain through efficient plotting, dialogue that isn't ponderous and minimising the extraneous elements, the producers have realised a great shock picture. For that, they should be highly commended. 8/10.
Special Thanks to Mark Coyle for this Movie Review.