Hands Of The Ripper

One could not help to think if you were a Hammer Horror fan back in 1971, what Hammer were doing here. With a cast comprised of mainly classical thespians and a script based on an idea by crime historian E. Spencer Shew, the premise here is a pretty absurd one!

Set in Edwardian times, the story begins with a little girl witnessing the brutal murder of her unsuspecting mother by her father – get ready for this – a hideously scarred Jack the Ripper! The scene that the little girl, Anna, observes, is imprinted in her mind from the reflection of the knife’s glistening blade. Fast forward, and Anna (Angharad Rees) is now a young woman in the care of bogus clairvoyant Mrs. Golding (Dora Bryan). In Golding’s place, the naïve and disturbed Anna ‘works’ in parts as a medium and in parts as a prostitute. After a séance, Mrs. Golding’s trickeries are exposed by Dr. John Pritchard (Eric Porter), who vows to take the young girl under his own protective wing, but not before Anna’s disastrous meeting with a would-be client Mr. Dysart (Derek Godfrey). Said client presents Anna with a gift, which happens to be a choker in which is embedded a glistening gem. Unfortunately for Mr. Dysart, this triggers off Anna’s childhood trauma of her mother’s murder… as her father’s predilection for murder returns to possess her… resulting in the unfortunate impaling of Mrs. Golding.

Fast forward once again, Anna is now in the care of the aforementioned Dr. Pritchard, a forward thinking psychoanalyst. Despite being well aware of the young woman’s murderous impulses, he refuses to go to the police as he sees Anna as a case study. Gradually, and as the body count rises, he becomes more and more obsessed with wanting to find out what triggers Anna’s deadly impulse.

Despite believable performances especially from Eric Porter and Angharad Rees, the overall plot is less believable, and that’s an understatement! Nonetheless, an atmospheric score and cinematography keep this Hammer offering on its toes.

SPECIAL FEATURES of this Blu-ray presentation include:

Audio commentary with Angharad Rees and horror historians Kim Newman and Stephen Jones
Original theatrical trailer
Thriller: Once the Killing Starts
Extensive image galleries
Commemorative Booklet by Stephen Jones