Ripper: Letter From Hell (2001)

The mystery of Jack the Ripper has fascinated me since I was a kid and stumbled on a paperback at the thrift store about the legendary serial killer. From that point on, I have read, watched and wrote about this famed monster. To me, the mystery surrounding his identity may be one of the greatest known to man, and one that usually makes for intriguing entertainment. With old Jack in mind, tonight’s movie was Ripper: Letter from Hell from 2001.  

Plot/ A massacre survivor studies serial killers under a famous expert, but her classmates soon start dying at the hands of a Jack the Ripper copycat.

I figured entering into this direct to DVD entry, that the look had a MTV feel and that it was probably searching for more that audience than for me. Still, this was a decent entry and one that overall was a bit surprising. There was a lot to like, the cinematography, editing and pacing were tremendous, some of the murders (while not gorish) were very stylish and almost a flashback to the great horror of my youth, and the storyline is full of twists, turns and somewhat cerebral. Unfortunately, the scripting featured some poor dialogue and lacked character development; there was really no gore and the acting only so-so. In the end, this flick made for an entertaining evening and one that was worth watching. Could it have been better? Yes, but it had just enough atmosphere, action and story to make it interesting.