Jack the Ripper (2012)

Does anyone remember Oliver Twist, where little Luke (Elijah Wood) had to witness his dad getting brutally murdered right before his eyes?
And does anyone recall the original 1980 Jack the Ripper movie, you know, the one about that super creepy guy who scalps beautiful women?



It feels like Luke/Elijah/Frodo has always struggled with some serious trauma—between losing his dads, dealing with the chaos of Middle-earth, unhinged relatives and all those other messy situations. Because in this new remake of Jack the Ripper, he’s doing some absolutely DECONTAMINANT stuff 😁

The R-rated trailer dropped yesterday and man, it looks really, really nasty:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYNcE50-7mo
(Seriously though, watch at your own risk if you have a weak stomach)

Based on what I've seen online, the early reviews from the "lucky" folks who got a sneak peek at the pre-screening actually look pretty good.

Anyone actually planning to catch something like this in theaters? 😁

The trailer looks pretty decent, though I haven't actually sat down to watch the original one yet...

Not me either, I'm just watching it right now 😁

Man, 2012 was such an absolute powerhouse of a year for horror, wasn't it? I feel like we’re still riding those waves of greatness today. Honestly, I have such massive expectations for this one because that trailer looks absolutely bone-chilling—like, seriously, it’s enough to give you full-blown goosebumps 😱

This could be more than just good—it might actually be great. I’m looking forward to seeing it.

While I have to agree that Spinelli is absolutely fantastic, I honestly think Jack the Ripper is total garbage... I still can't wrap my head around why people constantly rank it at the very top of the genre or why it has such a massive cult following... maybe I just totally missed the point 🤷 Aside from the fact that I am genuinely excited to see Wood playing the part of Frank, I really don't see the point in this remake for anything else. 🙂

No biggie, you aren't alone on this one 😁
Honestly, the original was pretty crappy to me too; I mean, sure, the special effects were killer and the lead guy was actually kind of likable at times, but the rest of it? Total garbage 😁

I haven't actually sat down with the original William Lustig version, but I did catch his Maniac Cop and I was a huge fan. It’s definitely Trashy—pure exploitation—but man, it’s atmospheric, creepy, and visually striking. You can tell Lustig grew up on those cult grindhouse flicks; he basically built his career on that aesthetic, starting out directing adult films back in the seventies. These days, he runs Blue Underground, which is an incredible label dedicated to restoring and reissuing cult classics like spaghetti westerns and giallo.

The remake leans hard into that retro vibe—even the score feels like a nod to Carpenter's soundtracks—yet it still manages to feel quite modern. The script came from Alexandre Aja and Grégory Levasseur, the duo behind High Tension, and it was directed by Franck Khalfoun, who actually has a role in this one before moving on to direct things like Wrong Turn AT Tahoe. Basically, you've got a powerhouse crew here specializing in top-tier modern exploitation (with Lustig stepping in as producer this time around).

The whole hook of this remake is that it's shot entirely from the killer's POV. Now, Killer's POV is a classic trope, sure, but here the entire movie is filtered through the killer's eyes—we only ever see Wood in mirrors or during his dreams and hallucinations. That constant POV, paired with a visual style heavily influenced by the giallo genre (much like Lustig's own work), makes the whole experience feel genuinely unsettling and almost nauseating. It’s honestly one of the more interesting horror films I've seen lately. I’d recommend it, provided you have a strong stomach.