Hands of the Ripper (1971)

Director:

Peter Sasdy

Writers:

L.W. Davidson
Edward Spencer Shew (story)

Release Date:

13 July 1972 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

A new terror-filled X film

Plot:

The infant daughter of Jack the Ripper is witness to the brutal murder of her mother by her father....

Plot Keywords:

Jack The Ripper | Daughter | Murder | City | Blood

Cast

Eric Porter	...	Dr. John Pritchard
Angharad Rees	...	Anna
Jane Merrow	...	Laura
Keith Bell	...	Michael Pritchard
Derek Godfrey	...	Dysart
Dora Bryan	...	Mrs. Golding
Marjorie Rhodes	...	Mrs. Bryant
Lynda Baron	...	Long Liz
Marjie Lawrence	...	Dolly
Margaret Rawlings	...	Madame Bullard
Elizabeth MacLennan	...	Mrs. Wilson
Barry Lowe	...	Mr. Wilson
A.J. Brown	...	Rev. Anderson
April Wilding	...	Catherine
Anne Clune	...	1st Cell Whore
Vicki Woolf	...	2nd Cell Whore
Katya Wyeth	...	1st Pub Whore
Beulah Hughes	...	2nd Pub Whore
Tallulah Miller	...	3rd Pub Whore
Peter Munt	...	Pleasants
Philip Ryan	...	Police Constable
Molly Weir	...	Maid
Charles Lamb	...	Guard
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Norman Bird	...	Police Inspector
Ann Way	...	Seamstress (uncredited)

Directed by
Peter Sasdy

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
L.W. Davidson
Edward Spencer Shew		story

Produced by
Aida Young	....	producer

Original Music by
Christopher Gunning

Cinematography by
Kenneth Talbot

Film Editing by
Chris Barnes

Art Direction by
Roy Stannard

Makeup Department
Patricia McDermott	....	hair styles supervisor (as Pat McDermott)
Bunty Phillips	....	makeup supervisor
Roy Ashton	....	special makeup effects artist (uncredited)

Production Management
Christopher Sutton	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Ariel Levy	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Ken Barker	....	dubbing mixer
Frank Goulding	....	sound editor
Kevin Sutton	....	sound recordist
Graham V. Hartstone	....	sound re-recording mixer (uncredited)
Otto Snel	....	sound re-recording mixer (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Cliff Culley	....	special effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Bob Kindred	....	camera operator (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Rosemary Burrows	....	wardrobe supervisor
Eileen Sullivan	....	wardrobe mistress

Music Department
Philip Martell	....	music supervisor

Other crew
Gladys Goldsmith	....	continuity

Production Companies

• Hammer Film Productions

Distributors

• J. Arthur Rank Film Distributors (1971) (UK) (theatrical)
• Universal Pictures (1972) (USA) (theatrical)
• Cinema International Corporation (CIC) (197?) (France) (theatrical)
• Cinema International Corporation (CIC) (1972) (Italy) (theatrical)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1977) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere)
• Carlton Visual Entertainment (2002) (UK) (DVD)
• Divisa Home Video (2011) (Spain) (DVD)
• Filmax Home Video (2005) (Spain) (DVD)
• LW Editora (2006) (Brazil) (DVD)
• MRA Entertainment Group (2004) (Australia) (DVD)
• Rank Video Library (1986) (UK) (VHS)
• Synapse Films (2010) (USA) (DVD)
• Synapse Films (2012) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• VidAmerica (1989) (USA) (VHS)
• Zircon Vídeo (19??) (Brazil) (VHS)

Also Known As:

"As Mãos do Estripador" - Portugal (imdb display title)
"De blodiga händerna" - Sweden
"De dochter van Jack de Wurger" - Belgium (Flemish title)
"De dochter van Jack de Wurger" - Netherlands (informal literal title)
"Gli artigli dello squartatore" - Italy
"Hände voller Blut" - Austria
"La fille de Jack l'éventreur" - France
"Las manos del destripador" - Spain
"Les griffes de l'éventreur" - Canada (French title) (long title)
"Nas Mãos do Estripador" - Brazil (imdb display title)
"Sta heria tou Jack tou Anterovgalti" - Greece (transliterated ISO-LATIN-1 title)

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Germany:18 (DVD rating) | Brazil:14 (DVD rating) | Australia:M | Finland:(Banned) (1971) | Norway:18 (video rating) | Sweden:15 | UK:15 (video rating) | USA:R | UK:X (original rating) | Norway:(Banned) (1971-2003) (cinema release)

Filming Locations:

Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company:

Hammer Film Productions

Trivia:

Lynda Baron's character is named after one of Jack the Ripper's real-life victims, Elizabeth Stride, whose nickname was "Long Liz".

Good acting and strong violence

Anna sees her father (Jack the Ripper) stab her mother to death when she's a little girl. Twenty years later she's been adopted and knows nothing about her past--but she kills people when she flashes back to seeing her mother killed. Dr. John Pritchard (Eric Porter) knows she does this but wants to try to find out why and cure her while the bodies pile up.

Interesting Hammer horror that mixes psychology with extreme violence. I originally caught this on network TV ages ago where all the violence was cut out. There's not a lot of it but what there is is VERY strong and incredibly gruesome. Even the R rated version released here in the US is edited! I finally saw it uncut on a Portuguese DVD. The color is a little faded and the end credits stop abruptly but it's letter-boxed and complete. The story is a little slowly paced but I was never bored and the violence shocked me--and I'm a hardened horror movie fan! The acting was excellent by Porter and Angharad Rees (playing the unfortunate Anna). The psychology is a little bit silly but the movie is strong and well-done. If you can see this uncut I recommend it.