Jack the Ripper, Nubile Dancehall Girls Die Horribly

Solving crimes a hundred or so years after everyone involved has died is a dubious business.  Crime shows on A&E, Discovery or The History Channel have so many documentaries on who the real Jack the Ripper was.  Keep in mind...hundred year old DNA is worthless no matter what the 'experts' claim. In 2021 we do not know Jack the Ripper's identity. The killings most likely ended when the killer died. From England, 1959's "Jack the Ripper," directed by Robert S. Baker and Monty Berman, is our feature today.

Atmospheric and lurid, this film is a lost jewel.  On foggy and damp nights, dancehall girls foolishly walking alone at night are met by a weird caped maniac.  He asks them if they are 'Mary Clarke' and then guts them.  Some of the murders are heartbreaking as we get to know some of the victims. Even some clean-cut babes are felled by the lunatic.  City Hall is putting much pressure on Inspector O'Neill (Eddie Byrne) to solve the murders. Out of nowhere, his old American pal, police detective Sam Lowry (Lee Patterson) arrives and assists in the investigation. As erotic and loud dancehall scenes play before our eyes, more English babes are gutted. 

You know the Jack the Ripper legend so I will not bother with you with any more plot. Also in this film is a mysterious and unbalanced surgeon, Dr. Tranter (John Le Mesurier). He just happens to be in the vicinity of many of the killings. His beautiful daughter Anne (Betty McDowell) has just taken employment at the same hospital and has also caught the eye of Sam. Sam and Anne grow sweet on one another to the disapproval of Tranter.  More fog...more gutting...and now the cops have a witness.  Sam and O'Neill race to find the identity of Mary Clarke. Unfortunately the answer to that mystery will put Anne in mortal danger. As the beautiful die horribly, Sam and O'Neill get closer to trapping Jack the Ripper...but will it be in time to save the nubile Anne?

Forget what you have heard from modern day 'crime experts.' Jack the Ripper was not royalty and was not a bloke who fled to Illinois. Sorry to burst your bubble. Just why is Dr. Tranter so close to many of the murder scenes? Who is Mary Clarke and why is her identity such a threat to Anne? Did the Jack the Ripper legend eventually inspire Giallo and the concept of the beautiful dying horribly in horror films? You will feel the chill and the fog and smell the cheap perfume of the dancing girl victims in this film. For a thought provoking film about a horrific historical figure, see "Jack the Ripper."