New York Ripper

New York Ripper (1982)
Dir: Lucio Fulci ( Zombie/The Beyond/City of the Living Dead/House by the Cemetery)

New York Ripper is Fulci's spin on the Giallo genre and I have to say it is a very well made film. Fulci is a legend in his own right along with a few other Italian Horror directors popular at the time along with the likes of Mario Bava and Dario Argento as masters of the craft. Unlike most Giallo's this one is set in the U.S. obviously as New York is terrorized by a Jack the Ripper clone who is killing women through the city. the film opens with a man walking his dog and playing fetch when the pup finds a severed hand in some bushes. After the findings Lt. Fred Williams is put on the case. After the first remains are found the killing spree hits full stride as A woman is cycling and after an altercation with a asshole after accidentally scratching his car she goes onto a ferry boat where she finds his car and writes Shit on his windshield, Along her way she is followed by someone and eventually caught in the car port, While she tries to escape she sis gutted in brutal fashion before the boat docks. After her body is found it becomes apparent that the killings are connected due to the fashion of the murders which lead Williams to believe the killer is quite intelligent making precise cuts with near surgical precision. While investigating he finds that the woman received a phone call before leaving her house from someone talking with a cartoon duck voice, shortly after hearing this development Lt. Williams gets a call himself from the same voice ridiculing Williams and alerting him that there will indeed be more bloodshed in the near future.

                                                               Bored to Death?

After the call we see a man who is missing two fingers on his right hand named Mickey Cellanda going to a live sex show and while there he sees a woman who is a voyeur masturbating near by. After the show one of the female performers hits the dressing room and is killed with a broken bottle being shoved in her Vagina. Although the style is not similar to the previous killings Lt. Williams is informed by a Psychologist Dr. Davis that the murder is indeed connected.We then see Jane the woman from the theater hitting bars looking for thrills and she comes across a man with a sizable bulge in his pants and he molests her underneath the table before she flees feeling violated, later that night A young woman Fay is on a train and is approached by the creepy Cellenda and after she is cornered by him she escapes into the nearest station before being caught and attacked but lucky for her she survives the attack and awakes in a hospital after having a nightmare of her boyfriend Peter being the assailant.Fay is questioned about the attack and she leads the officer to believe Cellenda is the suspect. While Police comb the streets looking for the suspect, Cellenda is seen going into a hotel with Jane and he ties her up for some rough play,  before a radio D.J. is heard speaking of the suspect with missing fingers. Jane startled by this news attempts to free herself while Mickey sleeps and as she makes her way into the hall of the hotel she is murdered.

                                          Ah, 42nd Street in it's prime, Live Cinemax shows

                                                 I hear you can get drunk faster this way

                                                        Another Awkward Bart Ride

Lt. Williams arrives at Cellenda's house searching for evidence and all they officers find is drug paraphernalia and a bunch of smut. Shortly after the search Williams receives another call from the killer , Police trace the call to a phone booth at a near by pier. Upon arrival all the cops find is a device that forwards the call and the killer tells Williams he is with Lt. Williams hooker friend and he begins to carve her up as the police make their way to the scene. They show up too late only too find the young lady carved up in brutal fashion, as the killer went to town on her with a razor blade in a very graphic scene. After we see Fay is released from the hospital and is moving in with her boyfriend Peter. Later that night Peter heads out to run errands and leaves her alone in the house. Soon someone is stalking her from outside and it is Cellenda who sneaks in to attack Fay, Lucky for her Peter shows up just in time and Cellenda quickly makes his escape.Lt. Williams is informed of the new developments and the search for Cellenda continues.

                                                            Another Botched Tit Job

                                              Sale on Lasik Eye Surgery at Highland Hospital

Then a wrench is thrown in the investigation as Cellenda's body is found dead , So the case is back to square one with their prime suspect out of the picture. Dr. Davis starts to believe it could be Fay that is behind the slaying, and Williams is ahead of him as he has undercover officers following her all day. Fay visits a hospital where Peter apparently has a ill daughter he has been keeping secret, When she returns home the killer calls the house, and in a twist scene it is hard to tell weither Fay is making the call or if it is Peter, as they both were on the line at the same time. I would go further into the film but at this point to say anymore would spoil a pretty decent twist ending so I will leave the synopsis at that.

                                                           Frankenstein is the culprit

New York Ripper is a very well made crime Drama with some great gore scenes to spice it up. The film is similar to Maniac which is a good thing in my book although I do like Maniac a bit more. The Donald Duck Voice for the killer is a bit strange but it works and never comes off as goofy although it easily could. The entire films does a good job of making you think you know who the killer is all the way up to the end with the twists and then keeps you guessing until the films closing moments. fans of murder mysteries will enjoy this one for the story and plot devices and fans of horror will get a kick out of it due to the graphic gore set pieces. Definitely a film worth watching and for those interested in getting into the giallo sub genre I would highly recommend this one as a starting point as it never really dulls down as many Giallo's tend to. Fulci scores big with this one in my book and That is not too much of a surprise as he is a incredibly talented director.
Gore:7
Nudity:6
Story:7
Characters:6
Overall: 7 out of 10

Some small updates

So now having reached over 3,000 views and updating the sites look, I have decided to add some more to the site. In preparation of the hopefully soon coming video blogs, I have decided I am going to try to incorporate some more humor to the reviews, In the easiest way I could think of. That being adding captions underneath each of the highlights screenshots, Now not all of them will be straight out jokes but I think this will add some depth to my reviews and give a glance at my sense of humor instead of just being straight forward synopsis' of the films and a rundown of my thoughts. I must say that I do truly appreciate the growing readership , but I would really like to make this more of an interactive experience by responding to feedback and receiving criticisms and comments , SO please take a second to write something on the page and subscribe, SO I can get an idea of what I could do to make this site better and see what kind of folks out there are checking this one out. I would like to start a thing where every month I put up a list of films for readers to vote on to see which one they would like reviewed and that would be a special review for the  month, each one would have some sort of theme to it as well. I really need the feedback and encouragement. Right now with how stressful my life has been , this site has become one of my bright spots so please join in and give your support. I really am beginning to think that I am pandering which is not what I wanna do, I just want this little site to be  more fun for everyone and gain some more readership in the process.
                                                                         Thanks again,
                                                                                             Nathaniel ( Dick Swift) Guest.

Sorority House Massacre 2

Sorority House Massacre 2 (1990)
Dir: Jim Wynorski ( Chopping Mall/ 976-Evil 2/ Scream Queen Hot Tub Party)

As the title and cover art shows , this is just a typical Slumber Party Massacre knock off, but not only that, This film even goes as far as to use footage from the original Slumber Party Massacre in the film which is just kind of sad. SO the film starts with a young woman cowering in a corner covered in blood clutching a knife begging someone off screen to remember who they are and asking why this is happening. After that We skip to a group of girls whom have just purchased a new house to build their sorority. Upon entering the house the head sister Janey tells the group why the house was so cheap. Apparently the house was the scene of a brutal massacre five years prior when Clive Hokstedher  killed his family, However when they flash back to the actual act it is scenes from Slumber Party Massacre where the sorority sisters are stalked and killed by the famous drill wielding killer. After that buzz kill the girls enjoy a dinner of chips and booze and as Janey opens the drapes a creepy large man is standing outside. He enters and tells the entire story of the "Hokstedher" Case and then provides the girls with a key to the houses basement. While in the basement they find a Ouija Board and of course decide it would be a great idea to try and contact the spirit of the killer. After a requisite scene of the girls disrobing and showering to get ready for bed they give the board a try, though once the name of the killer is uttered the diviner flies off the board and into the fireplace.

Meanwhile outside in town somewhere Lt. Block says he received a disturbing distress call from the house and immediately thinks that the creepy neighbor Orville was responsible for the previous killings and is back on his blood path, although we never see or hear any call being made. While the girls in the house relax , Janey and Suzy are talking and jealousy boils as Suzy admits to seeing one of Janey's ex's. Janey upset goes to hit the bottle and is attacked by a shadowy figure using a hook as a weapon. When Janey does not return Suzy becomes worried and notifies the others , so they split up to find her. Suzy heads to an attic where she is locked in and caught in a bear trap before being attacked by the killer.

Back with the investigators, Lt. Block and his partner Sgt.Shawlee hit up a strip club where  one of the only survivors from the previous massacre works. After questioning her about Ketchum, the film returns to the house where the girls are searching for their two missing friends now. While in the basement they find the two corpses strung up and the three remaining ladies panic once they find that the phone lines have been cut. The girls try to go outside but see Ketchum heading their way. The girls all hide and one runs into Ketchum and heads for the bathroom where she is offed yet again off camera, leaving only two girls to fend for themselves.Linda is cornered by ketchum and she stabs him several times thinking he is dead but no such luck so then she chokes him out with a chain, before heading to the bathroom where she finds her friend dead and once again Ketchum appears and she attempts to kill him again. Searching for Jessy , Linda heads to the basement where she finds Jessy has been possessed by the spirit of Clive Hokstedher , Bringing us back to the opening scene and we come to find it has been her doing the killing the whole time. After a game of cat and mouse , Ketchum comes to the save before getting stabbed repeatedly again, This allows Linda enough time to attack and kill her friend Jess.The following morning the two detectives arrive and find Ketchum and Jess dead on the floor, Then we get the twist when Linda rises from beneath some boxes possessed by Clive and Ketchum the unstoppable man grabs a officers gun and opens fire killing her before getting blasted by the police himself. Lt. Block checks Ketchum's pulse and states that he is still alive and we get our odd ending to a pretty cheese filed film.

This one is really hard to review in text because there really is not much that stands out about this film or  makes it noteworthy, In all honesty it is just a blatant rip off of Slumber Party Massacre with a child's play like twist involving the killers spirit taking a host body. There is little to no gore in this one so it does not even compare to the movies it is ripping off and even though it is a sequel they couldn't even use footage from the first installment for flashbacks? they chose to use the better film they were ripping off for those scenes? Just does not make sense. I will say that the woman in this one are for the most part much more attractive than those in Slumber Party Massacre and there is a whole lot more nudity ( Even though still not much) but that is not enough to save this film from utter blandness.If you like the Slumber Party series you may like this one but it just truly falls flat on all counts. Plus it tries too hard to be funny with the running gag of Ketchum getting falsely accused and attacked, it gets old after the second go round and they still keep rooting for that tactic to work. As far as 90's cheese filled Cinemax Horror films are concerned you could do allot worse but it would not be hard too find something similar that is ten fold better than this one.
Gore:4 ( Most killings are off screen which does not work in this film at all)
Nudity:6 (There is some nice flesh to feast your eyes on in this one, but nothing you couldn't see anywhere else)
Story:4 ( Unoriginal and pathetic that they would use stock footage of a film not even in the series as flashbacks)
Characters:4 ( Pretty standard if not sub par for the course)
Overall:5 out of 10