RIPPER’S REVENGE **** UK 2023 Dir: Steve Lawson. 85 mins
The sequel to Ripper Untold (2021), Ripper’s Revenge follows newspaper reporter Sebastian Stubb (Chris Bell) as he receives letters from someone reporting to be Jack the Ripper, one year on from the infamous murders.
Writer / Director Steve Lawson creates a great fictitious story, centred around the real-life serial killer Jack the Ripper. This link is one of the reasons I wanted to watch the film as I’ve always been interested in the Jack the Ripper case. For me, it made the storyline far more engaging.
Another reason for my interest was the casting, as the film stars Rachel Warren as Iris, lady of the night and girlfriend to Stubb. Having seen her talented performances in The Last Heist (2022) and Eve (2019), I knew she would be great as Iris. She adds humanity to the idea of ladies of the night and gains sympathy from the audience. She certainly adds to the mystery surrounding Iris as she navigates a difficult relationship with Stubb, as well as poverty.
I was quite surprised by some of the twists in the film, showing just how well written it was. It isn’t what you would have expected.
The audience is fully immersed in the storyline, in part thanks to the lighting and the settings being quite dreary, as you would expect from that era. Even the effects were simple yet realistic when it came to the gore. Of course this could have been even better with a higher budget.
Overall Ripper’s Revenge is a brilliant film and you wouldn’t realise it is a sequel as the film could easily stand alone. I enjoyed it having never seen Ripper Untold (2021).
Review by Poppy Blundell
RIPPER’S REVENGE is out now on Amazon Prime Video to rent or buy and on DVD