Jack el destripador de Londres (1971)

User Rating:

5.2/10   

Director:

José Luis Madrid

Writers:

Tito Carpi (screenplay)
Tito Carpi (story)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

In this version of the famous story of the London serial killer, Jack not only likes to kill prostitutes but he is a cannibal as well. |

Plot Keywords:

Killer | Cannibal | Prostitute | Psycho Killer | Male Female Relationship

Cast

Paul Naschy	...	Peter Dockerman
Patricia Loran	...	Lulu
Renzo Marignano	...	Commissioner Henry Campbell
Orchidea de Santis	...	Sandy Christian
Andrés Resino	...	Winston Darby Christian
Irene Mir
Franco Borelli	...	Detective Hawkins
Víctor Iregua
Teresita Castizio
Carmen Roger
Palomba Moreno
Víctor Vilanova
Maika
Miguel Muniesa
Isidro Novellas

Also Known As:

7 Murders for Scotland Yard (USA) (DVD box title)
Jack the Mangler of London
Jack the Ripper
Jack the Ripper of London
Sette cadaveri per Scotland Yard (Italy)
Seven Murders for Scotland Yard (USA)

Runtime:

87 min | Spain:86 min

Country:

Italy | Spain

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:R

Company:

Cinefilms

Movie Connections:

Version of The Ripper (1997) (TV)

Standard, but not bad, Spanish Giallo

Seven Murders for Scotland Yard is pretty much your standard Giallo fare, and that is no bad thing! The plot revolves around a vicious psychopath who goes around brutally slaying prostitutes. You would expect a film with this sort of plot to be a completely brutal and sleazy affair, but Seven Murders for Scotland Yard is surprising in that aspect as while there are murders aplenty, there's no real nudity, and the murders themselves have been heavily edited, so we don't get to see much more than a bit of blood. This is unfortunate as Seven Murders for Scotland could have done with these appealing elements to compliment the plot, but even so; it has to be said that this isn't a bad film on the whole, and it's certainly one of the better Spanish Giallo's. As mentioned, the plot focuses on the murdering of prostitutes, and as the title suggests, Scotland Yard are soon on the case. The main suspects in the murders is a Peter Dockerman, whose girlfriend was killed along with the prostitutes, but Commissioner Henry Campbell of Scotland Yard doesn't believe Dockerman to be the one they're looking for.

It's clear just looking at this film that it didn't benefit from a large budget, and indeed the locations do all look very cheap. Of course, the fact that my copy isn't exactly brilliant doesn't help, but it is obvious that director José Luis Madrid was merely cashing in on the popular formula of the day. Like a lot of seventies Spanish horror films, this one stars Paul Naschy. Naschy has given some good performances in the past; but this isn't one of his better ones. In fact, none of the performances in this film really inspire anything from the audience and it doesn't seem like anyone is really putting any effort in. The plot is fairly standard stuff too, though it never completely dries up as there's always another murder just around the corner. The identity of the murderer becomes obvious early on in the film, and the twist I was expecting never came. The ending itself is decent enough, however, as we finally get to see the killer's lair and the climatic struggle is decent despite the fact that you wont really care who comes out victorious. Overall, Seven Murders for Scotland Yard is a decent enough Giallo, but there are many, many better ones out there!