Viewed fifty years after its production, there is no doubt that Doctor Pritchard's (Eric Porter) interest in pretty young waif Anna (the much missed Angharad Rees) is decidedly creepy at times. Dressing her in his dead wife's clothes, casually walking in while she's bathing, moving her into his home etc. goes well beyond professional etiquette, but his behaviour never strays beyond the avuncular.
An interesting and classy-looking latter-day Hammer horror, 'Hands of the Ripper' nevertheless delivers at its core a slightly cumbersome trigger for Anna's transformation from innocent into a killer. In a SPOILER, as a child, she witnessed the brutal murder of her mother by none other than Jack the Ripper in front of an open fire, which caused myriad sparkling reflections. Following this atrocity, Jack picks up the little girl, embraces and kisses her. Subsequently, to arouse the darker side of her split personality, the adult Anna has to be embraced and kissed in front of any reflective surface that sparkles.
It's noticeable that apart from Pritchard, the strongest characters here are female - and that includes Dora Bryan as rolling-eyed clairvoyant Mrs Golding, and lovely Lynda Baron's salty prostitute, the wonderfully named Long Liz. Whereas Jane Merrow's blind Laura is too cheerful to be true, Rees is charming and captivating throughout, making Anna's story heart-breaking. The ending, inevitably, is a real tragedy.
A stylish production, Peter Sasdy's sweeping direction gives little indication that by this time, Hammer were struggling. With productions like this, that itself is a tragedy. My score is 7 out of 10.
An interesting and classy-looking latter-day Hammer horror, 'Hands of the Ripper' nevertheless delivers at its core a slightly cumbersome trigger for Anna's transformation from innocent into a killer. In a SPOILER, as a child, she witnessed the brutal murder of her mother by none other than Jack the Ripper in front of an open fire, which caused myriad sparkling reflections. Following this atrocity, Jack picks up the little girl, embraces and kisses her. Subsequently, to arouse the darker side of her split personality, the adult Anna has to be embraced and kissed in front of any reflective surface that sparkles.
It's noticeable that apart from Pritchard, the strongest characters here are female - and that includes Dora Bryan as rolling-eyed clairvoyant Mrs Golding, and lovely Lynda Baron's salty prostitute, the wonderfully named Long Liz. Whereas Jane Merrow's blind Laura is too cheerful to be true, Rees is charming and captivating throughout, making Anna's story heart-breaking. The ending, inevitably, is a real tragedy.
A stylish production, Peter Sasdy's sweeping direction gives little indication that by this time, Hammer were struggling. With productions like this, that itself is a tragedy. My score is 7 out of 10.