Christopher Lewis | Through the Shattered Lens

In the 1985’s The Ripper, a straight-to-video, regional production, Richard Hartwell (Tom Schreier) is a college professor who teaches a class on Jack the Ripper. He discusses Jack the Ripper films, though he does at one point accidentally say that Murder By Decree starred Christopher Lee as Sherlock Holmes. (Lee did play Mycroft Holmes in The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes). He talks about some of the conspiracy theories that surround the Ripper. He encourages his students to try to move beyond the version of Jack the Ripper that’s been sold to them by Hollywood. Some of his fellow professors think that it’s a strange class and I kind of agree. I mean, can you really do an entire semester on just Jack the Ripper?

One day, while shopping at an antique store with his girlfriend, Carol (Mona Van Pernis), Richard comes across an antique ring. Even though the ring is way too big and kind of gauche, Carol loves it. Richard decides to secretly buy it for her. Unfortunately — and this is quite a coincidence considering Richard’s profession — the ring once belonged to Jack the Ripper. And, by putting the ring on his finger, Richard is allowing Jack the Ripper to come back to life in 80s Oklahoma!

Soon, local women are being murdered in ways that duplicate the grisly crimes of Whitechapel. The police suspect that it might be one of Richard’s students. When Richard sleeps, he’s haunted by dreams about the crimes, with the Ripper always appearing in the shadows. When the Ripper is finally revealed, it turns out that he’s …. TOM SAVINI!?

Well, kind of. Tom Savini does appear as Jack the Ripper towards the end of the film. Reportedly, he flew from Philadelphia to Oklahoma and shot his big scene in one day. For the rest of the film, though, the Ripper was played by a stand-in who was always either seen from behind or seen standing in the darkness with his face usually obscured. The few glimpses we do get of the stand-in’s face, it’s obvious that he looks very little like Tom Savini. (He does have a mustache and a beard but they both look like they were pasted on.) When Savini does actually play the Ripper, he seems slightly embarrassed by the whole thing. Tom Savini has always been a pretty good actor but, in The Ripper, he’s not given much to do other than glower at the camera with an evil look on his face. There’s little of the humor that Savini has brought to other roles and that’s a shame because Tom Savini can be a very charming actor when he’s allowed to poke fun at his image.

That said, I have to admit that I have a weakness for low-budget, regional films. In this case, it helps that I’ve spent enough time in Oklahoma, as both a visitor and an occasional resident, that I felt like I could immediately recognize almost every location in the film. There’s a DIY-charm to the film, one that is evident in both the stiff but likable performances and the gore effects, which are occasionally effective and occasionally rather cheesy. (A decapitation scene manages to be both.) Savini, I should mention, did not work on the special effects. This is a silly, nonsensical horror film that runs about 20 minutes too long but it’s just such a product of its time and place (i.e., Oklahoma in the mid-80s) that it’s rather fascinating as a time capsule. I mean, this may be the only Jack the Ripper film to feature an aerobics montage. It doesn’t get more 80s than that!

Oh no! There are bad things happening! On a small college campus, co-eds are being stalked and killed by a masked murderer who carries a cleaver. With each murder, the killer chops off a limb and carries it off with him. He also leaves behind a mysterious gold medallion, one that appears to feature an etching of a dog on it. It’s a bit of a mess, really.

Early on, in the 1985 film, Blood Cult, a narrative crawl informs us that the events that we’re watching occurred during the previous winter. These murders, we’re told, were “the strangest crimes in recent recorded history.” The film opens with one of those crimes. In an homage to Psycho and every other slasher movie ever made, the first murder occurs in a shower. The showering victim looks straight at the camera during her scenes. When she delivers her lines (“Is that you? Did you get the pizza? Did you get my anchovies?”), she does so in a flat, Oklahoma accent. In short, these scenes proudly announce that we are watching an amateur, regional production.

Anyway, the film itself deals with Sheriff Ron Wilbois (Charles Ellis), who must solve the murders before they harm his chances of being elected to the U.S. Senate. Fortunately, he has some help from his daughter, Tina (Judi Adelman). Tina is a librarian, which means that she has magical research powers. All she has to do is open up a book and, thirty seconds later, she will have discovered whatever needs to have been discovered. Unfortunately, Tina may have some secrets of her own. She’s also dating an rather dorky guy named Joel (James Vance). Joel is the type of guy who, when he meets his girlfriend’s father in a diner, lazily props his feet up in the seat across from him. I mean, come on, Joel! At least try to impress the old man! I kept expecting Sheriff Wilbois to yell, “Get the Hell away from my daughter!” and maybe draw his gun but apparently, that was not the Sheriff’s style. The Sheriff’s a good, honest lawman. He’s not the type to abuse his powers. He just wants to solve the murders, go to the Senate, and drink a lot of Coke. Seriously, there are so many Coke cans in this movie that, if not for the film’s amateur status, one could be forgiven for assuming that the film was produced by the Coca-Cola Corporation.

Can you spot the Coke?

There’s a twist to Blood Cult but it’s not a particularly surprising one. In fact, there’s really nothing surprising about Blood Cult. Some of the gore effects are effective in a low-budget way. One victims gets beaten to death by another victim’s severed head. That was kind of creative. For the most part, though, Blood Cult never escapes the constraints of its low budget and its status as an amateur production. I did feel that Charles Ellis, who was a regional theater actor, gave a fairly good performance as Sheriff Wilbois. He came across like being a genuinely nice guy. I would have voted for him. The rest of the cast was forgettable at best and painfully stiff at worst.

Blood Cult is historically significant because it was actually the first movie to ever specifically be made for the home video market. Every straight to video movie ever made is a descendant of Blood Cult. Apparently, it was filmed in nine days, with the cast and crew taking a week off from their days jobs. To the film’s credit, there are a few atmospheric scenes, largely because Oklahoma is a naturally atmospheric state. But, for the most part, Blood Cult has a “Grandpa Picked Up a Video Camera And Made A Horror Film” look and feel to it. I have a weakness for amateur, regional horror movies and the DVD of Blood Cult comes with a likable director’s commentary but, for the most part, this is a film that’s significant mostly as a piece of historical trivia.