Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Classic? Or just old?, 17 May 2004
The word 'classic' is enormously overused, a bit like the word 'icon'. Only one of the 3 movies in this boxset comes close to deserving the epithet: Hammer's stylish psycho-sexual thriller Hands of the Ripper. It's the story of Jack the Ripper's daughter, compelled by forces unknown to repeat her father's cycle of murder. The psychology's all a bit heavy-handed, but the film benefits from a great cast, led by Eric Porter and Angharad Rees, and Peter Sasdy's intelligent direction. Proof positive that Hammer had more to offer in the 1970s than just lesbian vampires.The Monster, originally known by the great schlock title I Don't Want to Be Born, is also directed by Sasdy. But it's an absolutely ludicrous movie with loose woman Joan Collins being cursed by a dwarf and giving birth to a killer baby. It sounds more enjoyable than it is. Donald Pleasance turns up in one of his many horror bit-parts, and the now hugely respected Eileen Atkins plays the nun who saves the day. Bet she leaves this movie off her CV. However, anything with Joanie in has got to be worth enduring. Finally, The Uncanny. Producer/writer Milton Subotsky, who initiated a seemingly endless series of anthology horror films at Amicus, continued to make them even after that company went belly-up. This is a UK-Canada co-production starring Peter Cushing as a man who hates cats. Not surprisingly he's the best thing in the film, as he tells a barely-alive Ray Milland three stories to prove the evil in all felines. I had fond memories of this movie from seeing it on TV as a kid, but actually it's rubbish. The first story's the best, with Joan Greenwood as a cat-lover whose pets avenge her after she's killed by Susan Penhaligon. The second, incredibly boring story is all Canadian and features a girl with a murderous imaginary cat-friend. And the third's a rubbish Poe rip-off with Donald Pleasance and Samantha (The Brood) Eggar. This set's worth buying just for Hands of the Ripper, but the other films are really just for UK horror movie completists (that would be me then).
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very mixed bag, 9 April 2008
Three films of varying quality. Firstly Hands of the Ripper, a good Hammer horror film concerning a young girl who having witnessed a traumatic event when a toddler (her mother being murdered by her father who was also Jack the Ripper no less) when exposed to certain trigger factors, primarily a kiss on the cheek (as received from her father 'Jack' after the slaying) or the light of a reflective surface (Jacks knife) becomes, under a trance like state, a psychopathic killer with no awareness or recollection of the dastardly deeds. A 'kindly' psychiatrist fascinated by her condition takes her under his wing resolving to study if not 'cure' her. Eric Porter as the psychiatrist is very much in the Baron Frankenstein role, well meaning initially but completely misguided and willing to overlook a few murders in the name of scientific discovery with Angharad Rees being his 'monster'
The second film 'The Monster' aka 'I Don't Want to be Born' is in many ways a terrible film but for me certainly has entertainment value and so therefore I would recommend watching and making your own minds up about. It concerns a vengeful 'dwarf' who having been spurned by Joan Collins somehow possesses her new born baby and goes on a killing spree (yes the baby) displaying feats of superhuman strength along the way. Quite why this awful revenge is visited on Joan and her circle for such an innocuous reason is a mystery, after all the dwarf is still merrily alive doing his stage acts. It would have been far more consistent and believable if she had killed the dwarf or if he had killed himself but this is not a film that bows to convention, consistency or rationality. Entertaining overall, probably not one for pregnant women or new born parents.
The last film 'The Uncanny' is very poor. It was one of those rare films when I was clock watching and just waiting for it to finish. An anthology of three stories ranging from passable for the first one to rubbish for the other two. I know in some cultures cats are believed to be evil but there was just no feeling of menace in this film from any of the cats. The second story wasn't really even about cats there just happened to be a cat in it, the other two stories involved cats being initially wronged (devoted owner being murdered and kittens being drowned respectively) so the cats were portrayed as getting their revenge, contradicting the point of the film with Peter Cushing trying to make a case that cats were the source of true evil waiting to overun mankind. I did read somewhere Peter Cushing claiming that 'The Blood Beast Terror' was the worst film he has ever appeared in, blood beast looks like an oscar winner compared to this mess Pete.
Probably worth 3 and a half out of 5 for this boxset, not bad value.
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3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Really Dumb idea, 7 Jun 2004
Why did Carlton think that movie fans would want to buy all these three films together in one box set? It's a really dumb marketing person who decided that out there somewhere are people who just have to have all three films in this collection. Apart from being British and all made in the 1970's, these movies have nothing at all in common.
Maybe the truth is, however, that carlton bought the rights and then realised that nobody would shell out for "The Uncanny" or "The Monster" unless they were made to, so they cruelly stuck them into a package with the only one worth watching in the set, Hammer's masterful "Hands of the Ripper".
Easily deserving of full special edition treatment, "Hands of the Ripper" is one of the greatest original (i.e non Dracula, Frankenstein, etc) movies to come out of the Hammer studio. A beautiful period setting (Hammer must have becoem the experts in that by this time!) provides the backdrop to a cleverly written and gruesome tale about Anna, who (unbeknown to her) is actually Jack the Ripper's daughter. Like him, she is also possessed by murderous urges, but for Anna they only appear when certain circumstances "trigger" a trance-like state in her, something that she has no memory of afterwards. Unfortunately, during these trances she's usually bloodily stabbing someone to death!
Well acted all round, especially Angharad Rees as the beautiful Anna, and Eric Porter as the doctor trying to cure her.
I have nothing to say about "The Uncanny" or "The Monster" (better known as "I Don't Want To Be Born"), as they have been on TV enough times for anybody who is interested in seeing them to have had the chance. I have , and I wouldn't even set the vidoe if they were ever on again, let alone buy them.
So come on Carlton, show a bit more repect when you have a product of this quality. Releasing good things in lacklustre packaging like this - a hideous sleeve and hopeless tag-line ("Jack's Back"...oh please) shows you have little idea about what you are doing.
~5 stars for "Hands of the Ripper"
~Minus 3 stars for the other two films and the fact that you can't buy them seperately
~That leaves only 2 stars.
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