Ripper (film)

Ripper (also known as Ripper: Letter from Hell in the United States) is a 2001 Canadian-British horror film, directed by John Eyres. The film stars A. J. Cook and Bruce Payne. It was written and produced by John A. Curtis and Evan Tylor and by production companies Prophecy Entertainment and Studio Eight Productions.

Plot

Molly Keller (A. J. Cook), narrowly misses being murdered by a serial killer, after managing to escape an island. Five years later, she takes a forensic psychology class from famous expert Marshall Kane (Bruce Payne). Also in the class are Jason Korda (Ryan Northcott), Chantal Etienne (Claire Keim), Marisa Tavares (Kelly Brook), Eddie Sackman (Derek Hamilton), Mary-Anne Nordstrom (Daniella Evangelista), Andrea Carter (Emmanuelle Vaugier) and Aaron Kroeker (Courtney J. Stevens). During a class, Marshall pranks his class by pretending to murder one of the students, to show anyone could be a killer. After class, Aaron reveals he knows about Molly's past, which angers her as she does not want to talk about her past. Eddie hits on Molly, but she rejects him.

At night, the group, excluding Aaron, meet for a study session, however have an argument over Molly's hostile attitude. They decide to go to a party taking place in an abandoned building. Jason attempts to get to know Molly, but she remains distant. Meanwhile, Marisa has sex with a masked man, before she hears Chantal and Andrea talking about her. Marisa decides to leave, but is taken up to an isolated floor of the building by the elevator. She is soon attacked and stabbed by the killer, before she falls out a window. A chain, wrapped around her ankle, catches her, but the killer hoists her back up and stabs her to death, before sending her body crashing through a window into the party below.

The next day, the group mourn Marisa's death, while deciding they will try and identify who the killer is. Molly meets Detective Kelso (Jürgen Prochnow), who was part of the investigation of the previous murders. The pair go to the murder scene where Detective Kelso warns Molly that he believes the killer is back. Mary-Anne is driving home to see her family when a black truck begins to ram into the back of her car. She attempts to drive away, but the truck pushes her to the side of a cliff. As she attempts to get out, the truck hits her car again, causing her to crash through the windscreen and plummet to her death. Detective Kelso finds her body in a nearby shed, where the killer has stabbed her repeatedly.

Molly challenges Marshall, and shows the killer is following the pattern of the famous serial killer Jack the Ripper. Jason manages to persuade the group to continue investigating despite their doubt. Molly and Jason discover a murderer previously held Marshall hostage. Chantal kisses Jason, but soon apologises to Molly for doing so, and the pair make friends. While Andrea is at the morgue identifying Mary-Anne's wounds, she is pursued by the killer who drugs her before murdering her.

Jason, Chantal, and Eddie find out about Molly's past, which causes an argument resulting in Molly removing herself from the group. An upset Molly is comforted by Marshall. The following night, Molly, Jason, Eddie, Chantal, and Marshall are taken to a cabin where they realize the victims share the same initials of the victims of Jack the Ripper. Suspicion falls on Aaron, who was the one that assembled the study group. They attempt to phone Detective Kelso, but the phone is not working. After Molly and Chantal fall out, Eddie, Jason, and Chantal leave to try and fix the phone satelite on top of the mountain. Their car soon breaks down, forcing Jason to carry on on foot. Eddie attempts to fix the car, while Chantal remains inside. The killer soon appears and knocks out Chantal before Eddie's hand is trapped inside the bonnet of the car. Chantal wakes up and panics, driving the car forward into a tree, killing Eddie. The killer chases Chantal to a factory, where she accidentally activates a log splitting machine. She bumps into Aaron who warns her he knows who the killer is. She tries to escape, but they fall into the machine, where they are both mutilated by the circular saws.

Back at the cabin, Molly becomes suspicous of both Jason and Marshall. As Jason arrives back, Molly knocks him out before running into the forest. She discovers Marshall standing over a murdered Jason, before Detective Kelso arrives and knocks out Marshall. It is then revealed Molly was the killer, and framed Marshall. Marshall is executed for the murders, and due to visible mental problems, Molly is put in an insane asylum.

Cast

• A. J. Cook as Molly Keller
• Bruce Payne as Marshall Kane
• Ryan Northcott as Jason Korda
• Claire Keim as Chantal Etienne
• Kelly Brook as Marisa Tavares
• Derek Hamilton as Eddie Sackman
• Daniella Evangelista as Mary-Anne Nordstrom
• Emmanuelle Vaugier as Andrea Carter
• Jürgen Prochnow as Detective Kelso
• Courtenay J. Stevens as Aaron Kroeker

Release

The movie was Rated R for violence/gore, sexuality and language, while being a certificate 18 in the UK. It was released Direct-To-DVD in the many countries such as the UK, but received a thearetical run in some countries like Canada.

External links

• Ripper at the Internet Movie Database
• Ripper at AllRovi
• Ripper at Rotten Tomatoes