ASSAULT! JACK THE RIPPER

Directed and written by Yasuharu Hasebe
Cast: Tamaki Katsra, Yutaka Hayashi, Yuri Yamashina, Natsuko Yashiro

1976/74 Mins/Color/Stereo
2.35:1 anamorphic/Japanese/Japan/NTSC Region 0

Review from Mondo Macabro DVD

A waitress (Tamaki Katsra) gives the shy cook (Yutaka Hayashi), from the restaurant they both work at, a ride home. They pick up a sexy hitchhiker, but run her over by accident. The waitress soon notices that she is turned on by blood, and they both proceed to have hot sex. Thus, murder becomes ultimate the turn on for this sick couple, as they begin to kill various young women.

This movie, which truthfully has little if anything to do with Jack the Ripper, is one of Nikkatsu Studios entries in the violent pink sub-genre, and it is most certainly one of the most shocking films in that category I ever seen. The movie is straight up nasty and misogynistic, as it features female victims getting frequently stabbed in their crotch. Although, said acts of violence are never shown in graphic detail they are still bloody and violent enough to hit even the more hardened viewer out there. There are some particularly unnerving scenes of women getting slashed up while still alive.

The exploitative nature of the film is, not surprisingly, pretty high. There are lots of frequently naked, beautiful, Japanese babes throughout the course of the movie. Included amongst the acts of wondrous sleaze is lots of tight close-ups of butts and boobs, with some great up-the-skirt shots, thrown in for good measure. And, yet the movie features some really good acting form the cast, in particular from lead Hayashi. She does not have the prettiest face, but she does certainly have a great rack. And, she is very apt at playing the lovesick, but clearly insane waitress. Meanwhile, Katsra is downright creepy in his own role. In all, this is a mean-spirited movie that is not really a fun time. It has some pretty disturbing moments. But, it’s a damn good movie, if you are willing to take the ride, that is.

ASSAULT! JACK THE RIPPER cuts its way into DVD thanks to the good folks at Mondo Macabro. The movie is shown in anamorphic 2.35:1 widescreen. The picture is a little bit soft, but it still looks good. The subtitles are easy to read. And, the stereo Japanese track has a clear and very good sound to it.

Mondo Macrabro really gives us some nice special features on this one. “About Nikkatsu” is a quick written history about the studio’s involvement with pink movies. “About the Film” gives a little bit of info on the film and director’s background.

The excellent documentary “The Erotic Empire” is very informative and well made. It deals with Nikkastsu Studio’s history and making of pink movies. Included in here is the mentioning of some of their top directors. This is my favorite feature on the disc. Finally, there is an interesting little interview with film historian Jasper Sharp, where he discusses ASSAULT! and other movies made by the same director.

The DVD comes with the trailer to the movie, itself as well as trailers to: THE WATCHER IN THE ATTIC, NAKED RASHOMON, THE SINS OF SISTER LUCIA, and FEMALE PRISONER: CAGED. There is also a compilation featuring clips of lots of other Mondo Macarbo releases. The single disc comes in keep-case with a cool cover. There is no inlet card, but the chapters are accessible from the menu.

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Review by Giovanni Deldio. All Right Reserved. 2009. ©

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