A few words about...™ The New York Ripper -- in Blu-ray

I am not now, nor have I ever been, a fan of veteran Italian filmmaker Lucio Fulci, whose career spanned almost six decades.  But my particular likes or dislikes are not the purpose of these pieces.

While I'm always pleased to bring a personal favorite to HTF's attention, I feel that it's important to also highlight films which have been brought to DVD or Blu-ray at the highest of standards.  To that accord, I can tell you that filmmaker and DVD producer William Lustig continues to be on my A list.  As purveyor of the tiny Blue Underground label, Mr, Lustig goes out of his way, sometimes even more so that the studios, to deliver the absolute finest that Blu-ray can deliver in terms of quality to the consumer.

So it is with The New York Ripper.  This little cult film produced in 1982, in its own way looks better and more film-like than a recent Best Picture winner from the same era as released on Blu-ray.

This is a grainy little film.  Not objectionably so, but with the absolutely proper grain structure for the way that it was shot -- in Techniscope (2-perf).  For this same reason, it also appears slightly softer than one expect for a Blu-ray release.  But this is all accurate.

Once again, my hat is off to Mr. Lustig for creating and delivering a quality product that will thrill those who are fans of the genre.  For quality, The New York Ripper shows how well Blu-ray, as a system an function, and is for that reason...

Recommended.

RAH 

I have never seen this film and I may not like it but I have to agree Blue Underground has done some great presentations on Blu-Ray so far. In fact I may own all their releases so far. I will buy this one on a wim and see if I enjoy it. I am sure the transfer will please.

I am all over the place tonite I will be watching Pierrot le Fou and in 2 weeks New York Ripper... although I plan on ordering the British BD release for Contempt ... word around the web is that it is in fact region free! 

As a semi-warning to first time viewers, The New York Ripper is a very violent movie and, depending on who you ask, it is also a fairly misogynistic movie.

Am definitely planning on picking this one up, although I would have preferred to see The Beyond or Zombi 2 on BD before this one. Hopefully this bodes well for Italian exploitation in Hi-Def!


It's encoded for regions A & B, and it's absolutely superb!! DVD Times has a great review up.

My favorite Fulci film. Glad to read it's up to BU's typically high standard!

Mine too!  I've had this on pre-order for a while now and I can't wait to take it for a spin. 

I've been very pleased with BU's handling of Argento's work on BD, so I'm sure this will be equally satisfying. 

I'm glad this is coming out, although I'm shocked it's being released before ZOMBIE.  I hated this film the first time I watched it but I think it gets better with each new viewing.  I feel sorry for those who are going to watch the film just because it's on Blu-ray but I hope they enjoy this torture mess from Fulci.  The scene with the girlfriend tied up should clear out a room if the toe scene doesn't do it.  A brutal film but a Euro classic.

 I watched this tonight as it arrived from Amazon today. I have to say I was quite pleased with the transfer and overall presentation. Unlike most Blue Underground Blu-rays, it was on a BD25 rather than a BD50. Despite that, there was no difference in quality and the bitrate (an AVC encode) averaged in the mid twenties and sometimes hovered in the mid 30s. Usually I am prone to lament the use of smaller discs but it was irrelevant here. BU like chose the BD25 because the only extra is a 9 minute interview with one of the actresses. Despite being a largely unknown film, it received a wonderful treatment from Blue Underground. I highly doubt you could have produced a bevy of extras for a movie like this. As far as I am concerned, the one that was there was sufficient. Sure, it would have been nice to have a longer behind the scenes look or some more interviews but let's get real - a lot of movies don't get much more than a trailer. The aforementioned probably made a lot more money too.

Bill Lustig is a gift to cult cinema. No one else (outside of Criterion but they don't dabble in New York Ripper type and maybe a label here or there) would have given this movie a blu-ray release especially with a transfer like this. As with all Blue Underground discs, they appear natural without any manipulation. One downside is that Mr. Lustig nearly always uses 7.1 remixes in lossless and puts the mono in Dolby Digital format. Whatever. The 7.1 mix is so narrow that I doubt it strays from the mono except for a scene or two with music. For Fulci and euro horror fans, this is a must buy.

Don't watch this with the family. However, it is nowhere near as graphic and brutal as some might suggest. The creepy factor is more frightening than the gore. If you have a friend who's into weird movies or attends a local art school, watch it solo.

Good to hear it's received a solid transfer. I was certain it would look great, given BU's previous BD releases. Here's hoping for more Fulci, more Argento...more of all that good stuff, on Blu-ray from Blue Underground!