"Ripper 2: Letters from Hell" is an incredibly slow and confusing film.
**SPOILERS**
After declaring that normal procedures aren't working, troubled inmate Molly Keller, (Erin Karplunk) is sent overseas to Dr. Samuel Wiesser, (Richard Bremmer) who runs an experimental clinic. After being introduced to the other inmates, Erich Goethe, (Nicolas Irons) Sally Trigg, (Myfawny Waring) Roberto Edwards, (Colin Lawrence) Grant Jessup, (Daniel Coonan) Lara Svetlana, (Jane Peachy) and Juliette Dureau, (Mihairi Steenbock) they are taken into the realm of the experiments and start to die one-by-one. While the staff declares that it's only a glitch and nothing worry about, Molly is convinced that there's something wrong, and eventually learns that her ancestor is back and is targeting the inmates in the dream world. Convincing them this is true, leads a fight to stop him.
The Good News: There's a few decent things about this. The opening is a pretty nice and brutal display, allowing for an expertly-done eye-gouging to take center-stage. It's an impressive visual in a creepy scene that really gets the movie off in the right way. The chase scene in the clinic, where the first encounter with the killer is shown, is a real highlight, being an overlong chase with lots of shocks, escape methods and an imposing killer inside a creepy setting. All these make it really hard to get over. The killer as well is a pretty imposing figure, and with the hood and robe it wears, creates a really nice visual. The ending half hour contains some really nice sequences all strung together, giving it a really whirlwind pace that moves at the speed of light. From the sequence in the garage to the chase in the darkened hallways, there is really nothing in here that doesn't deliver, and the odd touches inside really give it a little more charm than other scenes from other movies. Other than these three points, there's not a whole lot else about it.
The Bad News: There are a couple things off with the film. The fact that it plays with dreams leaves a lot to be desired. It's always clear when it happens, which usually all the best scenes in the film and making it so that they might not have happened, since there's always the possible it was just a dream. It's all handled quite sloppily, including trudging out a cliché that everyone can see coming from a mile away that really doesn't off much in the way of being new or original. All this does is just add to an incredibly confusing and almost impossible to figure out movie. The dream world is said to have killed them in real life, yet there's characters that are killed that come back in another dream sequence. Then it's said to be a complete dream experience. Then that's wiped away and it carries on in real life, with mention of the dead people from the dream world, but then it's back into a dream world and is revealed to have been that way all along, only for the single most confusing plot twist of all to come into play, and not only does that change what's been going on, but then it doesn't make any sense at all. This isn't even half of what's going on in the film, which is just as confusing as what's been described. Thinking through this will put as much of a migraine as ever. The death scenes themselves are a huge cheat, as being incredibly brutal in sound, but extremely tame in realization. There's a grant total of about three or four actually shown, while everything else is off-screen only for us to catch a glimpse of what happened when the killer changes position to give us a look. It's a very annoying habit that is employed incredibly often in the film that's an annoying tease. It also takes an eternity to get things done in here, with the noticeable example of the dance club. There's a huge wait for it to finally do something of interest, as it goes back and forth a grand total of about four times from several different locations, dragging the scene out far longer than it really should've. All these make this a less-than-impressive slasher film.
The Final Verdict: A slow, confusing and criminally boring slasher film that has some few decent moments, all of which involve the killer. This really means that it's interesting when the killer's on-screen and a plodding mess when it isn't, so take caution with this one unless you're a die-hard slasher apologist or have an insatiable need for these kinds of films.
Rated R: Graphic Language, Nudity, several strong S&M scenes, and Violence
**SPOILERS**
After declaring that normal procedures aren't working, troubled inmate Molly Keller, (Erin Karplunk) is sent overseas to Dr. Samuel Wiesser, (Richard Bremmer) who runs an experimental clinic. After being introduced to the other inmates, Erich Goethe, (Nicolas Irons) Sally Trigg, (Myfawny Waring) Roberto Edwards, (Colin Lawrence) Grant Jessup, (Daniel Coonan) Lara Svetlana, (Jane Peachy) and Juliette Dureau, (Mihairi Steenbock) they are taken into the realm of the experiments and start to die one-by-one. While the staff declares that it's only a glitch and nothing worry about, Molly is convinced that there's something wrong, and eventually learns that her ancestor is back and is targeting the inmates in the dream world. Convincing them this is true, leads a fight to stop him.
The Good News: There's a few decent things about this. The opening is a pretty nice and brutal display, allowing for an expertly-done eye-gouging to take center-stage. It's an impressive visual in a creepy scene that really gets the movie off in the right way. The chase scene in the clinic, where the first encounter with the killer is shown, is a real highlight, being an overlong chase with lots of shocks, escape methods and an imposing killer inside a creepy setting. All these make it really hard to get over. The killer as well is a pretty imposing figure, and with the hood and robe it wears, creates a really nice visual. The ending half hour contains some really nice sequences all strung together, giving it a really whirlwind pace that moves at the speed of light. From the sequence in the garage to the chase in the darkened hallways, there is really nothing in here that doesn't deliver, and the odd touches inside really give it a little more charm than other scenes from other movies. Other than these three points, there's not a whole lot else about it.
The Bad News: There are a couple things off with the film. The fact that it plays with dreams leaves a lot to be desired. It's always clear when it happens, which usually all the best scenes in the film and making it so that they might not have happened, since there's always the possible it was just a dream. It's all handled quite sloppily, including trudging out a cliché that everyone can see coming from a mile away that really doesn't off much in the way of being new or original. All this does is just add to an incredibly confusing and almost impossible to figure out movie. The dream world is said to have killed them in real life, yet there's characters that are killed that come back in another dream sequence. Then it's said to be a complete dream experience. Then that's wiped away and it carries on in real life, with mention of the dead people from the dream world, but then it's back into a dream world and is revealed to have been that way all along, only for the single most confusing plot twist of all to come into play, and not only does that change what's been going on, but then it doesn't make any sense at all. This isn't even half of what's going on in the film, which is just as confusing as what's been described. Thinking through this will put as much of a migraine as ever. The death scenes themselves are a huge cheat, as being incredibly brutal in sound, but extremely tame in realization. There's a grant total of about three or four actually shown, while everything else is off-screen only for us to catch a glimpse of what happened when the killer changes position to give us a look. It's a very annoying habit that is employed incredibly often in the film that's an annoying tease. It also takes an eternity to get things done in here, with the noticeable example of the dance club. There's a huge wait for it to finally do something of interest, as it goes back and forth a grand total of about four times from several different locations, dragging the scene out far longer than it really should've. All these make this a less-than-impressive slasher film.
The Final Verdict: A slow, confusing and criminally boring slasher film that has some few decent moments, all of which involve the killer. This really means that it's interesting when the killer's on-screen and a plodding mess when it isn't, so take caution with this one unless you're a die-hard slasher apologist or have an insatiable need for these kinds of films.
Rated R: Graphic Language, Nudity, several strong S&M scenes, and Violence