Jack the Ripper (German: Der Dirnenmörder von London) is a 1976 German thriller film directed by Jess Franco and starring Klaus Kinski.
The film mainly concerns one Dr. Orloff - a trusted member of society and respected physician - who finds himself driven by his own lust and psychosis to brutally murder local prostitutes under the cover of night. As Orloff's bloody rampage continues (and word of 'Jack the Ripper' begins to spread in the papers and on the streets), the police realize they have a serial murderer on their hands but seem virtually powerless to stop him. In spite of the efforts of Scotland Yard's best men, the only lead they have is a blind "witness". In a desperate effort to bait and capture the Ripper, the lead detective's girlfriend, Cynthia, volunteers to pose as one of the street-walkers and gets in over her head...
Tropes in Jack the Ripper include:
- Artistic Licence – History: The Ripper did not move the bodies of any of his victims, nor did he capture any of them alive to vivisect them, and he almost certainly did not have a secret lair under the botanic gardens. He might have been a doctor, however.
- Attempted Rape: Orloff abducts Cynthia and takes her to the greenhouse where he attempts to rape her, but is foiled by the arrival of her boyfriend Inspector Selby and the police.
- Blackmail Backfire: Charlie goes to confront Dr. Orloff and demands 500 guineas or else he will go to the police with proof that Orloff is Jack the Ripper. Unsurprisingly, the next scene has Orloff's landlady finding Charlie hanging dead by his neck.
- Dirty Harriet: After Inspector Selby starts to bear the brunt of the press's criticism for failing to catch the Ripper, his girlfriend Cynthia decides to go undercover as a streetwalker in an attempt to catch the Ripper.
- Disposable Sex Worker: Mostly averted. Although the Ripper's victims are all prostitutes, there is a public outcry about the murders and the police's inability to catch the killer.
- A Foggy Day in London Town: Most of the night scenes are accompanied by a thick fog. One especially memorable scene has the Ripper pursuing his victim through a fogbound park.
- Freudian Excuse: The Ripper is a doctor who murders streetwalkers because he was abused by his prostitute mother.
- GPS Evidence: The pine needle found clutched in the dead woman's hand comes from a Indian species; the only examples of which in London are in Kensington Gardens. This tallies with the scent the blind man Mr. Bridger had smelled on Jack.
- Historical Beauty Upgrade: As is common with Jack the Ripper adaptations, the Ripper's victims are much younger and prettier than they were in Real Life.
- Mad Doctor: Jack is really Dr. Orloff, a physician who spends his days helping the poor of the East End, and his nights murdering prostitutes and using his surgical expertise to take them apart.
- The Nose Knows: Mr. Bridger—the blind man who 'witnesses' one of Jack's murders—claims that his sense of smell is twice as acute as a normal man's. He says he would recognise the Ripper again from the combination of odours around him: old books, medicinal alcohol, and a rare Indian pine. Later on he can tell that Cynthia is not a real prostitute because of the scent of soap and lavender water on her, and that she is wearing clothes that have been storage for a long time.
- No Periods, Period: Averted. One of the prostitutes says that she refused to go for a stroll with the killer because it was her time of the month: a statement which shocks the elderly spinster in the room.
- Serial Killer Baiting: After Inspector Selby starts to bear the brunt of the press's criticism for failing to catch the Ripper, his girlfriend Cynthia decides to go undercover as a streetwalker in an attempt to catch the Ripper.
- Super Identikit: Downplayed. Witnesses (including, for some reason, the blind man) are gathered to pool their descriptions for a composite sketch. The resulting picture isn't good art, but it is a good caricature. Cynthia plausibly recognizes him based on it.
- Very Loosely Based on a True Story: The film plays fast and loose with the facts surrounding the Jack the Ripper murders.
