Assault! Jack the Ripper (1976)

Man oh man, I had SOME idea of what to expect from this movie, but no idea of it's depravity! Even describing it would cause your mouth to drop open. OK, a pair of restaurant workers discover, quite accidentally, the best aphrodisiac is for the guy to kill (more like gut) females before he does it. Pretty soon, the aphrodisiac wears off, and the guy just wants to kill. It's barbaric, and definitely not for everyone, but DAMN, what an amazing film to watch. Some serious money went into making it I'm sure.. Widescreen, hippy music, crisp direction and editing.. Someone must have known what they wanted and paid a great deal of money to get it. It would be interesting to find out the backstory behind this one.

Assault! Jack the Ripper (1976) ** (out of 4) Original Title: Bôkô Kirisaki Jakku Perversely sexual and violent, this Japanese film has a reputation as being one of the stronger "pinku" movies out there. The story centers on a cook and a waitress who one night accidentally run over a crazed hitchhiker. The two find themselves being turned on by death and blood so they keep killing women and borrow the trademark of Jack the Ripper by cutting them from their private areas on up. I just recently became aware of these pinku Japanese movies so I' doing research on which ones to start with and this here seemed to have pretty good reviews but in the end I was somewhat let down. The one part of its reputation that it lives up to is the rather bizarre sexual nature of the film. There are quite a few sex scenes here, which come off very perverted and sleazy even though nothing hardcore, or really softcore for that matter, happens. The lead actress, who's name I can't find anywhere, has a rather amazing body so seeing her strip off certainly wasn't a negative thing. Her round face also comes in quite handy because she looks so innocent yet is as deadly as they come. Her performance is quite good as is her co-star but yet again I couldn't find his name among various reviews I read. I think the most disappointing aspect is that the film really isn't all that violent. Yes, the aftermath of a woman being sliced up and down is pretty grim but very little of it is actually shown. Usually we see a minor stab wound and then the rest happens off camera and then we go back for the aftermath. I've read reviews saying the film was ultra violent and downright raw and nasty but I didn't find that to be the case. The biggest problem however is that the film runs 71-minutes and really doesn't have enough of a story to fill that short time. The movie starts to feel rather long because we keep going through the same thing of a murder, sex, a murder, more sex and so on.

"Assault! Jack the Ripper" centres around a cranky waitress who has a chip on her shoulder and a nerdy, submissive cake decorator who both work at the same restaurant. One night, their worlds collide when they have a run-in with an insane hitchhiker (whose bizarre performance rivals that of Edwin Neal in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre as far as insane hitchhikers go). Our protagonists soon discover that they can only become aroused by stabbing pretty young women in the vagina.Their new found hobby becomes an obsession, that soon leads to an interesting role reversal. Primarily, the waitress being the driving force behind the murders, and her accomplice complying silently. Once the waitress realises her boyfriend has been having some "fun" without her, she becomes possessive and dependent on him. Events soon take a turn for the worst..."Assault!" is incredibly stylish and well made. I really liked the Jazz/slightly noir soundtrack, which seemed an unusual choice at first but soon felt appropriate. The acting is top notch, and the violence comes thick and fast. Recommended to those new to Pinku and fans of exploit.

I will confess that I do not understand how anyone can enjoy watching women being killed. There seems to be a connection for some people between violence against women and sexual potency. Certainly, the male lead in this film cannot get it up unless violence of the most horrible kind is involved. Are some viewers also sexually excited by this? A better title for this movie would be: "The Spatula Rape Rampage," since the butterknife he uses to rape his victims resembles a frosting spatula used in a bakery. How odd! Some other oddities: his victims die in a big hurry, as if they were shot through the heart--certainly not in keeping with the types of wounds they are receiving. And come on girls, this guy is going to do unspeakable things to you, how about putting up more of a fight! Why don't any of these ladies from the land of ju-jitsu try kicking this pastry-chef twinkie in the nuts? I know it wouldn't be ladylike, but good god, he's going to spatulize your crotch! The female lead is perhaps the most rude and worthless waitress in the history of cinema, and I wonder if this might be the most horrifying aspect of this horror movie to a polite Japanese audience. I can't help but feel that her indifference to doing a really bad job would be one of the most shocking things in Japan. I think there might be a culture gap in understanding this movie. I know I'm perplexed!