Skip to main content

Razors: The Return of Jack the Ripper

2016
Dirs. Ian Powell & Karl Ward

What if someone had discovered the knives used by Jack the Ripper? What if those cruelly glinting blades then went missing? And what if the Ripper came back into our world to once again mutilate and massacre? These are the tantalising questions that form the premise of atmospheric independent horror Razors, the first in a new series of forthcoming films set to explore the bloody exploits of one of the world’s most mysterious serial killers. It tells of enigmatic film professor Robert Wise (Thomas Thoroe) who gathers a group of young screenwriters at a sinister Victorian warehouse in the heart of London to work on the ultimate horror film. Amongst the assembled group is troubled screenwriter Ruth (Kelby Keenan) who believes she has discovered the actual knives used by Jack the Ripper. When the knives go missing and it appears the spirit of the Ripper roams free, the young screenwriters must unlock the building’s dark secrets and unravel mysteries from their own pasts if they are to survive…

With a group of characters exploring their fears to write the ‘definitive’ horror film, various ghostly happenings and the shadowy presence of a Mephistophelian movie producer, Powell and Ward don’t skimp on intriguing ideas as they set the stage for an atmospheric bloodbath. The notion of a group of writers challenging one another to pen the ultimate horror story while feeding their imaginations with nightmarish tales, echoes the events of that ‘wet, ungenial summer’ by Lake Geneva that inspired Mary Shelley to write Frankenstein. Aspects of Wes Craven’s Scream also surface throughout Razors as the young screenwriters comment on the conventions and mores of their favourite types of horror films, ranging from subtle ghost stories and graphic gore-fests, to the eerie sensuality of Gothic vampire films. References to the likes of classic chillers such as The Haunting and The Legend of Hell House abound, as the characters realise they have all been carefully selected for the project.



Cinematographer Alessio Valori carefully lights each scene using mainly candles, torches and onscreen sources of light, and the limited budget and dark locations actually work to the filmmakers’ advantage, as they help conjure a creepy, claustrophobic air. Striking imagery, including horror staples such as creepy dolls and little ghost girls, is rife throughout, and Razors eventually follows a familiar formula as the group are violently picked off one by one while exploring their foreboding surroundings. The screenplay offers a plethora of interesting ideas, and cerebral dialogue between various characters serves up real food for thought as they discuss such concepts as the beauty of horror, the nature of fear, the current state of horror cinema and what attracts individuals to such subject matter. With deliberate pacing the directors take their time to establish atmosphere and it’s clear they aren’t interested in just producing another run-of-the-mill body-count film. As the screenplay enters an increasingly Gothic realm of hidden chambers and bloody secrets, Powell and Ward establish a curious mythos which will hopefully be explored in further instalments of the series.

Razors is a creepy little art-house chiller with ambitious ideas and moments of visceral intensity.
Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

The Ash Tree

1975 Dir. Lawrence Gordon Clark Part of the BBC’s annual series A Ghost Story for Christmas , which ran from 1971 to 1978 and featured some of the small screen’s most chilling moments, The Ash Tree was the last of several MR James adaptations directed by Lawrence Gordon Clark. Written for television by David Rudkin, It stars Edward Petherbridge in the dual role of Sir Richard, an 18th century aristocrat who inherits the vast estate of his late uncle, and of Sir Matthew, his 17th century ancestor whose role in local witch trials, and the death of Ann Mothersole (Barbara Ewing), haunts Sir Richard.  With a slim running time (just over 30 minutes) The Ash Tree is one of the shortest entries in the series, but it is also one of the densest. The amount of detail and information packed in, without compromising or diluting the impact of the source material, is admirable. Clarke manages to convey events and flashbacks by utilising an interesting narrative structure and some ...
Read more

Mandrake (2022)

Mandrake tells of probation officer Cathy Madden (Deirdre Mullins), who is assigned to help with the rehabilitation of recently released ‘Bloody’ Mary Laidlaw (Derbhle Crotty), who had been incarcerated years prior for the murder of her abusive husband. Rumours have long swirled in the local area concerning Mary’s dabbling in witchcraft and involvement in cases of missing children. No sooner has she been released, than the bodies of several local children are found in the woods near her farmhouse. As Cathy and local police delve deeper, the veil between real and imagined starts to fray and Cathy is drawn into a dark world of occult ritualism and blood sacrifice. Directed by Lynne Davison and written by Matt Harvey, Mandrake is a delicious slice of witchy, Northern Irish folk horror, dripping with atmosphere and arcane lore. While Irish horror is having a moment right now, with acclaimed titles such as Aislinn Clarke’s Fréwaka and Kate Dolan’s You Are Not My Mother mining rich and cr...
Read more

Kensal Green Cemetery

During a recent visit to London, a friend and I decided to explore Kensal Green Cemetery in the west of the city. Founded as the General Cemetery of All Souls by barrister George Frederick Carden in 1833, Kensal Green was inspired by the garden-style cemetery of Pere-Lachaises in Paris. Comprised of 72 acres of beautiful grounds, it was not only the first commercial cemetery in London, but also the first of the ‘Magnificent Seven’ garden-style cemeteries established to house the dead of an ever-increasing population. Campaigners for burial reform were in favour of “detached cemeteries for the metropolis” and in 1832 Parliament passed a bill that led to the formation of the General Cemetery Company to oversee appropriate measures and procedures concerning “the interment of the dead.” The company purchased land for the establishment of Kensal Green in 1831 and held a competition in order to select an appropriate designer. Among the prerequisites in the brief provided to entrants, we...
Read more