The New York Ripper (Italian: Lo squartatore di New York) is a 1982 Italian giallo film directed by Lucio Fulci.
While most of Fulci's films have been released uncut in the United Kingdom, The New York Ripper remains censored to this day, even for its 2011 DVD and Blu-ray releases.
Plot[]
A decomposed human hand is found in New York City. It is identified by the police as belonging to Anne Lynne, a local model. Lieutenant Fred Williams (Jack Hedley), the burned-out police detective investigating the murder, interviews the young woman's nosy landlady, Mrs. Weissburger (Babette New), who tells him that during her daily spying and eavesdropping on her tenants, she overheard the girl last week over the phone arranging to meet a man who spoke with a strange, duck-like voice.
On a ferry, a young woman (Cinzia de Ponti) is eviscerated as she attempts to vandalize a car. The pathologist who conducts the autopsy (Giordano Falzoni) tells Williams that the style of the murder was similar to that of Anne Lynne, as well as a similar case in Harlem the previous month. When Williams tells the press about a potential serial killer being on the loose, the chief of police (Lucio Fulci) orders him not to make any further public announcements about the case to avoid starting a citywide panic. Williams hires Dr Paul Davis (Paolo Malco) to advise on the case.
That night in New York's red-light district, Jane Lodge (Alexandra Delli Colli), attends a live sex show and records the simulated moans and groans of the two performers with a pocket tape recorder. Mickey Scellenda, (Howard Ross), a scruffy, dangerous-looking man with two fingers missing from his right hand, sits nearby and observes what she is doing. After the show has ended, the female performer (Zora Kerova) is brutally killed by the maniac. Later that night while at the apartment of Kitty (Daniela Doria), a prostitute he patronizes, Williams receives a taunting phone call from the duck-voiced killer saying that he has killed again.
A young woman, Fay (Almanta Suska), is attacked by a handsome, razor-blade wielding killer but survives. She is comforted in the hospital by her handsome boyfriend Peter (Andrea Occhipinti). Fay tells Williams that she suspects her attacker was a scruffy, dangerous-looking man missing two fingers from his right hand. Jane continues to prowl New York for sexual experiences. After being molested in a pool hall, she picks up Scellenda; they go to a sleazy hotel room and engage in BDSM. As he has a post-coital nap, Jane overhears a radio DJ describing the killer, whom the press has now dubbed, 'the New York Ripper,' as missing two fingers from his right hand. Jane slips from the room only to be killed by the New York Ripper.
Williams identifies Scellenda as the eight-fingered man — a Greek immigrant with a history of sexual assault and drug abuse. Although Dr Davis doubts that Scellenda is intelligent enough to be the serial killer, his concerns seem obviated when Scellenda attempts to kill Fay in her home before being chased off by her boyfriend . A week later, Williams receives a call from the Ripper who wants to "dedicate a murder" to him. After being delayed by a false lead, Williams realizes the Ripper's target is Kitty. But he arrives too late to prevent her gruesome murder.
Scellenda's body is found a few days later; he has committed suicide. The pathologist tells Williams he was dead several days prior to Kitty's murder, proving he couldn't be the Ripper. Dr Davis completes a profile of the killer: an intelligent young man who hates young, sexually active women and followed Scellenda to identify his victims. Realizing this describes Peter, Williams and Davis begin to follow him and Fay. They discover that Peter has Suzy, a terminally ill daughter from a previous relationship. Believing them to be the killers, Williams goes to their house to arrest them. There he discovers Peter attempting to kill Fay and kills him.
Davis explains to Fay that Peter resented her and other women for enjoying a life that his daughter never would. From her hospital room, Suzy attempts to call Peter on the phone, but receives no reply. Category;Italian Horror