How highly do you rate the New York Ripper?

[X-human]

I always say, how can you truly appreciate the good when you can't appreciate the bad?

[Angelman]

Originally Posted by dave13

haven't seen those ones, so can't comment, but yeah, i think you're right - everybody has stinkers....i'm trying to think of some directors whose body of work is 100% solid. new directors don't really count, because they haven't been around long enough. for instance, you could say that edgar wright hasn't made a bad movie. no, the only one that i could come up with is kubrick. i don't think the guy made a single bad film. and no fair picking on fear and desire, either.

Well a lot of directors made some mediocre films (Kurosawa, Kubrick, arguably) but they never made bad films. But those directors are in the minority. If you are around long enough to fall out of favor you will eventually make a bad choice. I don't judge based on the bad ones though. I mean Cimino made Heaven's Gate but the man made the f'n DEER HUNTER so he gets a pass (and Heaven's Gate isn't that bad).

I went through and watched all of Fulci's films starting after his studio/comedy period and I really came to respect him. I'll be the first to admit that there is a lot of crap as his career wound down but that is true of all Italian genre directors. There was just no money. With the exception of Leone (a rare case) and possibly Argento whose of body of work suffered in quality as he moved out of the early 80s (Bava Sr. was not a peer) I can't think of a better genre director at the time (in Italy).

I like New York Ripper on the same level as, say, Maniac. What it lacks in $$$ it MORE than makes up for with a sleazy, mean quality.

[The Chaostar]

NYR is a bleak, nihilistic, desperate film. It's Fulci at his best - and I am not a Fulci fan. The gore is pretty shocking, but it's Fulci's view of the world that rises above that. The final shot is the last thing you'd expect from an exploitation film.

Prefer it than Maniac that has so sociological value whatsoever.

[Matt89]

Originally Posted by Angelman

Well a lot of directors made some mediocre films (Kurosawa, Kubrick, arguably) but they never made bad films. But those directors are in the minority. If you are around long enough to fall out of favor you will eventually make a bad choice. I don't judge based on the bad ones though. I mean Cimino made Heaven's Gate but the man made the f'n DEER HUNTER so he gets a pass (and Heaven's Gate isn't that bad).

Yeah, it's hard to come up with a director who never made a 'bad' film. That said, I personally don't think Kubrick ever made a bad film. I dunno who else would be on that list, though, maybe Murnau? However, there are reasons for this. Sure, Kubrick's career spanned 50 years, but he only made about 12 feature films during that time, only making 3 in the last 20 years of his career. Murnau also died when he was 43, and his career only spanned about 10-11 years. That's shorter than many directors' "peak periods", so I'd put Murnau on the list as well.

But yeah, Heaven's Gate. I don't understand all the hate that movie gets, because it REALLY ISN'T that bad. It was probably seen as a massive flop considering how successful (and unbelievably amazing) a film the like The Deer Hunter was.

~Matt

[dave13]

yeah, i agree that kubrick is an anomaly, and maybe if everybody took as long between films as he did, there would be a lot more directors in this category. i was trying to think of directors who had a large output, but didn't make any bad films. the trouble is, its hard to see everything that these prolific directors made! i was thinking of robert wise. i certainly haven't seen everything he's done, but everything i have seen has been of high quality. after looking at his imdb page, the guy made really great films at the beginning, middle and end of his career. i mean he started with some of val lewtons best pictures, curse of the cat people and the body snatcher, mid-way through he was making things like the day the earth stood still and the haunting, and then at the end he made the sand pebbles and the sound of music.

[Matt89]

Haha, Robert Wise also made Audrey Rose in '77, which is, errr....kinda bad. But again, he's one of those directors who's made so many amazing films that he gets a pass. Even his more lesser-known stuff like Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956) and Until They Sail (1957) - which still has yet to receive a DVD release - are still highly underrated.

Can't forget West Side Story, either. The guy mastered so many genres, The Day the Earth Stood Still is considered one of the finest sci-fis, West Side Story and The Sound Of Music two of the finest musicals, The Haunting one of the greatest horror films...he's definitely one of the greatest American directors who ever lived.

~Matt

[Angelman]

Originally Posted by Matt89

Haha, Robert Wise also made Audrey Rose in '77, which is, errr....kinda bad. But again, he's one of those directors who's made so many amazing films that he gets a pass. Even his more lesser-known stuff like Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956) and Until They Sail (1957) - which still has yet to receive a DVD release - are still highly underrated.

Can't forget West Side Story, either. The guy mastered so many genres, The Day the Earth Stood Still is considered one of the finest sci-fis, West Side Story and The Sound Of Music two of the finest musicals, The Haunting one of the greatest horror films...he's definitely one of the greatest American directors who ever lived.

~Matt

What makes Wise so great to me is that he moved between genres and did all of them fairly well. Most directors, even today, can not do that.

Originally Posted by Angelman

I like New York Ripper on the same level as, say, Maniac. What it lacks in $$$ it MORE than makes up for with a sleazy, mean quality.

Agreed..................

[Matt89]

Originally Posted by Angelman

What makes Wise so great to me is that he moved between genres and did all of them fairly well. Most directors, even today, can not do that.

Fuckin' WORD.

~Matt

[spawningblue]

wtf!?

[Novosibirsk]

LOL. Spam.

[HAEMORRHAGE]

Yeah, but it's spam that works. Afterall, what did the killer sound like in the New York Ripper? What's shown in the video stills above? Mmm hmm. See, it all comes together in a nice, neat little package.

[Novosibirsk]

Originally Posted by HAEMORRHAGE

Yeah, but it's spam that works. Afterall, what did the killer sound like in the New York Ripper? What's shown in the video stills above? Mmm hmm. See, it all comes together in a nice, neat little package.

Very true.

"DVD Ripper" etc.

[dave13]

at least the spammer picked an appropriate nickname

[bwana the clown]

Originally Posted by dave13

at least the spammer picked an appropriate nickname