{ "id": "epmba4k23v", "slug": "new-york-ripper", "title": "New York Ripper", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.horror", "label": "Horror films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.horror" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.horror.slasher-films", "label": "Slasher films", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.horror.slasher-films" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.horror", "label": "Western Europe · 1946 to 2000: Horror films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.horror", "path": [ { "id": "geo.weu", "label": "Western Europe", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1946", "label": "Western Europe · 1946 to 2000", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1946.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946.culture" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.horror", "label": "Horror films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.horror" } ] } ], "excerpt": "The New York Ripper (Lo squartatore di New York) is Lucio Fulci's 1982 Italian giallo-slasher about a duck-voiced killer stalking New York women. Distinguished by its 1984 UK BBFC rejection, print re-export to Italy, and 4K Blue Underground restoration.", "snippet": "The New York Ripper (Lo squartatore di New York) is Lucio Fulci's 1982 Italian giallo-slasher about a duck-voiced killer stalking New York women. Distinguished by its 1984 UK BBFC rejection, print re-export to Italy, and 4K Blue Underground restoration.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.horror.slasher-films", "markdown": "# New York Ripper\n\n**The New York Ripper** (Italian: *Lo squartatore di New York*) is a 1982 Italian giallo-slasher thriller directed by [Lucio Fulci](https://www.edgepedia.org/lucio-fulci), in which a New York police detective hunts a serial killer who mutilates women and taunts the police with phone calls made in a quacking, duck-like voice[1](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/case-studies/the-new-york-ripper-1982) • [2](https://www.starburstmagazine.com/reviews/new-york-ripper-1982/). The film became one of the most controversial horror releases of its decade, most infamously in the United Kingdom, where it was refused classification for cinema in 1984 and unavailable uncut for roughly two decades[1](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/case-studies/the-new-york-ripper-1982) • [3](https://www.screenslate.com/articles/new-york-ripper).\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Original title / year | *Lo squartatore di New York*, 1982, Italy[4](https://www.luciofulci.fr/filmographie/leventreur-de-new-york) |\n| Director / writers | Lucio Fulci; screenplay by Gianfranco Clerici, Vincenzo Mannino, Lucio Fulci, and Dardano Sacchetti[2](https://www.starburstmagazine.com/reviews/new-york-ripper-1982/) |\n| Genre blend | Part police-procedural giallo, part slasher, with grand guignol murder set-pieces[5](https://www.dreadcentral.com/reviews/25099/new-york-ripper-the-uk-blu-ray/) |\n| Running time | About 90 minutes (BBFC lists 90m 24s for the cut 2011 video version and 91m 0s for the rejected 1984 cinema print)[6](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/the-new-york-ripper-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0zmdkyndk) |\n| UK fate | Refused cinema classification on 15 February 1984; classified 18 on video in 2001 after cuts[6](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/the-new-york-ripper-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0zmdkyndk) |\n| Video nasty status | Associated with the early-1980s 'Video Nasties' panic but never actually listed by the Director of Public Prosecutions[7](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084719/faq/) |\n| Modern restoration | Blue Underground 4K UHD edition, scanned in 4K 16-bit from the original 35mm 2-perf camera negative, released August 2020[8](https://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=26893) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Story and characters\n\nThe plot follows Lieutenant Fred Williams of the NYPD, played by Jack Hedley, as he investigates the murders of sexually active young women across New York City, from the decks of the [Staten Island Ferry](https://www.edgepedia.org/staten-island-ferry) to the sex shows of [Times Square](https://www.edgepedia.org/times-square)[9](https://www.fandango.com/the-new-york-ripper-166998/movie-overview) • [10](https://mvd.cloud/press/BLU-BD-8025/ST_BERNARD_VOICE.pdf). The killer leaves no trace and gives police their only lead through bizarre, taunting phone calls made in a quacking, [Donald Duck](https://www.edgepedia.org/donald-duck)-type voice[2](https://www.starburstmagazine.com/reviews/new-york-ripper-1982/). Williams works with a psychologist, Dr. Paul Davis (Paolo Malco), and a surviving intended victim, Fay (Almanta Suska), supplies the police with a usable description: a man missing two fingers on his right hand[11](https://www.cinematografo.it/film/lo-squartatore-di-new-york-lzljhpo1).\n\nThe supporting cast includes Alexandra Delli Colli as Jane Forrester Lodge, the wife of a successful doctor who pursues her desires in sleazy Times Square theaters, Howard Ross as Mickey Scellenda, Andrea Occhipinti as Peter Bunch, and Daniela Doria[9](https://www.fandango.com/the-new-york-ripper-166998/movie-overview) • [11](https://www.cinematografo.it/film/lo-squartatore-di-new-york-lzljhpo1). The screenplay was credited to Gianfranco Clerici, Vincenzo Mannino, Lucio Fulci, and Dardano Sacchetti[2](https://www.starburstmagazine.com/reviews/new-york-ripper-1982/), though one reviewer judges the second half consistent with a script hastily rewritten in five days[12](https://embed.letterboxd.com/jagfilm/film/the-new-york-ripper/).\n\n## Style and genre position\n\nThe film marked Fulci's return to giallo after roughly a decade of supernatural horror such as *City of the Living Dead*, *The Beyond*, and *[The House by the Cemetery](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-house-by-the-cemetery)*, and it opened a loosely defined trilogy of shot-on-location New York splatter films followed by *Manhattan Baby* (1982) and *Murder Rock* (1984)[3](https://www.screenslate.com/articles/new-york-ripper). Instead of the mist-shrouded graveyards of his supernatural work, the film sets its violence in a recognizably modern, seedy New York of bars, grimy apartments, and 42nd Street's sex industry[2](https://www.starburstmagazine.com/reviews/new-york-ripper-1982/) • [3](https://www.screenslate.com/articles/new-york-ripper). Interior scenes were still shot in Fulci's native Italy[13](https://surgeonsofhorror.com/2022/03/03/retrospective-the-new-york-ripper-1982/).\n\nCommentators place the film at the boundary between giallo and slasher: it retains the giallo's unseen killer and one-by-one murders of young women, but lacks the genre's usual whodunit machinery and instead delivers extended grand guignol set-pieces, including a throat slicing shot from inside the throat, an eyeball cut with a razor blade, and a broken bottle attack on a sex show performer[5](https://www.dreadcentral.com/reviews/25099/new-york-ripper-the-uk-blu-ray/) • [14](https://theses.gla.ac.uk/608/1/2008edmonstonephd.pdf). Cinematographer Luigi Kuveiller, a veteran of *Flesh for Frankenstein* and [Dario Argento](https://www.edgepedia.org/dario-argento)'s *Deep Red*, shot the film, with special makeup effects by Germano Natali, who also worked on *Suspiria* and *Deep Red*[2](https://www.starburstmagazine.com/reviews/new-york-ripper-1982/). Francesco De Masi composed the score[9](https://www.fandango.com/the-new-york-ripper-166998/movie-overview).\n\n## Production history\n\nThe project originally belonged to another director: according to a retrospective account, *The New York Ripper* was first given to [Ruggero Deodato](https://www.edgepedia.org/ruggero-deodato), who later made his own version under the title *Phantom of Death* in 1988 before it passed to Fulci[13](https://surgeonsofhorror.com/2022/03/03/retrospective-the-new-york-ripper-1982/). The film was produced by Fabrizio De Angelis for Fulvia Film[15](https://www.grindhousedatabase.com/index.php/The_New_York_Ripper) • [4](https://www.luciofulci.fr/filmographie/leventreur-de-new-york). It opened in Italy on 4 March 1982, and was released in the United States on 25 June[4](https://www.luciofulci.fr/filmographie/leventreur-de-new-york) • [2](https://www.starburstmagazine.com/reviews/new-york-ripper-1982/). In Spain, where it played as *El destripador de Nueva York*, it drew 388,538 admissions[16](https://sede.mcu.gob.es/CatalogoICAA/Peliculas/Detalle?Pelicula=674051).\n\n## British censorship history\n\nThe film was submitted to the [British Board of Film Classification](https://www.edgepedia.org/british-board-of-film-classification) (BBFC) for cinema classification in December 1983, at a time when three of Fulci's earlier films (*The Beyond*, *The House by the Cemetery*, and *Zombie Flesh Eaters*) were already on the Director of Public Prosecutions' list of potentially obscene video titles, and public sensitivity was heightened after the conviction of [Peter Sutcliffe](https://www.edgepedia.org/peter-sutcliffe), the so-called 'Yorkshire Ripper'[1](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/case-studies/the-new-york-ripper-1982). On the initial viewing of 14 December 1983, five Examiners split three to two: three believed the film could be cut for an 18 certificate, two argued it should be refused outright, partly because the required cuts would leave no viable product and partly over concern that its perceived misogyny could have a corrupting effect[1](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/case-studies/the-new-york-ripper-1982).\n\nFurther viewings produced no consensus, and BBFC Director James Ferman, who personally favored refusal, referred the film to President Lord Harlech, who concluded that the law of obscenity would now catch the material squarely and advised monitoring pending court cases against 'video nasties'[1](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/case-studies/the-new-york-ripper-1982). When the UK distributor of *Nightmares in a Damaged Brain* was convicted at the [Old Bailey](https://www.edgepedia.org/old-bailey) in early February 1984 and jailed for distributing obscene material, Ferman wrote to *The New York Ripper*'s distributor on 15 February 1984 advising that the film could not be classified for cinema exhibition because courts would likely find against it[1](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/case-studies/the-new-york-ripper-1982). Because the Video Recordings Act 1984 did not come fully into effect until 1 September 1985, a video release without a BBFC rating was still possible, but Ferman warned that this would increase the risk of prosecution[1](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/case-studies/the-new-york-ripper-1982).\n\nIn an unusual step, the BBFC decided not to return the submitted print, which could have exposed the distributor to prosecution for possession with intent to supply and implicated the BBFC itself. The print was re-exported to the rights holders in Italy, and the distributor was advised to dispose of any additional copies[1](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/case-studies/the-new-york-ripper-1982). A widely circulated narrative held that the film was considered so extreme that all prints were escorted out of the UK; BBFC records instead indicate the decision was grounded in legal risk to the distributor[1](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/case-studies/the-new-york-ripper-1982) • [17](https://notcoming.com/reviews/newyorkripper). A later point of record: although the film is often associated with the Video Nasties panic, it was never placed on any of the DPP's lists[7](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084719/faq/).\n\n## Later classification and releases\n\nThe film returned to the BBFC in 2001, after Ferman's retirement, and was classified 18 under the new Classification Guidelines after 22 seconds of cuts to material involving the mutilation of a woman's breasts[1](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/case-studies/the-new-york-ripper-1982). Subsequent video versions continued to require cuts under the Video Recordings Act 1984: an 86m 36s version in 2002, an 87m 7s version in 2007, and a 90m 24s version in 2011, all removing the sexualised razor-blade mutilation of a bound woman[6](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/the-new-york-ripper-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0zmdkyndk). The IMDb FAQ records the 2011 certification as carrying 29 seconds of cuts to the same scene, a slightly different figure from the BBFC case study's 22 seconds for the 2001 classification[7](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084719/faq/) • [1](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/case-studies/the-new-york-ripper-1982).\n\nIn 2012, BBFC focus groups watching the cut material concluded that the film and its effects appeared dated and not particularly shocking compared with modern films, but it has not been resubmitted for reclassification since then[1](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/case-studies/the-new-york-ripper-1982). Uncut versions eventually reached disc in other territories: Blue Underground's 2016 DVD release ran 93 minutes uncut, and its 4K UHD edition of August 2020 presented a restoration from the original camera negative with Dolby Vision HDR and a new [Dolby Atmos](https://www.edgepedia.org/dolby-atmos) mix[18](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084719/trivia/?item=tr6159805) • [8](https://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=26893). The Starburst review of the 4K-scan Blu-ray notes that the transfer preserves the impact of the makeup effects while including De Masi's soundtrack on CD[2](https://www.starburstmagazine.com/reviews/new-york-ripper-1982/).\n\n## Reception\n\nCritical opinion has been sharply divided. On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 25% critics score from eight reviews against a 54% audience score from more than 2,500 ratings[19](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/new_york_ripper). Detractors have called it sour and pointless and noted the absence of redeeming characters; one critic framed it as the moment the great horror master turned into a schlockmeister[19](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/new_york_ripper). Others have been more positive: Starburst called it \"a psychotic, erotic masterpiece\" and argued the misogyny accusations derive more from accounts of Fulci's behind-the-scenes behavior than from the film's women, who are written as largely independent and, in Fay's case, a survivor who helps the police[19](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/new_york_ripper) • [2](https://www.starburstmagazine.com/reviews/new-york-ripper-1982/).\n\nAcademic and critical writing has treated the film as an extreme case within its genre. A Cambridge doctoral thesis places it alongside Argento's *[Tenebrae](https://www.edgepedia.org/tenebrae-film)* (1982) as a giallo that mimics the vocal aesthetics of television, and notes that its five parallel dubs, with no single original version, cast New York as a cinematic space claimed by multiple sets of voices[20](https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/items/7e56eea2-2301-47cd-8539-b9ba17d833c2). Italian-language scholarship describes *Lo squartatore di New York* as one of the most brutal gialli ever filmed, closing Fulci's great period with a mixture of softcore sex and raw gore[21](https://tesiunamdocumentos.dgb.unam.mx/pd2004/0600216/0600216.pdf). The film has been consistently described as mean-spirited and nihilistic, with its murder set-pieces, not its investigation, as the focal point[5](https://www.dreadcentral.com/reviews/25099/new-york-ripper-the-uk-blu-ray/).\n\n## References\n\n1. [The New York Ripper (1982) – BBFC case study](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/case-studies/the-new-york-ripper-1982)\n2. [The New York Ripper (1982) – Starburst Magazine review](https://www.starburstmagazine.com/reviews/new-york-ripper-1982/)\n3. [The New York Ripper – Screen Slate](https://www.screenslate.com/articles/new-york-ripper)\n4. [L'Eventreur de New York / Lo Squartatore di New York – luciofulci.fr](https://www.luciofulci.fr/filmographie/leventreur-de-new-york)\n5. [New York Ripper, The (UK Blu-ray) – Dread Central](https://www.dreadcentral.com/reviews/25099/new-york-ripper-the-uk-blu-ray/)\n6. [The New York Ripper – BBFC release record](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/the-new-york-ripper-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0zmdkyndk)\n7. [The New York Ripper (1982) – FAQ, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084719/faq/)\n8. [Blue Underground: The New York Ripper 4K Blu-ray Detailed – Blu-ray.com](https://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=26893)\n9. [The New York Ripper – Fandango](https://www.fandango.com/the-new-york-ripper-166998/movie-overview)\n10. [Blue Underground press sheet, MVD](https://mvd.cloud/press/BLU-BD-8025/ST_BERNARD_VOICE.pdf)\n11. [Lo squartatore di New York – Cinematografo](https://www.cinematografo.it/film/lo-squartatore-di-new-york-lzljhpo1)\n12. [Review by Kevin Jagernauth – Letterboxd](https://embed.letterboxd.com/jagfilm/film/the-new-york-ripper/)\n13. [Retrospective: The New York Ripper (1982) – Surgeons of Horror](https://surgeonsofhorror.com/2022/03/03/retrospective-the-new-york-ripper-1982/)\n14. [Edmonstone PhD thesis, University of Glasgow](https://theses.gla.ac.uk/608/1/2008edmonstonephd.pdf)\n15. [The New York Ripper – Grindhouse Cinema Database](https://www.grindhousedatabase.com/index.php/The_New_York_Ripper)\n16. [El destripador de Nueva York – ICAA Film Database](https://sede.mcu.gob.es/CatalogoICAA/Peliculas/Detalle?Pelicula=674051)\n17. [The New York Ripper review – Not Coming to a Theater Near You](https://notcoming.com/reviews/newyorkripper)\n18. [The New York Ripper (1982) – Trivia, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084719/trivia/?item=tr6159805)\n19. [The New York Ripper – Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/new_york_ripper)\n20. [Sounds without Borders: Industry, Society and the Voice in Giallo Cinema – University of Cambridge repository](https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/items/7e56eea2-2301-47cd-8539-b9ba17d833c2)\n21. [Mundo Gore: El cine descuartizador – UNAM thesis](https://tesiunamdocumentos.dgb.unam.mx/pd2004/0600216/0600216.pdf)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Horror films (individual works) › Slasher films*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/new-york-ripper", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/new-york-ripper.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"New York Ripper\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/new-york-ripper. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[New York Ripper](https://www.edgepedia.org/new-york-ripper)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/new-york-ripper](https://www.edgepedia.org/new-york-ripper). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"New York Ripper\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/new-york-ripper. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "The New York Ripper is Lucio Fulci's 1982 Italian giallo-slasher about a duck-voiced killer stalking New York women." }