Jack the Ripper (1959) (4K UHD Review)
- Review Date: Jun 23, 2025
- Format: 4K Ultra HD
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Director
Robert S. Baker, Monty BermanRelease Date(s)
1959 (June 24, 2025)Studio(s)
Mid-Century Film Productions/Paramount Pictures (Severin Films)- Film/Program Grade: B-
- Video Grade: B-
- Audio Grade: B
- Extras Grade: B
Review
Since the silent era, films inspired by or directly about Jack the Ripper and the Whitechapel murders, which took place in London in the late 1800s, are numerous, and across the board when it comes to their quality and their accuracy. No film has ever nailed it, and indeed, many have taken their own creative licenses to do their own versions of those events. In 1959, Hammer horror scribe Jimmy Sangster adapted a screenplay for Robert S. Baker and Monty Berman who shot, produced, and directed one of the more interesting takes on the events, simply titled Jack the Ripper.
This version, which draws uncredited inspiration from the Leonard Matters novel The Mystery of Jack the Ripper, is more of a whodunit than a horror film or a police procedural. We’re introduced to a number of suspects, all of whom are doctors or their assistants, who could potentially be the titular killer. The film also emphasizes the poverty taking place at the time, its impact on the area’s citizens, and how it conversely affected their reaction to the murders as they were taking place. Many of the details about the victims and their subsequent demises are taken straight from real life, but they’re obviously altered in various ways for dramatic or narrative purposes. An unusual addition is a U.S. policeman who’s visiting due to an interest from officials outside of Britain.
The film’s content, although severely tame by today’s standards, certainly gave the British Board of Film Censors plenty to object to. Among them, actual repeated stabbings and a shot of blood shown in full color, neither of which made the final cut. Sensing that there was money to be made, U.S. producer Joseph E. Levine, who had successfully re-released other films from abroad in the stateside market, brought Jack the Ripper to the U.S. with some tweaks, including a new score, but also with some of the cuts made by the British censors re-instated. In other territories, alternate scenes featuring nude women were inserted in order to widen the market appeal.
Jack the Ripper opened in the U.K. in 1959, and in the U.S. in 1960, as early as February 10th. As a film, it actually manages to conjure up genuine moments of suspense, and the reveal as to who the killer is has a memorable payoff. It also employs a dark and moody atmosphere as the events transpire, including plenty of fog and tilted angles whenever the killer is afoot, the latter of which were directly inspired by Carol Reed’s The Third Man. Performances are also solid from everybody involved, and the overall feel of the film has a Hammer Studios flavor to it, likely due to Jimmy Sangster’s involvement. It’s certainly not the most accurate, but since the identity and/or identities of the murderer(s) have never and will never be determined, no piece of fiction based upon upon the Whitechapel murders can ever be totally accurate.
Jack the Ripper was shot by producers and directors Robert S. Baker and Monty Berman on 35mm film with spherical lenses, finished photochemically, and presented in the aspect ratio of 1.66:1. Severin Films debuts the film on Ultra HD with new 4K restorations of the “European” and U.S. versions (more on that later), both presented on a triple-layered BD-100 disc.
Ahead of the film are the following restoration notes:
“This 4K restoration was produced by Severin Films using elements recently discovered in 2024.
As mysterious as the murderer himself, the original camera negative of Jack the Ripper is considered lost, with all paper trails leading to dead ends. However, we did discover a 35mm fine grain positive of the European version and a 35mm dupe negative of the U.S. version, from which we were able to restore both to ensure a viewing experience unlike ever before, with additional material scanned from a 35mm release print courtesy of Ed Herrera and Maya Neumeier, Michael Hyatt and Miller Drake, and the Academy Film Archive.
The audio was sourced from the 35mm original track negative. The elements were scanned, colored, and restored by Severin Films.”
The contents of each version of the film aside, this is far and away the best that it’s ever had the chance to look on home video, but since all of the original negatives are lost, it does not and cannot appear pristine. Among the leftover flaws are speckling, scratches, and a mix of grain structures, all heavy but a little tighter than previous presentations. The picture is also mostly stable outside of some occasional jitter. That said, detail has dramatically increased and the picture is much more clear and crisp, with a bitrate that sits mostly between 60 and 70Mbps. Gradations are satisfying enough, and since this is a dark film that only gets darker the further away from the camera negative you get, no High Dynamic Range grade has been performed, which would be more of a detriment than a benefit anyway. This is also a more even-keeled picture than previous presentations, making it an elevated, if imperfect, viewing experience.
Audio is included in English 2.0 mono LPCM with optional subtitles in English SDH. It’s a much more pleasant audio experience that’s clearly been lovingly restored, with no apparent hiss, crackle, dropouts, or major distortion. Some extremely mild sibilance is still present, but some of it may be baked into the soundtrack and removing it entirely would likely hamper it. Dialogue is perfectly discernible and both scores, regardless of which version you choose, are full-bodied with plenty of room to breathe. Speaking of different versions...
Jack the Ripper was released theatrically in different territories, the prominent ones being Britain, Europe, and the U.S., at slightly varying lengths. These differing versions are identical in terms of the narrative, but diverge when it comes to the content, score, and credit sequences. At this point, it may be impossible to include every single version of the film ever released since only a scant number of materials still exist, but there are three acknowledged versions in circulation: the U.K. version, which is also considered the director’s cut; the Joseph H. Levine-released U.S. version; and the Continental, or European, version. (Author Denis Meikle mentions in the extras that there was no Continental version of the film and if the British censors had approved of the less questionable content, it would have stayed in. That’s unsubstantiated, so for the purposes of this review, we’ll stick to the “Continental” and “European” monikers.)
Severin Films had previously included two versions of the film on their 2017 Blu-ray release of Jack the Ripper, the U.K. and U.S. versions, as well as a bonus DVD as part of the Limited Edition variant, which featured the European version with a French soundtrack. The U.K. version was sourced from a telecine transfer and the U.S. version was sourced from a print held by the Library of Congress. However, the French version was cobbled together using footage from different versions at different resolutions in order to complete it.
Some confusion has risen because of Severin’s new 4K Ultra HD release, presenting what it is purported to be the “European” and U.S. versions of the film, with the U.K. director’s cut seemingly dropped altogether. However, it appears that the “European” version actually is the U.K. version, but with the Continental, or European, version’s nude scenes cut back into the body of the film. However, the extended murder scenes in the U.S. version have not been re-instated. So in all, Severin has released five versions of the film on home video in total:
The U.K. version (81:05), released on Blu-ray in 2017, is a 1.33:1-framed presentation with no opening logo, U.K. theatrical title cards, U.K. theatrical opening and closing credits, the original score by Stanley Black, shortened death scenes, no nudity, and the color shot of blood at the end of the film removed entirely.
The U.S. version (85:04), also released on Blu-ray in 2017, is a 1.66:1-framed presentation featuring the Paramount Pictures logo, an opening narration, U.S. theatrical title cards, U.S. theatrical opening and closing credits, an alternate score by Jimmy McHugh and Pete Rugolo, extended death scenes, no nudity, and a faded color shot of blood at the end.
The Continental aka European version (81:46), presented in French and released on DVD in 2017, is a 1.33:1-framed presentation featuring a silent version of the Regal Films International Ltd. opening logo, U.K. theatrical title cards, U.K. theatrical opening and closing credits, the original score by Stanley Black, extended death scenes, nudity in four scenes, and a black-and-white version of the color shot of blood at the end.
The U.K./European Hybrid version (84:47), released on 4K Ultra HD in 2025, is a 1.66:1-framed presentation with the Regal Films International Ltd. opening logo and horns trumpeting, U.K. theatrical title cards, U.K. theatrical opening and closing credits, the original score by Stanley Black, shortened death scenes, nudity in four scenes, and the full color shot of blood at the end.
The U.S. version (84:28), also released on 4K Ultra HD in 2025, is a 1.66:1-framed presentation with the Paramount Pictures logo, an opening narration, U.S. theatrical title cards, U.S. theatrical opening and closing credits, an alternate score by Jimmy McHugh and Pete Rugolo, extended death scenes, no nudity, and the full color shot of blood at the end.
Obviously there are some time discrepancies, but they mostly come down to restoration notes that open each version more than differences in content. In truth, there appears to be no definitive version of this film, but it’s odd that the original U.K. version hasn’t been included on the 4K Ultra HD release as a viewing option, especially since it’s the director’s preferred cut.
Regardless, the Severin Films 2-Disc 4K Ultra HD release of Jack the Ripper sits in a black Amaray case alongside a 1080p Blu-ray with an insert featuring artwork from the bonus disc that was included with the previous Limited Edition Blu-ray, and a slipcover that utilizes elements from Paramount Pictures’ U.S. ad campaign for the film. Both versions of the film and the following extras are included on each disc in HD.
DISC ONE: U.K./EUROPEAN HYBRID & U.S. VERSIONS (UHD)
- Audio Commentary with Robert S. Baker, Jimmy Sangster, Peter Manley, and Marcus Hearn
- Trailer (HD – 2:29)
DISC TWO: U.K./EUROPEAN HYBRID & U.S. VERSIONS (BD)
- Audio Commentary with Robert S. Baker, Jimmy Sangster, Peter Manley, and Marcus Hearn
- The Reel Jack the Ripper (10:42)
- Gentleman Jack: The Whitechapel Murders Revisited (13:33)
- Choice Cuts: The Two Faces of Jack the Ripper – An Interview with Alain Petit, Ripperologist Extraordinaire (14:42)
- Poster and Still Gallery (54 in all – 3:50)
- Trailer (2:29)
All of these extras are ported over from Severin’s Limited Edition Blu-ray release. The audio commentary with co-director/co-producer/co-cinematographer Robert S. Baker, screenwriter Jimmy Sangster, and assistant director Peter Manley, moderated by British horror historian Marcus Hearn, which was recorded in 2005 and shelved temporarily, contains plenty of well-researched information about the film and great memories from those involved in it. The Reel Jack the Ripper features an interview with Denis Meikle, author of Jack the Ripper: The Murders and the Movies, who discusses Jack the Ripper-based films, including this one. Gentleman Jack contains an interview with historian and author Richard Jones by Ballyhoo Motion Pictures that explores the history and the myth of Jack the Ripper, highlighted by a guided tour of the London streets where the murders took place. Choice Cuts, which runs about a minute longer than it did previously, features an interview with the film’s French re-issue distributor, Alain Petit. In it, he talks about the practice of creating alternate versions of films for various markets. In addition to Jack the Ripper, he also discusses trying to find alternate materials for Blood of the Vampire, The Flesh and the Fiends, and The Hellfire Club. Last is a Poster and Still Gallery containing 54 images of posters, lobby cards, promotional materials, the soundtrack, and a Jack the Ripper tour guide booklet, as well as the original U.S. theatrical trailer.
It’s worth noting that the previous Severin Films Blu-ray also included the Continental version’s alternate takes as an extra. There’s also a Region 2 DVD from Sinister Film in Italy that features an introduction to the film by filmmaker Luigi Cozzi, fourteen music cues from Jimmy McHugh’s and Pete Rugolo’s score for the U.S. version, and a brief stills gallery. Hardly mentioned at all in any of the extras is the Steven Allen co-penned theme song tie-in performed by Nino Tempo, which you can easily find on Youtube if you’re so inclined.
Jack the Ripper definitely made an impact on audiences when it was initially released, but outside of deep-diving genre fans, it seems to have been somewhat forgotten over the years, even with its releases on home video. It’s certainly one for the genre fanatics, and with a nice selection of extras to back up two different versions of the film, it’s definitely worth your time. It may be incomplete since all three versions aren’t fully represented, but it’s still a mighty fine upgrade.
- Tim Salmons
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