Two restaurant employees begin a torturous and sexual
killing spree after they accidentally kill a hitch hiker
and find that murder and mutilation is their mutual
aphrodisiac.
Assault! Jack the Ripper (暴行切り裂きジャック Bōkō Kirisaki Jakku?)
is a 1976 Japanese film in the "Violent Pink" genre of
Nikkatsu''s Roman porno series. It was directed by
Yasuharu Hasebe and stars Tamaki Katsura and Yutaka
Hayashi.
A young couple engage in a rampage of murder, rape and
mayhem in order to stimulate their sexual appetites.
Assault! Jack The Ripper! was the second of three
"Violent Pink" films Yasuharu Hasebe directed in 1976,
between Rape! and Rape! 13th Hour. Of the three, Hasebe,
named Rape! as his favorite. Screenwriter Chiho Katsura,
however, thought that Assault! Jack The Ripper! was the
best, and this is the one that had the best critical
reception. Some critics interpreted the film as an
allegorical comment on the state of Japanese cinema in
the mid-1970s. Hasebe recalled, "...it wasn''t my
intention. I don''t like to play those games within
cinema. If such a thing exists in the movie, then it was
a conspiracy between Producer Itō and scripter Katsura."
Robert Firsching at Allmovie writes, "Hasebe strikes the
perfect balance between blood and sex." He notes,
however, that the director''s next entry in the "Violent
Pink" genre, Rape! 13th Hour would go too far, and
almost single-handedly stop Nikkatsu from producing
films of this sort.
Actress Tamaki Katsura had long hair before taking her
role for this film. Hasebe told her that he wished for
her character to sport an Afro perm. Realizing that this
would limit her career choices for a time, Katsura
nevertheless agreed to the change in hairstyle for the
film. Usually playing secondary characters, it was
Katsura''s first starring role. For her performance in
the film, she was nominated as Best Actress at the
mainstream Japan Academy Prize. The Weissers, in their
Japanese Cinema Encyclopedia: The Sex Films, write that
Katsura was the critic''s favorite to win, but that the
extreme nature of the film and her performance alienated
many voters.
