Forgotten Film Friday - Terror At London Bridge (1985)
When it comes to Jack The Ripper, only one man can stop him . . . David Hasselhoff!
What is Forgotten Film Friday? Well, I'm taking a look at a film that seems to have been forgotten by film watchers. Does this mean it’s hard to find or unavailable? No, but most movie fans seem to have lost track of it. Here, I’ll point them in the direction of what I thought about them when I did end up finding them.
Plot: When a missing brick from the London Bridge, which now resides in Arizona, is found in the Thames River, it summons the legendary Jack the Ripper to modern-day 1985.
Review: With the recent news that we supposedly know the identity of Jack The Ripper, it seemed like a good time to check out this made-for-tv movie from 1985. Do we actually know the real identity of the infamous serial killer? Who knows. With so much time having passed, it’s impossible to be for sure.
One thing for sure is that we used to LOVE made-for-tv movies. They used to have them almost every week back in the 80s. If there was a big news event, you could bet you would end up with numerous tv movies about it. During worries about nuclear weapons we got The Day After. When Amy Fisher shot her boyfriend’s wife, we got a movie for each tv network that was on the air.
It was a fun trend and offered some of the network’s biggest stars a chance to do something a little different outside of their regular shows. Sometimes it would be a serious drama. The ones that seem to really stand the test of time were the horror films. Some even got home video releases.
One such film posits the idea, “What if Jack The Ripper returned and David Hasselhoff was the only one that could stop him?” Great question. While the film isn’t going to win any awards, I can say that it does end up being goofy fun. With some simple editing you could easily just turn this into an episode of Knight Rider.
So we open with Jack The Ripper being chased across London Bridge. When police try to apprehend him, he falls over the side, taking a piece of the bridge with him. Cut to about one hundred years later and we learn that the London Bridge has been relocated to Lake Havasu, Arizona (it’s true! Look it up). The missing brick has been found in the Thames River and will be reunited with the bridge. A big ceremony is going to take place and there should be a lot of tourists.
A couple is talking about their drive to Las Vegas in the morning but the woman wants to walk the bridge before they check into their hotel. The husband tells her to go for it while he checks in. While walking she trips over something and scrapes her hand on the new brick. Suddenly blood starts to pool out of it and Jack The Ripper shows up behind her to slit her throat.
One thing this movie does have going for it is that it doesn’t shy away from the violence. Various people end up with slit throats through out and the effects are pretty good. A few corpses end up floating in the lake and we see them with no cut aways. The film does a good job of showing the aftermath of The Ripper’s murder spree.
But the best aspect of the film has to be the cast. Since we live in the future, we know that genre fans love the group they got together. Of course we have Hasselhoff who previously was a Chicago cop that is still dealing with some PTSD from accidentally shooting a kid while on the job.
We also have Stepfanie Kramer of Hunter fame as his love interest. Her best friend is played by the always fabulous Adrinne Barbeau. If Hasselhoff is a cop then he needs a police chief to report to. You can’t do much better than getting Clu Gulager for that role.
Finally, we end up with Lane Smith as the annoying beauracrat who is trying to stop Hasselhoff from ruining the upcoming celebration. My podcast co-host pointed out that he is pretty much playing the mayor from Jaws. He’s just one sportscoat with anchors on it away from fulfilling that trope.
A lot of the drama of the film is a little cheesy but really it’s all kind of its charm. Seeing Hasselhoff going from believing that a Jack The Ripper copycat is running around murdering people to thinking that the real deal is back from the dead is a great arc. Of course while all of this is going on he is trying to pick up the love interest because there’s always time for love. He of course never has the top half of his shirt buttoned through the whole movie. You have to let that chest hair flow in that Arizona breeze baby.
Will you walk away from this film thinking you’ve just seen the pinnacle of Jack The Ripper films? Maybe. I don’t know your tastes in movies. I will say that you will more than likely have a fun time watching it because some of the leaps of logic are great to watch and seeing one scene where Jack The Ripper is hiding in a bush in broad daylight is worth your time to enjoy.
WATCH IT FORGET IT
But don’t take my word for it. The movie is currently streaming on MGM+ and on Philo. We all know where to look though with a movie like this. Numerous copies are all over Youtube and easy to find. I wonder if there is a version with all the original commercials just to give it that authentic feel?