4 Star

Family Traits Remain.

From Black Coppice Films, and Jacuzzi Entertainment come the timeless story of Jack the Ripper, and the age-old question… who was he? Writer, director, actor Chris Shane Sanders (Bring Me a Skin for Dancing In, The Haunted Studio, Nest of Vampires) tries to put that to rest with Ripper Revealed. Where we follow the history of one family through from the Victorian era. Be prepared to be shocked, in this ripping tale.

Victorian Chronicles journalist Edward Taylor (Thom Donnelly, Reputation, Cost of Living) visits guest house owner Evelyn Rose (Jacky Rowland). Edward has a long list of researchers, who are all Ripperologists, and they all put forward different names for the Ripper. Edward is here because one of the victims, Annie Chapman, had stayed at the guest house before she became a victim.

Evelyn lives with her younger, creepier brother Vincent (Paul Preston, The Stoic). He leads Edward in to see the matriarchal Evelyn, she tells of a time when the railways came into being and how Londoners loved to get away from the “Big Smoke”. One of those was Anne, and she would have met her great-grandmother Polly Rose (Lyndsey Sheppard, Nest of Vampires) and her husband Jacob (Jon-Paul Gates, London Bridge is Falling Down: Build it up!, The Haunted Studio).

Back in 1888, Beth Robertson (Amanda Himsworth, The Haunted Studio, Demons at Dawn) has come for a short break from her life in Whitechapel. We find out that Polly is in charge, and Jacob is henpecked, due to his continued misbehaviour. He goes out with his friends to London where he always gets in a state of drunkenness and gambles their meagre profits. But they do have a way of making money on the side, and that is where Dr Cripps (Pete Gibson, Werewolf Cabal, Bring Me a Skin for Dancing In) and his sidekick Edwin (William Marshall, Cinderella’s Revenge, Slasher House 3) come in. Dr Cripps boasts about how his anatomy lectures are the talk of the medical fraternity and he always needs fresh cadavers.

Yes, Polly and Jacob are very happy to supply the good doctor with waifs-and-strays from London. Evelyn tells Edward that the pair were responsible for quite a few bodies. But their lives were turned upside down when Charles Lechmere (Chris Shane Sanders, Big Cats, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them) turns up unannounced, looking for a room for a few days. It’s Polly that accepts this unwanted guest into their lives.

Ripper Revealed is an interesting twist on the old Victorian whodunnit. Written by Chris Shane Sanders, he forms a twisted tale of murder and debauchery. Black Coppice Films are going from strength to strength as they get a regular troupe of actors that are honing their skills on Chris’ horror tales.

Ripper Revealed will be on Digital soon