20 Best Jack The Ripper Movies & TV Shows
Jack The Ripper is probably the most famous serial killer of all time, but what’s probably even more interesting to people is that he was never caught. All this mystery surrounding him was more than enough for filmmakers to make so many movies and tv shows about Jack The Ripper. In this article, we are bringing you the best Jack The Ripper movies and shows you can watch right now.
Jack the Ripper was an unidentified serial killer active in the impoverished districts in and around Whitechapel in the East End of London in 1888. In both criminal case files and the contemporary journalistic accounts, the killer was called the Whitechapel Murderer and Leather Apron.
Now that you know a bit more about Jack The Ripper, dive into our list and choose your next watch about Ripper.
Jack The Ripper (1988)
London, autumn 1888. Chief Inspector Frederick Abberline of Scotland Yard is assigned by his superiors to investigate the murder and brutal mutilation of a prostitute in the East End of London. As the mutilated corpses of other “shilling whores” turn up in the same area, London’s tabloid journalists – particularly Benjamin Bates of The Star – whip up a public frenzy.
The killer is nicknamed “Jack the Ripper” after a letter bearing that name and supposedly from the killer, is forwarded to Scotland Yard. As the Ripper terrorizes London, public outrage erupts throughout the country, and Police Commissioner Sir Charles Warren fears that a revolution is in the air in London’s East End.
There is no shortage of suspects for Abberline and his partner, Sergeant George Godley. These suspects include the American actor Richard Mansfield (appearing in the play Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in London); police surgeon Dr. Henry Llewellyn; socialist agitator George Lusk; Queen Victoria’s clairvoyant Robert Lees; the Queen’s grandson Prince Albert Victor; and Dr. Theodore Dyke Acland, the son-in-law of Sir William Gull, Royal Surgeon to Queen Victoria and expert on diseases of the brain.
The police and the authorities want the murders solved at any cost, but Abberline and Godley face huge obstacles as they search for the truth – and hindrance from their superiors when the killer is finally unmasked.
Murder By Decree (1979)
After the Metropolitan Police fail to apprehend the serial killer Jack the Ripper, Sherlock Holmes is approached to investigate the recent murders of prostitutes that happened in the Whitechapel district of London. Helped by Dr. Watson and the medium Robert Lees, Holmes discovers that all the victims were companions of Annie Crook, a woman locked in a mental institution.
Things get complicated as members of the police hierarchy and also several politicians, all Freemasons, seem to be protecting one of their own. Furthermore, Inspector Foxborough, the policeman who is in charge of the case, is in fact the secret leader of the radicals, a political movement waiting for the British government to fall because of its incapability to solve the Whitechapel murders. Holmes must rely on his skills to find and confront the murderer.
From Hell (2001)
Five friends, prostitutes, together try to collect money for protection, which members of the Nichols gang demand from them. Their sixth friend, Ann Crook (J. Page) has found a rich lover and has a child with him. One day, Ann disappears, and the mysterious killer begins, in a particularly cruel way, to kill the other members of that society.
The investigation is led by Inspector Fred Abberline (J. Depp) and Sergeant Peter Godley (R. Coltrane), and since it is obvious that the killer knows human anatomy well, they seek expert advice from the famous surgeon – Sir William Gull (I. Holm).
Inspector Abberline, a user of opium, absinthe and laudanum, sees the victims and the method of murder in his visions, but not the killer. When one of the prostitutes, the beautiful Irish woman Mary Kelly (H. Graham), starts helping him in the investigation, affection is born between them. Abberline, who knows Mary should be the fifth, final victim, will do anything to stop the killer…
Man In The Attic (1953)
A mature woman and a teenage boy have an affair during the day, but she is a married woman and must be at home in her attic at night when her husband returns. The boy’s growing frustration eventually leads to catastrophic tragedy in this drama based on a true story.
Jack’s Back (1988)
A serial killer in Los Angeles celebrates Jack the Ripper’s 100th birthday by committing similar murders and only one has a chance of stopping him.
The Limehouse Golem (2016)
London at the end of the 19th century is in fear of a serial killer called the Limehouse Golem. The killer is on the run, but leaves clues by writing coded messages in the victim’s blood.
With some leads and public pressure, Scotland Yard hands the case over to Inspector Kildare (Bill Nighy), a detective with a dubious past. Kildare faces a list of suspects, including music star Dan Leno (Douglas Booth). Kildare must enlist the help of suspect Lizzie (Olivia Cooke) to stop further murders and bring the killer to justice.
Whitechapel (2009-2013)
The streets of Whitechapel are full of blood. The killer stalks them at night, catches vulnerable women and savagely massacres them. The local population lives in fear, and the police are not on the killer’s trail – without motive and evidence, they lose hope of catching him. The case is given to the ambitious Inspector Chandler, who has no experience with murders.
But his colleagues have it. Chief among them is Sergeant Miles, a cynic, a detective who has seen and been through everything. Aided by “Ripper expert” Edward Buchan, Chandler realizes that the unknown modern-day killer is mimicking the infamous Whitechapel murders down to the last detail. Can Chandler solve what the police failed to do a hundred years ago – catch the perpetrator?
Ripper Street (2012-2016)
A drama set in the East End of London in 1889, during the aftermath of the “Ripper” murders. The action centers around the notorious H Division – the police precinct from hell – which is charged with keeping order in the chaotic streets of Whitechapel.
Ripper Street explores the lives of characters trying to recover from the Ripper’s legacy, from crimes that have not only irretrievably altered their lives, but the very fabric of their city. At the drama’s heart our detectives try to bring a little light into the dark world they inhabit.
Batman: Gotham by Gaslight (2018)
Batman, the legendary detective and the nightmare of all criminals, in an alternative Gotham of the Victorian era, is on the hunt for a cruel serial killer who soon turns out to be none other than the terrifying Jack the Ripper.
Jack and the Cuckoo-Clock Heart (2013)
A 19th-century drama about a man whose heart was replaced with a clock when he was born. The situation dictates that he should avoid feeling strong emotions — love, most of all — but he just can’t keep his feelings under wraps.
The Hands of the Ripper (1971)
The newborn “witnesses the murder of his parents. Fifteen years later, the girl becomes very troubled because she is possessed by the ghost of her father.
While in a trance, he continues his murderous spree, but after a few hours, he does not remember the event. A local psychiatrist tries to help her and believes that he will cure her. However, he soon regrets his decision.
Shanghai Knights (2003)
At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, Lord Rathbone and his Chinese helpers break into the Forbidden City, steal the imperial seal, and kill its guard. The daughter of the keeper of the imperial seal, Chon Lin, is the young and attractive sister of the experienced Chon Wan, who is still in America, in the Wild West.
Lin informs Chon of what has happened, and he leaves for London with his American friend Roy O’Bannon. Lin is also in London, where they learn that Lord Rathbone is a member of the royal family and Parliament and that he is connected to the Chinese insurgents – boxers…
Razors: The Return of Jack the Ripper (2016)
The first installment in an exciting new horror franchise. A young writer believes she has discovered the holy grail of terror, the knives used by Jack the Ripper for his notorious murders.
Time After Time (1979)
The famous scholar, writer, inventor and prophet H. G. Wells is on the hunt for Jack the Ripper and with the help of his time machine, he goes to modern San Francisco where he discovers that his works are now museum exhibits.
When Jack the Ripper (David Warner) escapes through time in one of H.G. Wells’ (Malcolm McDowell) inventions, he follows him into the 20th century. Now, in a city and time completely foreign to him, Wells must stop the Ripper from continuing to kill.
The Lodger: A Story Of The London Fog (1927)
London. A mysterious serial killer brutally murders young blond women by stalking them in the night fog. One foggy, sinister night, a young man who claims his name is Jonathan Drew arrives at the guest house run by the Bunting family and rents a room.
Edge of Sanity (1989)
In the opening scene, Henry Jekyll, a young boy, witnesses his father committing adultery with another woman in a barn. His father catches him and violently whips Henry for spying, scarring him for life and leading to repressed sadomasochistic longings.
Many years later, in late 1880s England, the adult Dr. Henry Jekyll is experimenting with the human psyche when he accidentally ingests a mix of ether and cocaine and goes insane. He transforms into the monstrous-looking Edward “Jack the Ripper” Hyde and murders a prostitute who resembles one that he previously met as a child.
He begins a killing spree using the mixture that was originally meant to be an anesthetic in order to influence prostitutes and johns to torture and kill each other. The murders gain the attention of a detective from Scotland Yard as well as Jekyll’s wife Elisabeth, who begins to suspect where her husband is going at night.
As “Jack” Hyde, he enlists two assistants to give out his anesthetic drug to distribute among the lower-class population of Whitechapel. One night, after he transforms, Jekyll is followed by Elisabeth to a brothel and then from there to a sadomasochistic threesome at a local abandoned warehouse where both of Hyde’s partners go crazy and attempt to kill each other and her.
Elisabeth subdues and kills both and gets away, but Hyde follows her back to her house. He breaks in and murders her before transforming back into Dr. Jekyll, thus getting away with everything and enabling him to continue his killing spree.
The Secret Identity of Jack the Ripper (1988)
A panel of experts examines the five main suspects in the Jack the Ripper murders and determines which of them is the most likely to have committed the crimes.
Jack the Ripper (1976)
A serial killer whose mother was a prostitute starts killing streetwalkers as a way of paying back his mother for her abuse.
The New York Ripper (1982)
A burned-out New York police detective teams up with a college psychoanalyst to track down a vicious serial killer randomly stalking and killing various young women around the city.
Ripper Untold (2021)
A detective and a medical examiner join forces to solve a series of horrific murders in Victorian London – but one of them harbours a deadly secret.
