The Outer Limits (TV Series) Ripper (1999) User Reviews

Good episode, terrible accents.

[roxphox · 7/10 · 14 July 2014]

I am a great fan of this whole series, David warner shows some marvelous acting skills as the detective trying to capture Jack the Ripper in London, 1888. Suffice it to say, all is not as it seems and the Ripper may not be a normal person.

The story is well written, even if the plot is a little cheesy, but cheesy plots are half the fun of The Outer Limits. Sadly the episode is somewhat tainted by terrible accents. While, most of the main characters are played by British actors, most of the bit parts are played by Americans sounding like chimney sweeps who would make Bart Simpson's English accent seem convincing.

An altogether enjoyable episode, otherwise. But I feel I must also point out some quite obvious anachronisms, such as electric street lights, UV lamps on a camera and modern make-up

Ripper: By far the best Outer Limits episode

[johnto1-1 · 10/10 · 8 May 2013]

Having watched all episodes of all seven seasons. I feel "Ripper" (Jack the) Season 5 Episode 11 is actually good enough to be made as a free standing movie. With little or no changes to the story or the actors. I attempt to give no spoilers here, enough to say. The viewer is kept fully entertained sat on edge of seat throughout, watching every scene develop as each new subject/victim predicament is played out. Excitement builds as the tension builds. Few other episodes gain such momentum of story line, or deliver such diversity of alternative explanation of a well known, already overly documented fictional character. Watch Ripper yourself. Even if you're not a fan of Outer Limits. I guarantee that you will enjoy it.

Visually Quite Engaging; Good Acting; Good Story

[Hitchcoc · 9/10 · 30 July 2014]

The central character played by Cary Elwes is a doctor who has lost his way in Victorian England. He hangs around a brothel, drinking absinthe, and wasting his time. Apparently, he has been blamed for the death of a girl, the daughter of a rich and powerful duke. He wants to marry a rich young woman but is so conflicted and so depressed, he can't move. This is the time when Jack the Ripper has made his presence known, and the doctor is thrust into the middle of this mystery when he comes to realize that it is an alien entity that is actually entering the bodies of young girls. He becomes the whipping boy for this entity and sets out to regain his standing by putting an end the reign of terror. He, himself. has "killed" because he has attacked the women infested with the entity. The thing talks to him like a latter day Regan from "The Exorcist." It is a slick episode that works quite well and keeps us in suspense.

Good episode except for the link to Jack the Ripper.

[jarodwa · 5/10 · 24 May 2020]

As well cast and acted as this episode is, it would have worked far better if they had not made it about Jack the Ripper. It would have worked better as a totally fictional story about a fictional series of murders. Anyone who knows even a little about the murders attributed to an unidentified person or persons dubbed Jack the Ripper would know that this episode has completely ignored any and all facts. The locations of the murders, and the injuries sustained by the victims, bear no likeness whatsoever to the actual murders. The only forgivable incident of dramatic license is the attribution of the murder of Martha Tabram to the Ripper. Some believe Martha to have been the first victim while others are convinced that she was killed by someone else. When Star Trek tackled the subject of Jack the Ripper ("Wolf in the Fold"), and made the culprit an alien, the non-corporeal alien possessed a human host who was then compelled to murder.