Jack the Ripper terrorized London in the late 1880s, and the first movies about him arrived about 40 years after that. Many more followed, and 1964’s The Monster of London City provides an unusual take made in West Germany.

In 1960s London, someone commits a series of brutal murders. These seem highly reminiscent of the crimes credited to Jack the Ripper nearly eight decades earlier.

By coincidence – maybe – a theater company launches a new stage production about Jack. This inevitably makes lead actor Richard Sand (Hansjörg Felmy) the primary suspect in the new slayings.

And there’s the “unusual take” I mentioned at the start. This means Monster can’t really exist as being about Jack the Ripper since it fails to focus on the actual madman’s 19th century activities.

I don’t mind this, though, as it means Monster offers a potentially intriguing twist on a much-depicted character. The question becomes whether or not director Edwin Zbonek and crew can do anything particularly interesting with this alternate view of the Ripper.

Unfortunately, the answer becomes “not really”. While it shows potential at times, the end product seems too spotty to succeed.

At its core, Monster delivers a pretty simple premise. Someone re-enacts the crimes of Jack the Ripper and we need to figure out the identity of the madman.

Unfortunately, the tale meanders and goes down too many unnecessary tangents. Monster strays from its core too often and fails to coalesce.

Along West German “krimi” films of the era, this problem doesn’t seem unique. 1963’s Curse of the Yellow Snake came with far too many narrative diversions as well.

In both cases, the lack of focus damages the end product. Like Curse, Monster boasts a simple core plot that could easily result in a taut thriller.

Like Curse, though, Monster branches out into too many superfluous plot points and unnecessary characters. Even at a mere 90 minutes, Monster comes with big chunks that could get removed and no one would ever notice.

It becomes difficult to invest in various events because too much of the story manifests at semi-random. As Monster dawdles and meanders, it causes the viewer to lose interest.

Monster also results in a surprising absence of tension. With all the detours, we lose track of the basic point and find ourselves with little investment in the events or roles.

By the time the movie finally reveals the killer – whose identity will come as no surprise – the viewer seems likely not to care. Despite some clever twists, Monster becomes a flat chore to watch.

The Monster of London City appears in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. For the most part, the image fared well.

Sharpness largely succeeded. Occasional wide shots felt a bit iffy, but most of the movie brought appealing delineation.

I witnessed no issues with jagged edges or shimmering, and edge galoes remained absent. In terms of print flaws, some thin vertical lines popped up at times, but most of the film remained clean.

No colors appeared outside of the opening credits. Blacks seemed deep and dense, while low-light shots brought solid clarity.

Contrast came across nicely, as the film boasted a fine silvery vibe. Outside of some source defects and a little softness, the movie looked good.

I felt the LPCM monaural audio of Monster seemed lackluster but adequate given the movie’s age and origins. The lines felt a bit edgy and metallic much of the time.

Music was generally adequate. The score could sound somewhat shrill at times, but it usually appeared acceptable, if without a lot of range.

The same went for effects. While these occasionally came across as distorted, they still provided acceptable clarity. Nothing here was memorable, but the mix was acceptable for its period.

Note that the Blu-ray provided an LPCM English monaural track in addition to the original German. While these dubs usually stink, this one actually fared pretty well.

Quality felt about the same for both, so don’t expect differences here. The English performances came across surprisingly nicely, as the voice actors blended well with the source.

This didn’t mean I preferred the English rendition. However, it became a much more credible alternative than the standard crummy dubs.

As we shift to extras, we find an audio commentary from film historians Kim Newman and Stephen Jones. Both sit together for a running, screen-specific look at the work of novelists Edgar Wallace and Bryan Edgar Wallace, story/characters, aspects of the “krimi” genre and its influence, cast and crew, some production topics and their thoughts on the film.

Veterans of the commentary format, Jones and Newman interact well and give us a decent look at the various topics. I can’t call this a scintillating track - mainly because the two spend too much time on their view of the flick and not enough on concrete domains – but the discussion still merits a listen.

An optional introduction from film historian Tim Lucas goes for seven minutes, 44 seconds and brings a brief overview of the production. Lucas gives us a tight summary.

In addition to the film’s German trailer, we get a featurette called Passing the Knife. It spans 18 minutes, 24 seconds and offers notes from film scholar Alexandra Heller-Nicholas.

“Knife” covers the German “krimi” genre and their influence on later films. Heller-Nicholas gets into the topics well.

Although I appreciate the twist The Monster of London brings to the Jack the Ripper legend, the end result lacks purpose. At times it threatens to come to life, but too much of the movie rambles and lacks drive. The Blu-ray comes with largely positive picture, mediocre audio and a few bonus materials. Expect an inconsistent and disappointing thriller.

Note that as of May 2025, this Blu-ray for The Monster of London City comes only as part of a six-film collection called “Terror in the Fog”. It also includes fellow West German 1960s flicks The Curse of the Yellow Snake, The Strangler of Blackmoor Castle, The Mad Executioners/The Phantom of Soho and The Racetrack Murders.