One of the most infamous real-life serial killers has been immortalized on the big screen in several Jack the Ripper movies. What makes this particular murderer so popular as a cinematic subject is that he was never caught in real life, and just disappeared one day without a trace – leaving his identity a mystery. Jack the Ripper was a serial killer who terrorized the Whitechapel district of London in 1888. He evaded police despite killing multiple sex workers and performing ghastly mutilations. Over the years, this evil killer’s story has been adapted many times on the small and big screens.

The last documented Jack the Ripper murder took place in 1891, and the movies started coming almost as soon as they became popular in theaters. No less than Alfred Hitchcock directed one of the earliest movies about Jack the Ripper when he was still making silent-era films. His movie, as many others were, was based on the 1913 novel by Marie Belloc Lowndes called The Lodger, which was based on the Whitechapel Murders. Whether a story about the original Jack the Ripper killings, or copycat killers, there are plenty of great Jack the Ripper movies for people interested in this evil historical figure.

20A Study In Terror (1965)

Sherlock Holmes Investigates The Ripper

A Study In Terror leads off the best movies to feature Jack the Ripper because it very much sets the stage for some of the movies that would come after it. It’s here that the idea of blending the real story of the Ripper, and all of the gaps in the knowledge surrounding the killer, with an established fictional character’s narrative truly begins. In this case, that character is Sherlock Holmes.

Sherlock investigates a series of deaths when he is anonymously sent a package that turns out to be a set of doctor’s tools with the scalpel missing. He makes it his mission to figure out who Jack the Ripper is as a result. The story isn’t the best here, but the movie does feature some great performances like John Neville as Sherlock Holmes and Judi Dench as Sally Young.

The idea that this movie presented though, of Sherlock and the Ripper facing off, is what makes this movie so influential because another movie would take on the same idea – and do it better – less than 15 years later.

19The Ripper (1997)

A New Theory For The Ripper’s Identity

Movies made for television don’t often get great budgets like theatrical releases from bigger studios do. That means there is less time for the filming schedule and often, less pay for everyone involved as well. Despite seemingly everything working against a made-for-TV-movie making it to air and finding a following, 1997’s The Ripper did. The British movie brought a unique take on Jack the Ripper, one that the royal family probably didn’t love.

In this version of the story, an inspector from a poor background is trying to make a name for himself and better his social standing. While he’s struggling, the Jack the Ripper case ends up in his lap when a woman witnesses the Ripper attacking a woman. He assigns other members of the police force to protect her and investigates, only to find that he suspects the prince of being the Ripper.

While the story itself isn’t drastically different from so many other mysteries involving the Ripper, it’s the suspect that makes it stand out.

18The Ruling Class (1972)

Peter O’Toole Brings Satire To The Ripper

Most movies that feature a storyline involving Jack the Ripper are mysteries or horror. That is not the case for The Ruling Class. The movie is a British satire and Jack the Ripper isn’t exactly the main character.

Instead, the movie follows Peter O’Toole as he plays Jack Gurney, who becomes the 14th Earl of Gurney, but who his family doesn’t exactly trust to be the head of the family since he is also a paranoid schizophrenic who believes he is Jesus Christ. His uncle tries to control his life so that he can eventually take over, but Jack perseveres, marrying, getting a therapist, and even moving beyond the delusion that he is Jesus to believe himself Jack the Ripper.

With his new belief, he takes a violent approach to life and his standing in the House of Lords. It’s a bleak story, but also darkly funny. O’Toole earned critical praise for his work in the movie and he was nominated for an Academy Award. The movie itself received mixed reviews, and there are certainly aspects of it that would not be looked favorably on today, but it’s a drastically different take on bringing Jack the Ripper into the movies.

17Van Helsing: The London Assignment (2004)

Van Helsing And Jack The Ripper Cross Over With Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde

This animated movie is actually a short film rather than a feature-length story. It’s a prequel to Hugh Jackman’s Van Helsing movie. Jackman voices the character this time around as well. The short sees Van Helsing travel to London to investigate a series of murders that he believes have supernatural origins. He’s not wrong as the story allows for Jack the Ripper’s actions to play into the Robert Louis Stevenson novel Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde with some supernatural bindings.

Mr. Hyde needs the souls of his victims in order to keep the woman he loves alive, which is what prompts the brutal murders. Van Helsing has to then stop him. This blending of Jack the Ripper with Stevenson’s story has actually been done in a handful of movies made in the past as well, but allowing it to be a part of the Van Helsing lore makes for some fascinating crossover. The short format works in the movie’s favor as there are no meandering plot points to distract the viewers.