Creatures of Whitechapel

Creatures of Whitechapel (25:36)
Bohemian Industries; IMDb; YouTube

This film is a reasonably entertaining mash-up of horror icons Frankenstein and Jack the Ripper. Set in 1888 London, a raspy-voiced woman named Igor kills a prostitute, to provide body parts for her master, Dr. Victor Frankenstein. There are fears throughout London of "Jack the Ripper", who no one suspects to be a woman. Meanwhile, Frankenstein's colleague, Dr. Pretorius, is curious about rumors concerning the mysterious nature of Frankenstein's experiments. An offhand comment from Pretorius causes Frankenstein to realize what he needs to complete his experiment is a heart, which frankly, I don't see how on Earth he could possibly have failed to realize on his own. But whatever. He sends Igor out to obtain a heart from another prostitute, but says this will have to be her final foray, since people are beginning to ask questions.

I don't want to give away any more of the plot. But I will say it's all nicely atmospheric and disturbing. Actually, I'd say it's also all a bit over-the-top, and hard to take too seriously. There are any number of reasons I might say the film isn't perfect, but I still found it fairly fun. I do tend to enjoy Gothic horror, as well as mash-ups of various historical and/or fictional characters. I also really liked that at one point Frankenstein mentioned penny dreadfuls, because this story itself is the stuff of such publications. But it's Igor who is absolutely the standout character in the film. She's simply a macabre joy to watch, and despite not saying much, has what I would say is the most personality and best character development of anyone in the film. I should also mention that there's a mid-credits scene with Pretorius and Igor, but I won't spoil the nature of that. And... I guess I don't really know what else to tell you.

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