Tuesday, August 7, 2001
By the time she was 16, Molly Keller had already lived to tell a very bloodcurdling tale: she was the only survivor of a
violent massacre while on an otherwise peaceful island vacation with her
friends. Disturbed by her horrific past, Molly focuses all of her energies in
researching the psyche of serial killers. This leads her to the forensic science
program at Berkeley under famed author and man hunter, professor Martin Kane.
But before long, the evil that had claimed Molly's friends is seemingly loose once again - this time on the campus. A
reluctant Molly joins the study group which is fixated on tracking the gruesome
murderer. But events take an eerie turn when the students discover that the
killer's modus operandi matches London's oldest unsolved murders: those of
Jack-the-Ripper. Molly's friend's fall victum around her, one at a time, while
the remaining group works feverishly to uncover the identity of the copycat
killer.
As the past reawakens, Molly is forced to face the terrifying secret behind the stalker's return, and the entire class soon
realizes that it's a history they don't want to repeat.
CAST: Bruce Payne, A.J. Cook, Ryan Northcott,
Derek Hamilton, Kelly Brook, Claire Keim and Jurgen Prochnow.
The movie stars A.J. Cook as Molly, a woman that is the sole survivor in the violent massacre of her friends. After
rehabilitation she devotes herself to understanding the psyche of serial killers
and eventually receives a scholarship to study under a famed doctor of the art.
Mysteriously the same killer from her past makes a visit to the campus and
begins the merciless slaughter of her classmates.
"Ripper is the first film that we can say has
elements to compete in bigger distribution venues," begins Petros Tsaparas,
president & CEO of Prophecy. "We're hoping for a fall release that
specifically targets Halloween. I think a scary time of year will make a
difference for this particular genre."
Touted as their most ambitious project to date, Prophecy has secured distribution deals with a number of companies
including Remstar (Canadian theatrical) and Lionsgate (U.S. video and
television).
"We go through a margin of growth with every film. After "Beyond Redemption" we advanced and made "The Silencer," and it was
that much better," said Melanie Kilgour, President of Marketing &
Distribution. "We followed those two films up with "The Operative" and again it
was that much better. Finally Ripper came to fruition and it's a product we feel
will allow us to begin a long journey in a different league. So we're constantly
learning, thankfully, and the business teaches us daily to eat humble pie along
with drinking the champagne.
Ripper was also logistically challenging to
make. A film like this would cost Hollywood fifteen million U.S. to produce and
we were able to pull it off for less."
"Currently we're doing about one to two movies a year, but our future plans revolve around executing more," begins Evan Tylor
(President of Production for Prophecy. "And right now we're aggressively putting
together the distribution foundation to successfully support that greater
undertaking. Under our present structure it would be hard to sustain three of
four moves a year that would hold up to the quality of Ripper.
We run our operation as close to a barebones as possible, no one lines his or her pocket and every cent we put in shows up on
the screen. Our philosophy is making movies to allow us to make more movies, and
if we start getting greedy, it will kill the goose that lays the golden egg."
"In regards to international distribution, we've spent enough time going to different markets and festivals to create a
solid network," continues Kilgour. "And that's resulted in key relationships
with partners in Japan, all over Asia and Europe. It's allowed us to pre-sell a
lot of our product in development stage.
Contributing to our success, we try very hard to develop material that we'd go out and spend eight dollars to see, and if we
feel it does that, then we know we'll hit a good percentage of the market out
there.
The infrastructure we've put in place also includes Four Wall Films. It's an acquisition company designed to support
independent producers and help get their films out to the market. We feel
there's enough of an audience base that doesn't necessarily what to see what
people can do with a hundred million dollars, and would rather see what people
can do with a million bucks and a load of blood, sweat and tears."
Another big upside to the growing Vancouver producer pool is the advancement of local talent. According to Tsaparas, Ripper
was a positive vehicle for local talents like A.J. Cook (Molly), a young actress
who later secured a major role in Disney's "Out Cold."
"We hope the movie helps every cast member
with their careers and allows them better opportunities in the future,
"concludes Tsaparas. "But hopefully Ripper has what it takes to carry its own
weight into the marketplace.
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