Peter

Horrorphile

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Peter

August 23rd 2012 12:12

With the sub-title of Portrait of a Serial Killer potential viewers should by no means be confused that Peter (2011) is in any way related to Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986). Whereas Henry was a fictional account of a psychopath Peter is the pseudo-psychological study of a real psychopath, the tortured mind of Peter Sutcliffe, who will forever be known to the world as The Yorkshire Ripper, one of the most brutal killers ever to elude British detectives for so long; his reign of terror lasted twelve years from 1969 to 1981.

Walt Kissack as Peter Sutcliffe

Walt Kissack plays Peter Sutcliffe with an eerie realism, despite wearing an obvious false beard and moustache. Peter Sutcliffe was your case study wallflower. He never had a girlfriend, was plagued by Christian morals, and had a thing for prostitutes, which was by no means sexually satisfying. On the contrary, Peter saw them as the Devil’s work and they needed to be destroyed. And so he made it his steady mission, armed with a hammer to subdue them, and an array of rough butchering tools such as a hacksaw that he tried unsuccessfully to sever one of his victim’s heads with.

Peter talks reluctantly with Dr. Spencer (Gary Sharkey)

Peter is a disquieting film. It’s not designed to titillate the horrorphile in the conventional way. There is no dramatisation of any of the murders. This is purely a thought piece precariously balanced on the edge of the abyss. But it’s a thoroughly compelling piece nevertheless. Director and screenwriter Skip Kite (not the most convincing of names, but anyway …) has made an artistic statement, a doco-drama that poses far more questions than it answers, but provides immense fascination, albeit morbid, over how the mind of a crazed killer ticks and tocks.

The movie plays out like a cross between the Sunday Playhouse and a documentary. Kite intercuts news and interview clips from the time, most notably Sutcliffe’s father who makes no apologies for the fact that his son turned out to be such a psycho, other than to say that he’s still my son regardless of what he’s done. The detectives appeal to the television audiences, as they have reached the end of their tether.

Eventually The Yorkshire Ripper was caught, but not until he’d savagely murdered 13 women and assaulted another seven. Not all of them were prostitutes, and many of them were He was locked away with no chance of parole. Eventually he got moved into a hospital penitentiary, but not before he was attacked and maimed on several incidents, resulting in the blinding of one eye and 30 stitches to the side of his face. Peter Sutcliffe was such a man that he incited rage in other criminals.

There is a theatrical minimalism to the design and execution of Peter; the cinematography utilizing a vivid palette, with striking use of primary colours, and simple art direction. It’s a low-budget being used intelligently and with a subtle, but distinct style. This is one of the more unassuming, yet affecting docu-dramas I’ve seen in recent years.

The key narrative thread running through the dramatisation scenes which forms the bulk of the film sees Peter conversing with the prison psychatrist Dr. Spencer (Gary Sharkey), a genuinely creepy character who looks more like a child murderer than any kind of medical expert. His standing comes into focus near movie’s end and provides the documentary with an effective narrative tool, albeit deceptive.

Peter is an artful examination of psychosis. It is not a definitive account of The Yorkshire Ripper, nor is it a comprehensive insight into the violent criminal mind. What it is though is a sombre and affecting piece of dream fracture. Excellent performances from Walk Kissack and Gary Sharkey cement the movie’s credibility, and a powerful use of Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s The Power of Love. For those with inquiring minds and tenebrous sensibilities Peter will prove to be most curious indeed.

Peter DVD is released in Australia through Eagle Entertainment.

Here’s the trailer:

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