Terror at London Bridge

Terror at London Bridge, aka. Bridge across Time (1985) starring David Hasselhoff, Stepfanie Kramer, Randolph Mantooth

Synopsis of Terror at London Bridge

A copycat killer is duplicating the murders of the infamous Jack the Ripper in Arizona.  Where the famous London Bridge has been taken and reassembled. But one police officer begins to believe that the murderer is no copycat …

Review of Terror at London Bridge

Terror at London Bridge begins with a knife-wielding attacker fleeing from police in Olde London.  The villain is shot while running away across London Bridge. The man falls into the water, and one of the stones of the bridge falls with him into the water.

In the present day (1985, when the TV movie was released), a couple is passing through Lake Havasu, Arizona.  Where the famous London Bridge has been reassembled, and the wife goes for a late-night look at the bridge.  Where the final stone has been put in place.  But a drop of her blood touches that same stone that fell with the Ripper, and this seems to bring him back from the dead, like Christopher Lee’s Dracula.  And the unfortunate wife is his first new victim.

Investigating the murders

Police detective Don Gregory (David Hasselhoff, Knight Rider) is investigating the murder, with the assistance of Joe Nez (Randolph Mantooth, Emergency). A local community leader isn’t pleased with keeping tourists out of the tourist attraction for the murder investigation.  He later becomes upset with the pace of the investigation as the bodies continue to pile up.  A boat owner named Angie (Stepfanie Kramer, Hunter) finds the first corpse floating in the water, and soon becomes the love interest of the story,  Detective Gregory goes from the theory of a copycat killer.  The “copycat” is killing on the anniversary of the original Ripper’s murders.  But the detective begins to suspect something else is going on. Forensic evidence reveals that the killer is wearing hundred-year-old clothing, had an old blood stain on his blade, and has a footprint identical to the original Jack the Ripper.

Despite a tip from a local hotel clerk (Rose Marie, The Dick Van Dyke Show), and the apprehension of a crazy person, Detective Gregory is convinced that the original Ripper is alive and on the loose — and in an exciting conclusion, he turns out to be right.

In summary, Terror at London Bridge was a TV movie of the week, well made and enjoyable, but nothing exceptional.

Trivia for Terror at London Bridge

• The original London Bridge was actually relocated to Lake Havasu City, Arizona. It is a relocated 1831 bridge that formerly spanned the River Thames in London, England. It was finished in 1971, and the movie adds the fiction of finding the ‘final’ stone (in the Thames with the Ripper) and ‘completing’ the bridge in 1985.

Editorial review of Terror at London Bridge courtesy of Amazon.com

London Bridge, London, England, 1888. Jack the Ripper dies in the Thames river. London Bridge, Lake Havasu, Arizona, 1985. The last original stone used to rebuild the London Bridge is laid, But since that moment some strange murders happen. The policeman Don Gregory has some suspects, but his ideas are quite strange – he thinks about a Jack the Ripper revived. Nobody believes him…