From Hell      (2001)
  
     producers: 20th Century Fox
        run time: 122 mins

 
     "You think you know terror, but you don't know Jack"
 

   London 1888, and Jack the Ripper stalks the grim streets of Whitechapel. The
   villain is carving his way through a series of prostitutes, his identity unknown, but
   his hideous crimes on show for the world to see and react to with horror. But
   Inspector Fred Abberline has a theory. Abberline is addicted to opium and
   absinthe which give him prophetic dreams, and he's made a connection between
   the killings - a connection that reaches to the very echelons of British society.
   Abberline has also fallen for the charms of Mary Kelly, one of the prostitutes on
   the Rippers list of intended victims. Now the race is on to get Mary to safety
   and stop the Ripper's grizzly killing spree...

   Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell's "graphic" novel comes to the big screen,
   courtesy of the Hughes Brothers ("Menace 2 Society"). Or at least, it comes to
   us in parts. The original story was "a melodrama in sixteen parts" published
   between 1991 and 1998 subsequently combined into one weighty volume. It remains
   an extraordinary, accomplished work, a study piece in which we chart the depths
   of depravity inside the mind of the Ripper. It's meticulous in its historical detail
   and research. And it's graphic in every sense, a bloody and depraved ride, with
   its horrific depiction and sexual encounters laid bare.
   
   "From Hell" the movie is equally-well presented. Olde London has been reproduced
    on screen in all its grim glory. It's filthy in look and crude in language, just like
    it should be, and the murder scenes have been reconstructed in minutiae.
    The casting is excellent too, bar the occasional "cock-a-ney" accent. The
    camera prowls the squalor, and Abberline's dreams (a new addition) are presented
    as virulent green-tinted vignettes - akin at times to those first flickering Victorian
    film reels that were about to emerge. But for all its atmosphere and intent, the movie
    just doesn't add up to the sum of its parts. Its bloody heart has been cut out.
    By switching focus to Inspector Abberline, the complexity and uniqueness has
    gone. In the novel, Abberline doesn't even appear until halfway through the story.     Here, then, we're no longer focusing on the Ripper's descent to Hell. Instead, we're
    watching a far-too familiar whodunit, lacking in suspense, which simply asks the
    age-old questions (Who was the Ripper, and why were his crimes so perverted?).
 
    It's a crying shame, because there really is much to admire about this film.
    It's bloodier and darker than we've seen before, and there are moments - like the
    first alleyway death, with the Ripper's bloody knife slash, slash, slashing again -
    which positively drip with menace. This is great stuff, but - oh - if only the film
    had been braver...

    • To avoid a restrictive NC-17 rating in the USA, the reconstruction of the
       the death of Mary Kelly's roommate Ada was toned down considerably.
       In reality, this was a particularly gruesome murder - probably too gruesome
       for the popcorn stomachs of Middle America. However all the other murders
       depicted in the film remain faithful to the case notes and photo evidence...

   • The original "From Hell" series ran in ten issues, published between 1991 and
      1992. In 1998 the story was concluded with an epilogue entitled "From Hell:
      Dance of the Gullcatchers"...
   
 

     From Hell on DVD

     From Hell: special edition
     two discs / R2 / 20th Century Fox / October 2002

    From Hell: regular edition
     one disc / R2 / 20th Century Fox / October 2002

 

       directors:          Albert Hughes, Allen Hughes
       producers:      Jane Hamsher, Don Murphy
       exec prods:     Thomas M Hammel,  Amy Robinson,
                             Albert Hughes, Allen Hughes
       screenplay:     Terry Hayes, Rafael Yglesias
                             from Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell's graphic novel   
       music:             Trevor Jones
       cinematog:      Peter Deming
       film editing:     George Bowers, Dan Lebental
       prod design:     Martin Childs
       art director:     Jindra Koci
       set decor:        Jill Quertier
       costume des:   Kym Barrett
       starring:          Johnny Depp (Insp. Fred Abberline)
                              Heather Graham (Mary Kelly)
                              Ian Holm (Sir William Gull)
                              Robbie Coltrane (Sgt. Peter Godley)
                              Ian Richardson (Sir Charles Warren)
                              Jason Flemyng (Netley, the Coachman)
                              Katrin Cartlidge (Dark Annie Chapman)
                              Terence Harvey (Ben Kidney)
                              Susan Lynch (Liz Stride)
                              Paul Rhys (Dr. Ferral)
                              Lesley Sharp (Kate Eddowes)
                              Estelle Skornik (Ada)
                              Nicholas McGaughey (Officer Bolt)
                              Annabelle Apsion (Polly)
                              Joanna Page (Ann Crook)
                              Mark Dexter (Albert Sickert/Prince Edward)
                              Danny Midwinter (Constable Withers)
                              Samantha Spiro (Martha Tabram)
                              David Schofield (McQueen)
                              Bryon Fear (Robert Best)
                              Peter Eyre (Lord Hallsham)
                              Sophia Myles (Victoria Abberline)

 

      On the web


     From Hell
     http://www.fromhellmovie.com
      The official film site, with a little bit of movie info, trailers and downloads...

      Alan Moore Fan Site
      http://www.alanmoorefansite.com
      News, previews, a bibliography and - um - lots 'moore' besides...


 
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