From Hell (Widescreen Edition)
by Albert Hughes, Allen Hughes
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Actor: Heather Graham, Ian Holm, Ian Richardson, Johnny Depp, Robbie ColtraneDirector: Albert Hughes, Allen Hughes
Brand: DEPP,JOHNNY
Producer: Albert Hughes
Producer: Allen Hughes
Writer: Alan Moore
Writer: Eddie Campbell
Writer: Rafael Yglesias
Writer: Terry Hayes
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; Spanish (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DTS Surround Sound, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 122 minutes
Published: 2002-10-01
DVD Release Date: 2002-10-22
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: 20th Century Fox
DVD Reviews of From Hell (Widescreen Edition)
DVD Review: What you see is....what you want to see.
Summary: 4 Stars
Having watched this 2001 DVD again the other night, and again reading through several of the myriad published histories of The Ripper crimes of 1888 Victorian London, I thought I'd add one MORE perspective on this variably-received movie, now 8 years past its initial release. As a brief background, I (like so many others) have always been fascinated by the crime story, have read a lot (by no means all) of the critical histories (some good, ie: Philip Sugden's materpiece....some acknowledged to be bogus, though entertaining, ie: "The Diary of Jack the Ripper"), and have seen several of the movie adaptations, of which "From Hell" is the most recent, and arguably the most entertaining (my other choice being the 1988 TV miniseries with Michael Caine, which for some reason is STILL not available for USA DVD's).
After reading a number of the reviews on this site (which are not unexpectedly quite varied, from one to five stars), I thought I'd offer that what you see/like/enjoy/appreciate in "From Hell" is likely mostly what you wanted to see before viewing it- not unlike the Ripper case itself, which still draws a multitude of opinions now 120 years after the fact.
First, for those reviewers who didn't find the storyline of "From Hell" believable: The published critical histories of the Ripper crimes, including the most critically acclaimed work by Sugden, all at least mention the possibility of the Crown Prince/William Gull/government conspiracy theory, as in the movie- including even the Annie Crook/Crown Prince secret marriage. While not generally considered by most serious historians to be the "answer" to the Ripper crimes(Sugden especially provides rather convincing evidence that it is sheer folly), its worth remembering that the real Ripper never was caught, or even close to being conclusively identified (not yet, anyway), so the movie is entitled to its own take, and shouldn't be overly criticized for that alone. It is also rather instructive that the more likely suspects (Montague Druitt, George Chapman, for just two examples) to have been The Ripper (Abberline, in fact, suspected Chapman) wouldn't necessarily make for as entertaining a movie, compared to the always fetching idea that a high government conspiracy is involved. So remember, "From Hell" is not a documentary (it IS based on a graphic novel, after all), nor does it intend to be a critical assessment of the published histories and police facts: it's just meant to be entertaining- and at that, I'd argue it succeeds well enough.
Lots of criticisms of Heather Graham's choice for the role of the Ripper's final (well, maybe) victim, Mary Kelley, as well as her acting performance in the film. Many criticized how beautiful she is in the film, which is out-of-sorts for an East End London prostitute in 1888. True, but it is also worth noting that all of the histories also point out that of the 5 murdered prostitutes commonly attributed to The Ripper, that Kelley was singularly attractive, including the hair. So the movie chooses to embellish her beauty: so what? For me, since I knew I wasn't watching a documentary, that bit didn't ruin the movie for me- I recognized it for what it was: just another plot device to make the movie "more viewable" for most people (though clearly not all). As far as Graham's acting, and so-so accent: again, not deal-breakers for me. It does help to be able to understand the dialogue in a movie, after all- if the cockney accents and slang were taken to the historically accurate extreme, the dialogue might well be nearly unintelligible. So get over it, and enjoy the movie for what it intends to be: entertaining.
Comments about the violence portrayed in "From Hell" seem to also run the gamut from "gratuitous" to "you got off easy" (ie: not enough). Read the actual police accounts of the crimes (and the one memorable still photo of Mary Kelley's mutilated corpse at the scene of the crime), and you'll have to agree that the movie was very circumspect and reserved as far as depictions of the actual violence goes. Any movie about The Ripper has to include some images that convey the extreme violence of the crimes, which most investigators concluded increasingly suggested a murderer rapidly losing his sanity altogether. Indeed, one prevailing opinion at the time for why the crimes abruptly stopped after Kelley's murder was that the Ripper's mind had snapped completely, and that he likely committed suicide (the Druitt hypothesis, especially). For me, this movie did a good job of conveying the horror of the crimes, without bathing the viewer in gratuitous violence: but, to each his own, I suppose.
I thought the acting performances overall were quite good, though not exactly classics in moviemaking. And again, the real Abberline was neither psychic nor an opium addict, nor was he romantically involved with Kelley- anyone who knows even a little about the history ought to recognize all that as just movie-making- whether you like it or not, it's there to make the story more interesting for some. Personally, I didn't think it added much to the entertainment value of the movie- I'd rather have seen more time devoted to the real Abberline's sleuthing in this case.
A lot of comments about the music in "From Hell"- many found it annoying largely because of it's persistence in every scene. I generally pay quite a bit of attention to musical scores in movies, and some of my favorite flicks typically are marked by their memorable scores. In no way would I call the score in "From Hell" memorable, but neither did I find it annoying, as did so many others. To me, it was another non-factor in my enjoyment of this film.
I thought the sets (with modern day Prague simming nicely for Victorian London) were effective at creating an everpresent sense of doom and dread- my wife of 30 years came out of the theatre when we first saw this in 2001 saying that she "never wanted to watch that movie again", mainly because the atmosphere was so evil and foreboding that it made her very uneasy throughout. I call that good movie-making, when it affects someone so much.
When I ask myself why I only give this movie 4 stars (3 1/2, actually), it's because I was wanting something that stuck a little closer to the known facts- not about who the Ripper might have been, mind you (since that's still fair game to this day), but about the principals involved, especially Abberline's character, and perhaps the prostitutes individually. Perhaps I was also wanting a few more of the possible suspects run by me during the film, just to keep me guessing (as was done in the 1988 TV miniseries).
But these are just my hopes/biases before watching "From Hell", and not valid criticisms of the movie as it is offered. When considered that way, it largely succeeds, and is worth viewing.
Description of From Hell (Widescreen Edition)
A clairvoyant police detective must stop the most notorious serial killer in history - Jack the Ripper - before it's too late! Johnny Depp and Heather Graham star in this "engrossing, stylish thriller" (People) that "grips tighter than a chokehold and cut as deep as a knife" (Washington Post)Heavy on atmosphere and light on everything else, From Hell is visually impressive while lacking the depth of the acclaimed graphic novel it's based upon. Making their third feature since 1993's Menace II Society, twins Allen and Albert Hughes approach the Jack the Ripper case with physical precision, re-creating the gritty Whitechapel district of 1888 London in meticulous detail. What they've forgotten is the sheer terror that gripped Whitechapel in the wake of the Ripper's slaying of five prostitutes, investigated here by a Scotland Yard sleuth (Johnny Depp) who uses opium, laudanum, and absinthe to fuel his semiprescient visions of the slayings. Heather Graham attempts a slippery Cockney accent as a would-be victim, while Ian Holm steals the show as a has-been surgeon with devilish delusions of grandeur. Violence is obliquely suggested or briefly graphic, but no matter how you cut it, From Hell is only marginally thrilling as it treads familiar territory. --Jeff Shannon
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