A superbly crafted, handsome psychological thriller.
From Hell (2001)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:31
Fresh:16
Rotten:15
Average Rating:5.3/10
Consensus: Visually impressive, but this latest Ripper tale is dull and far from scary.
Runtime: 2 hrs 2 mins
Genre: Horror/Suspense
US Box Office: $30,692,411
Synopsis: FROM HELL is a gory detective film cloaked in Victorian-era mystique. The movie shows how the serial killer Jack the Ripper stalked the dark streets of 1888 London, slaying prostitutes and crudely... FROM HELL is a gory detective film cloaked in Victorian-era mystique. The movie shows how the serial killer Jack the Ripper stalked the dark streets of 1888 London, slaying prostitutes and crudely dissecting their bodies. Based on the graphic novel written by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell, this moody chiller is directed by twin brothers Albert and Allen Hughes (MENACE II SOCIETY, AMERICAN PIMP). Johnny Depp stars as Inspector Frederick Abberline, who smokes heavy doses of opium and drowns himself in absinthe to evoke hallucinatory visions that are his clues to catching the Ripper. Heather Graham costars as the prettiest of the floozies, who wins the muted affections of the Inspector. With plenty of atmosphere and spooky effects, FROM HELL borrows scenery, filming tricks, and sequence construction from a host of popular movies, resulting in a visually interesting--if inconsistent--style. Haunting nighttime shots of the London skyline (actually Prague) bleed into shadowy Tim Burton-like prowls through the damp cobblestone streets; aerial camerawork contrasts with crowded ground-level focuses; and the camera peeks around corners and into foggy windows with stealthy curiosity. What may stand out most in viewers minds after the carnage is through, is the exaggerated use of surround sound, which brings a dreadful sense of reality to the film's gore, making FROM HELL all the juicier. [More]
Starring: Johnny Depp, Heather Graham, Ian Holm, Robbie Coltrane
Starring: Johnny Depp, Heather Graham, Ian Holm, Robbie Coltrane, Jason Flemyng, Lesley Sharp, Susan Lynch, Terence Harvey, Katrin Cartlidge, Paul Rhys, Ian Richardson
Director: Allen Hughes, Albert Hughes
Director: Allen Hughes, Albert Hughes
Screenwriter: Terry Hayes, Rafael Yglesias
Producer: Don Murphy, Jane Hamsher
Composer: Trevor Jones
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Reviews for From Hell
Many of the ideas that were sophisticated in the original graphic novel by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell look shopworn on screen.
In Menace and Presidents there was an additional level of involving social criticism that gave us a reason to endure the mayhem. Here, the film is considerably more off-putting than what it gives back.
The movie feels dark, clammy and exhilarating -- it's like belonging to a secret club where you can have a lot of fun but might get into trouble.
From Hell is so beautifully realized as a mood piece that it takes a while for a slight disappointment to register. The movie isn't as scary as you'd like it be, and the mix of its elements don't quite take.
With almost as many subplots as corpses, the movie maintains its mild watchability only because the Ripper saga still engrosses.
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