From Hell (2001)

Directors:

Albert Hughes
Allen Hughes

Writers (WGA):

Alan Moore (graphic novel) and
Eddie Campbell (graphic novel) ...

Release Date:

19 October 2001 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Evil has a new address...

Plot:

In Victorian Era London, a troubled clairvoyant police detective investigates the murders by Jack The Ripper.

Plot Keywords:

Female Nudity | Blood Splatter | Bloodshed | Based On Graphic Novel | No Opening Credits

Awards:

8 nominations

Cast

Johnny Depp	...	Inspector Frederick Abberline
Heather Graham	...	Mary Kelly
Ian Holm	...	Sir William Gull
Robbie Coltrane	...	Sergeant Peter Godley
Ian Richardson	...	Sir Charles Warren
Jason Flemyng	...	Netley, the Coachman
Katrin Cartlidge	...	Dark Annie Chapman
Terence Harvey	...	Benjamin 'Ben' Kidney
Susan Lynch	...	Liz Stride
Paul Rhys	...	Dr. Ferral
Lesley Sharp	...	Kate Eddowes
Estelle Skornik	...	Ada
Nicholas McGaughey	...	Officer Bolt
Annabelle Apsion	...	Polly Nichols
Joanna Page	...	Ann Crook

Also Known As:

Jack (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence/gore, sexuality, language and drug content.

Runtime:

122 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Malaysia:18SG | South Korea:18 | Argentina:13 | Australia:MA | Brazil:18 | Canada:18A | Finland:K-18 | France:-12 | Germany:16 | Hong Kong:III | Japan:R-15 | Mexico:C | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R16 | Norway:15 | Peru:18 | Philippines:R-18 | Portugal:M/16 | Singapore:M18 | Singapore:PG (cut) | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | UK:18 | USA:R (certificate #38515)

Filming Locations:

Boscastle, Cornwall, England, UK

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

The late Nigel Hawthorne was originally cast as Sir William Gull. Hawthorne was replaced by Ian Holm when his cancer prevented him from working.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Abberline first meets, and discusses the Ripper killings with Sir William Gull, Abberline's drawing of a Liston knife keeps changing shape and position on the blackboard between shots.

Quotes:

[Johnny Depp's first lines]
[Sergeant Godley slaps Abberline to wake him up]
Abberline: Hello, darling.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Guignols de l'info, Les: (2007-03-13)" (2007)

Soundtrack:

Duke Street

Jack the Ripper is the ostensible subject of Albert and Allen Hughes' From Hell, but this legendary figure is more a point of departure, an obviously sensational hook, than the film's focus.

30 Second Bottom Line: The infamous Jack the Ripper serial killer mystery unfolds in Victorian England as a stylistic who dun it.

From Hell is an exciting murder mystery with a number of hints about who dun it to keep things interesting every step of the way. Depp gives his expected, outstanding and other worldly performance. Ian Holm, Katrin Cartlidge, Robbie Coltrane and Ian Richardson and some of the unnamed prostitutes give the film an edge that takes us back a century in time. Heather Graham is OK and I'm pleased to see her doing something beyond Say it Isn't So and more along the lines of Sidewalks of New York. She is, however, a little too pretty, sophisticated, charming and clean for a street ho. Katrin Cartlidge would have been a better Mary. It's a little bit of a stretch to envision the Inspector and the whore Mary falling in love, but stranger things have happened.

It's always gratifying to see actors, writers and directors grow; and certainly the Hughes Brothers are doing that. They have not made a lot of films but each one is very good. The two could be a Stanley Kubrick in the making, as he only made 13 films during a long, respected and controversial career. Since 1993, they've made Menace II Society, Dead Presidents and American Pimp. From Hell is more sophisticated while still retaining a dark tone that is not depressing. Peter Deming as cinematographer has outdone himself with From Hell and Mulholland Drive. It's clearly Oscar caliber work.

Although From Hell is based on a comprehensive novel of the same name by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell, with the focus on a real killer in 1888, the film is not trying to be a JFK and convince us how it really happened. That said, when you realize who the killer is you are faced with an interesting hypothesis.

Jack the Ripper may have been crazy, but he was acting out of logic (his own to be sure) and for a reason other than wanting to kill a few prostitutes. The fog in London finally is lifted on the murder mystery and on the Hughes Brothers being great directors.

Message on the movie: We can't always have what we want from life. Evil exists. Victorian England was a very unpleasant place and era.

So the conclusion is that this movie is a fair movie althouht actually it hadn't got a very clear ending, it is fantastic thriller to watch and remember don't miss this one.