A rare, clever, horror film.
From Hell (2001)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:145
Fresh:84
Rotten:61
Average Rating:5.8/10
Consensus: Visually impressive, but this latest Ripper tale is dull and far from scary.
Runtime: 2 hrs 2 mins
Genre: Horror/Suspense
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
Stylishly photographed and suitably atmospheric, the film nonetheless takes too many liberties to please fans of the comic book.
Jack the Ripper gets another cinematic outing with this rather creepy and violent thriller from the Hughes Brothers.
Many of the ideas that were sophisticated in the original graphic novel by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell look shopworn on screen.
A whodunit where the who is bloody obvious and the characters disposable.
Somehow, the movie taps into the book's uncanny implication that the very air is charged with malevolent ancient spirits...
This wry, atmospheric procedural spawned by a real mystery would be thorny enough without also being an adaptation.
A disappointingly conventional thriller from the Hughes brothers (Menace II Society still their best film by far), neither chilling enough as a horror flick nor compelling as a character study; one of Johnny Depp's few mediocre performances
Jack the Ripper has proven a far more durable movie baddie than Freddy, Jason and Hannibal combined.
While Allen and Albert Hughes' adaptation of Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell's graphic novel may not completely satisfy anyone's shallow bloodlust, it certainly has something more substantial to offer.
This movie is beautiful to look at, but has little substance. All Depp and no depth.
They want it to feel like one really bad dream ... and by the film's end we're too dizzy to think, to see if it all lines up.
What the Hughes Brothers have done in making a lavish period piece complete ...... is nothing less than a revolutionary achievement.
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