Much like Sleepy Hollow, From Hell will delight movie buffs with key elements of its lavish production design.
From Hell (2001)
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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
No expense was spared in recreating Jack The Ripper's London circa 1888.
What we have here is a perversion of the 'business as usual' recommendations we've been hearing lately.
There's not much else to sink your teeth into once the pretty colors fade from view.
...an astoundingly structured and well-paced endeavor that is seldom overwhelming and almost always plausible...
A remarkable technical achievement so far superior to the details of the plot and one-dimensional characters that it's a real shame.
Based on the classic graphic novel, From Hell should prove a solid treat to horror movie fans who've grown weary of slasher machinations and subterranean slime monsters.
From Hell might not be a perfect film -- in fact, it's a ways from it -- but it's nevertheless mostly engaging from start to finish.
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