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From Hell (Single-Disc Edition)

From Hell (Single-Disc Edition)

List Price: $14.98
Your Price: $11.24
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: I love this movie...
Review: This movie is a great ideal of what happened with the Jack the Ripper case. Many things were altered from what happened in real life such as the fact Detective Abberline never really knew who The Ripper was. He had a good guess in real life, but never spoke to the actual Ripper.
The detail of the city for the White Chapel Murders is great, and you would think there were actually there, even though it is just a movie set.
Watching the special features adds a lot of fun to it, too.
I really do like this movie, but it isn't for the squeemish.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Not very scary, but I was so moved by the ending
Review: It's the ending of this film impressed me most,
When Inspector Abberline knowed that he couldn't be with
Mary, even though he knowed that she was somewhere waiting
for him. Any move he takes to reach her would definitely
endanger her safety, therefore, he restrained himself
from going to find her, in order to let her hide in there safely,but he couldn't forget her, so he
resorted to Opium to make himself able to see visions of Mary, but it finally led to his own death, it's a really

heart-wrecking ending, so sad that two lovers couldn't
be together, one suffered and sacrificed his own happiness
to protect the other's life. So touching and definitely tell audiences the depth of their love .

I find it's the most well-written scene of this not-so
scary film, even it would let you feel sad when you finished watching it, his love was so deep, it made you
feel so touched whenever you think of it.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Entertaining, but Not Very Accurate
Review: From Hell is the latest movie released depicting the tragic true life tale of one of the most regonized serial killers of all time, Jack the Ripper, who in the late 1800s terrorized London by murdering women prostitutes. I hadn't known much about the Jack the Ripper tale until lately, but I've always heard his name. People worldwide know who you're talking about whenever his name is mentioned. Recently, I caught several History Channel shows regarding the true life tale, and it provided me with many great facts. From Hell is definitely entertaining, and stays true to some of the truth such as death scenes, etc, but accuracy isn't one of the strongest traits in this film.

It's obvious that this film is going for mainly entertainment. And it works. The characters are likeable, and the mood and atmosphere is definitely creepy. However, it isn't completely accurate. Instead of staying true to all of the facts, the movie provides some alternative solutions to some of the real life mysteries. In real life, the identity of the killer was never found, however, the movie provides you with a definite conclusion. While it isn't completely accurate, it's still enjoyable to see the alternative situations and how it 'might' have been since nothing is truly definite in the real-life tale.

The DVD also has many great extras. It's a 2-Disc set, so if you really enjoyed the movie, you're sure to enjoy the extras contained within the disc. There are commentaries, deleted scenes, trailers, featurettes, etc. It's worth a look, in my opinion.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A well-made movie that is more fiction than fact
Review: As a motion picture, From Hell is quite good. Just don't look for any truths about Jack the Ripper to emerge from the movie. While it is based on the Whitechapel murders and does an adequate job presenting some factual information (such as the locations and conditions of the bodies), the premise is based on a thoroughly discredited and rather laughable theory; there is also much fiction in the relationships of the murder victims, and many important events and individuals are ignored altogether. The film does a decent job of depicting Whitechapel, but it never really comes close to portraying the true filth and miserable conditions of the real Whitechapel, nor does it succeed in revealing the humanity of the unfortunate victims. Certainly one pities the poor women who must engage in prostitution merely to survive, but the utter hopelessness and darkness of their world does not really manifest itself in the movie. The portrayals of the murders themselves are quite good and were clearly done with an eye toward accuracy. I was glad to see that no real attempt was made to show the true state of the final victim's body because nothing can possibly convey the utter horror of that scene. Johnny Depp is marvelous as Inspector Abberline; Heather Graham is a wonderful Mary Kelly, but her character never really came across as a down and out prostitute. The characters involved in the murders and conspiracy, whom I will not name for fear of giving something away, are also quite good. I can accept and even applaud the "solution" this movie portrays, as there are a couple of really ingenious aspects of the whole conspiracy, and I felt the ending was quite proper and touchingly subtle. Needless to say, this is a rather depressing story all the way around. There is not an overabundance of horror, as the real dirty work of the Ripper is never shown to the audience, so the squeamish can probably make it through until the end with a minimum of head turns.

As an armchair Ripperologist, I am compelled to state that the identify of the Ripper and the complex story surrounding the "solution" here are not at all historical. The movie makers took as their premise a thoroughly discredited story, and on top of this they added several completely original ideas. For example, Inspector Abberline is here portrayed as an opium addict who has visions of the Ripper murders. The victims supposedly know each other and are marked out for death for a quite specific reason. All of the juiciest Ripper gossip and wildest speculations are injected into this movie. For those with little knowledge of the Whitechapel murders, please understand that the murderer, whoever he was, was certainly not the culprit named in this movie. If you want to learn the history of these crimes, forget almost everything you see here. This movie is to be enjoyed as a dark, Gothic motion picture because that is all it is.

I must say I was disappointed by the bonus material on the accompanying disc. The documentary about Jack the Ripper is the worst such documentary I have ever seen. On the one hand, you have someone pointing an amateur camera over Donald Rumbelow's shoulder--often losing the focus as the camera zooms in and out--as he flips through pages of a book of Ripper-related drawings--the most exciting part of this segment is the moment when Rumbelow announces he has to cough and then does so. On the other hand, you have a fairly old interview of less than stellar quality with a man who asserts that the true facts are those that we see presented in the movie, which is simply untrue and has no evidence upon which to stand. I was most disappointed by the tour of the murder sites. Some of the actual murder locations still exist today, and there is in fact a tour offered of the murder sites in modern Whitechapel, but the "tour" on the DVD turns out to be a tour of the movie set; the tour guides are the two directors, who make a big joke out of the whole tour and murders. The deleted scenes are interesting, especially the alternate ending, but I rejoice that such scenes were all deleted because they would have potentially ruined the movie, in my opinion. Finally, there is an inane 9-minute documentary about absinthe--while Depp's Abberline consumed this dangerous drink as an aid for his visionary powers, absinthe has less than nothing to do with Jack the Ripper. I'm still giving this DVD four stars because I enjoyed the highly fictionalized movie, but the accompanying DVD really detracts from the overall package.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: LOOKING THROUGH THE GLASS ........with the Green Fairy.
Review: Nonsense!

This is a brilliant vision of the twisted Victorian era - when everything was covered up from wrist to neck to ankle, yet .....

Allen and Albert Hughes gives us a no-holes barred view of supreme Royal 'damage-control' with surgical precision. If you are unfamiliar with the goings on of 'our Jack' - this is an excellent introduction. If you've met him through other cinematic incarnations - this one's the grittiest!

Johnny Depp is excellent as the Class-advanced/Laudanum-Absenthe imbibing sleuth [curtailed, however, by the great cast system]; gorgeous Heather Graham [today's Maureen O'Hara] splendid as one of the hookers on the list ...... Robbie Coltrane, Ian Richardson,Peter Eyre [always excellent] etc. etc. It is expecially the ever-versatile IAN HOLM who impresses and expertly encapsulates the absolute steely backbone of that hypocrital society.

It's all presented with a great sense of period - sans the 'fru-fru' so often seen - "My Fair Lady" it aint!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: TOTAL ...
Review: The "Hughes Brothers" are absolute no talent hacks. What an amazing leap from films ghetto and "gangstas" to the tast of bringing their view of London to the screen. Aside from this film being superficial and down right boring, (with American actors playing UK) do view the Hughes Brothers flippancy in the documentaries, as they stroll down the lane where they joke about John Merrik (the elephant man) being the killer with his withered hand, or the fake bodies strewn across the sets. I wouldn't have been so appalled by this...if his film hadn't been as witless, pointless and thoroughly demeaning as it was. The best I can say about the "creative geniuses" is their DP did a good job.

Concerning the rest of the film, Johnny Depp puts in his typical bland performance, Heather Graham attempts an Irish/UK accent, and HOW BLOODY OBVIOUSLY CAN THE KILLER BE IN THIS VERSION! I could tell from the trailer!...

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: If only Jack coulda ripped this up
Review: This film takes the easy way out and uses the theory of government conspiracy covering up royal guilt. That aside, Heather Graham's must have missed her makeup call, what with her pearly white teeth and barely dirtied hair and clothes. Johnny Depp is incomprehensible as he mumbles along and occassionally attempts an accent. Several good character actors are underused. It's a boring mess.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Depp proves he is a powerhouse again!!
Review: When one looks at the body of Depp's work, you cannot fail but be impressed with us superior acting talent.

In this basically accurate adaptation, he play the famous Instpector Fred Abberlane, heading the investigation of Jack the Ripper. It is very astmospheric, very grim (maybe a little too much for some), providing an excellent backdrop for Depp's talents. Abberlane, in this version, is not a drunkard, but drug addict. His character has also been merged with that of Lees the psychic who provided leads in the Ripper case, so now Abberlane has the visions of the ripper's work.

There is really nothing new to the storyline - the question of Annie Crook's child, the Prince Edward Albert's involvement with her, and that Jack the Ripper was really a myth to cover up a threat to the morarchy has been brought up in many books, and in the superior MURDER BY DECREE film starring Christopher Plummer, as was The Masonic ritual, the fact nearly all the power people, like Sir Charles Warren, were all Freemasons, the suspicious of Gull being the ripper so there is really nothing new.

So, it all comes down to resting on Depp's performance, and being the talent he is, he makes it all worth while.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: GRITTY, SCARY, AND ACCURATE!
Review: If somebody asks me why I, a Christian, watched "From Hell" and actually liked it, my answer would be: it's history. Indeed, the legend of Jack the Ripper is interesting to study, and this film brings the story to life on the silver screen as well as to your home on DVD. The Hughes Bros. give the story itself a new twist while staying true to the historical aspects of the story. And playing up on one of the theories actually DOES NOT take away from this epic horror film. In fact, the theory they play upon is the theory I believe was the actual truth. The DVD has a wealth of behind-the-scenes information as well as information on the case and the several theories that have flown around since that grizzly fall of 1888! A worthy entry into the DVD collection! DVD/Movie Grade: A+

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Good movie, but don't confuse it with fact
Review: Based on the graphic novel of the same name this movie gives an interesting look at one of the mostly dismissed theories as to the identity of Jack the Ripper. This DVD satisfies both the ripperologist and movie fan by providing 2 DVDs, the first being the movie, the second having several good features on theories loaded with photos from the time period.

As for the movie itself, the sets are incredibly accurate. But some of the acting by Heather Graham and Johnny Depp detracts from the wonderful surroundings. I don't know if they needed better speech coaches or different actors, but the first part of the movie I had to try and overlook their poor English accents. Some aspects of the story are far fetched even for Jack the Ripper. While portayals of Inspector Frederick Abberline have shown him to be either a drunk or opium addict, this movie shows him having "visions" that help him solve cases. Ummm, ok. If you are into period pieces, and can overlook poorly imitated accents and a far fetched story line, you will most likely enjoy the movie. BUt,I would bet some ripperologists would throw disc one out and keep disc two.


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