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From Hell

From Hell

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great Movie overall
Review: I saw this movie in the theaters when it first came out and i only have one word to say...WOW! This movie was great overall, and i'm definitly going to get it when it comes out on DVD. The acting was great, the murder scenes were awesome, bloody nevertheless, and ending was shocking, a very important part of any movie. SO i would recommend this movie to anyone who would want to see a movie about Jack the Ripper.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: GOOD, BUT IT COULD BE BETTER
Review: I was so excited to see this film, and more when i saw the critics of it.They were great, nobody gave it 1 star.
But, when the movie ends i was very disapointed.I'm saying that i didn't like it, just that it could be better.The good things of the film are:
-Johnny Depp, he's such a great actor.
-Heather Graham, not a talented girl, but very beautiful.
-The deads are great, the scalpel really scares you.
-It's filmed in a very bueautiful way,
-The music is espectacular.
So, in closing.From Hell is a very good film, but like I said:
-It could be such better.
Bye!!!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A movie for the smart audience......
Review: I just read a review where somebody didn't like that this movie wasn't fast paced. Well that is exactly what I liked about the movie. It was smart, sophisticated and creepy. It reminded me allot of "The Others"...

This isn't your typical Hollywood movie and that is everything that I love about it. I am counting down the days to buy this and "The Others" on DVD. Both brilliant, underrated films from the past year.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Not My Cup Of Tea
Review: Since many viewers of this film found it wonderful, I will avoid harsh opinions directed to it's production and storyline. I totally agree that the set's were beautiful. The one thing this movie did was take you on a journey to Victorian England. Other than that, it didn't do much for me. It might have helped if I was a Johnny Depp fan, but I haven't really cared for his work since his 21 Jump Street days.

I will say this: to all of you out there who like a fast paced, exciting, edge of your seat, heart pounding, can hardly catch your breath adrenaline rush sort of film - AVOID this movie. I honestly almost walked out. I sort of came to the point to where I wasn't sure if I should walk out or fall asleep. However, in respect to my date who accompanied me, I sat through it, only to find out she would have walked out with me as well. ...

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Better than expected, but eventually takes the low road.
Review: As a big fan of the graphic novel by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell, I already had a bone to pick with the movie. Most people will tell you that the movie is never as good as nor the same as the book, but I think that as with "The Fellowship of the Ring" they can at least attempt to do it justice. I knew that the point of view and overall tone of the story had been changed from the beginning, and I knew that would be difficult for me to overcome, but I gave it the day in court anyway.

I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised with the first two thirds of the movie. While I found the opium smoking amalgamation of Johnny Depps character a lazy creation, I was able to overlook it due to his always outstaning performance. The Hughes brothers took great pains to recreate all the nastiness of Whitechapel and did a decent job at recreating the murders and the further the plot. I was able to overlook the liberties taken with Moore's work and sit back and just enjoy it- at first.

Unfortunately I thought the end was a cheesy Hollywood compromise. Even if I hadn't read the book I don't think I would have liked it. I don't want to spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it, but I'll just say I was very disappointed. It was too much of a Hollywood cliche' for something that, up to that point, was really solid work. What's most disappointing about all of this is that the Hughes brothers really strayed from their normal modus operendi to try something new. What could have been a real triumph for them eventually turned out as a mere stab at main-stream mediocrity.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: From Hell Indeed!
Review: The Hughes brothers have managed to create a tense,stomach churning thriller that will keep you intrigued and at times on the edge of your seat.Johnny Depp is once again magnificent in his role as the chief detective who's job it is to solve some horrific crimes in the sordid underworld of London in 1888.Depp manages to pull off his East London accent perfectly,which is more then I can say for Heather Graham.The cast in general is excellent from Robbie Coltrane to Ian Holm and the various strange characters you meet along the way.The whole film is beautifully shot-the attention to detail is wonderful.Some of the scenes have a really gothic quality and scenes such as the houses of parliament in the shadows of a blood red sky is simply breath-taking.In fact you get the impression that the city during this period would have been an awful place to live.

The story is set around the dodgy streets around Whitechapel,where poverty and squalor are the order of the day.The people and their lives seem to be particularly grim as they try any means possible to break out of this never ending cycle of poverty.This story is based on the infamous murders of Jack The Ripper.He has targeted a group of working girls,who unknown to themselves have uncovered a secret that could cause scandal to the entire nation.Somehow these girls have drawn the wrath of street pimps and thugs and unbelievably the upper classes in the form of wealthy doctors,free masons and even the royalty.One by one they will get bumped off unless Depp can uncover the murderer.But it's not that simple as he finds himself dealing with a dissaffected population and groups who try to hinder his every move.Depp soon begins to realise that he's dealing with someone who is enjoying the ritual of each murder.This ritual is indeed horrific and there are times during this movie where you'll need a very strong stomach.The action is never frenetic,it's more methodical.His methods of solving crimes involve him getting bizarre visions while under the influence of opium.The murderer when revealed shows certain tendencies that make Hannibal Lecter seem like a gentlman.

This movie is worth seeing alone just for it's portrayal of a major city at the turn of the 19th century.Added to the fact that the acting is excellent and the story line is riveting makes it a thoroughly enjoyable 2 hours

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Jack's Back!!!!!
Review: A thriller not tot to be missed!...
Over the years, historians and mystery writers, fiction and non-fiction alike, have had to "fill in the gaps" where old Jack is concerned. Since there have been more books written about Jack the Ripper than any other serial killer in history, the task of out doing the previous movie producers and writers is not an easy one. But it has been accomplished in this film as far as I am concerned. Ted Bundy is probably turning over in is grave!
Fans of suspense thrillers, as well as serial killer fanatics, will be wowed, as well as the Johnny Depp fans!!!

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Good Photography But Takes Too much Pain to Tell Details
Review: For all its superb production design (by Martin Childs, Oscar-winner for "Shakespeare in Love"), and stunning and authentic visuals depicting late-Victorian England, "From Hell" remains unsatisfactory because, instead of creating a mystery, thrill, or horror, the film tries to "explain" murky events surrounding Jack the Ripper.

No one will question the value of cinematography in "From Hell," but the tedious development of story damages the film very much as the Hughes Brothers throw too many things into the film. If you don't know anything about Jack the Ripper, you might be puzzled before the Masonic conspiracy, a kidney sent to the police, a message on the wall, and alleged involvement of the royal family. All these factors are certainly based on truth, as 'Ripperians' or people who study this serial murder case (including Allan Moore, who wrote the original graphic novel) know, but they are all crammed into such a disjointed way that during the two hour of the film's running time, we start to lose interests. To make matters worse, the filmmakers tries to send a social comment about the cold-hearted nature of upper-class society of Victorians through the characters of Ian Holm and Ian Richardson. England may be a class-society, but those caricatures (with their histrionic performance) only perplexed me, making the entire film a very unstable stance whether I should be angry with them, or chilled with the Ripper. I get the point, but they should have been restricted the film's subject within the murders, without extending it to its social cause.

About other aspects, I have little to say. The casting of Heather Graham could have been justified if she looked a little more like a prostitute, or the film did not take itself so seriously. As the basic story is sentimental and melodramatic, they could have made it more outrageous and suspeseful, and in that case, Ms. Graham might have got away with her uneven accent. Of course, then, the Hughes Brothers must take much more liberty with the original book, and its meticulous details would be gone. In the end, as the result shows, they took a fairly serious approach, and I respect that decision. However, I confess, as I went through the two hours in theater, I thought I might as well be reading the original book.

"From Hell" is a stylish film, but as a thriller it falls short of good pace and enough chill, and as a film noir, its subject is too intriguing and thrilling with detailed information to be made into a flat melodrama. Using the same subject, Alfred Hitchcock once directed a silent film "The Lodger (1926)." It remains stylish even today, but he completely changed the related facts to draw audience into his world. My vote goes to him, but of course, only as a cinema, not as a study of the Ripper.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A Johnny Depp Film Worth Seeing
Review: Heavy on atmosphere and even heavier on conspiracy theories, FROM HELL boasts outstanding performances from Johnny Depp and Heather Graham as two lost souls crying out for one another's company while remaining caught in the twists and turns of Jack the Ripper's nefarious deeds toward the end of the 1900s. A fascinatingly brisk tale, not for the squeamish of heart or stomach, but one that dares to draw its one conclusions when other pictures have failed to do so. Sit back, have some popcorn, and enjoy the suspense.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Brilliant and Powerful Jack The Ripper Tale!
Review: It has been historically proven that this Jack The Ripper Tale contains THE most accurately portrayed Ripper murders ever to be seen on film! Johnny Depp and Heather Graham star in this amazing version of what is now considered the most infamous and mysterious crime known to modern man! Portraying the detective hired to crack the case, Depp delivers what I consider one of the most powerful and multi-leveled performances of his career. Heather Graham not only masters her cockney accent to perfection as the most notorious victim, Mary Kelly, but makes you believe she truly is her character, as she and the entire cast sends you back to White Chapel Distract, London, at the turn of the 20th century. Bringing you back in time to a world of prostitution, drugs and murder.
The Hughes Brothers, the same directors that brought you such films as "Dead Presidents" and "Menace II Society", conjure up another masterpiece!! Famous for their street-violence-themed films, From Hell takes its rightful place within that genre.
One huge roller-coast ride of a movie, it is indeed a must see!!


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