From Hell

Rating:
Summary: VISUALS TO "DIE" FOR
Review: Sadly, a lot of reviewers have noted that there are many inaccuracies in the film concerning the factual details in the case of Jack the Ripper. Certainly, the Ripper theory thats the premise of this film is quite controversial and is no doubt way off the mark. But the Hughes Brothers did not intend to get the facts "dead" on, rather, they have created in my estimation one of the finest visual films ever made. The London, circa 1888, that they have put on the screen is pure eye candy. The sets are meticulous recreations of 1888 London, and the saturated colors create an ominous and foreboding pallette on which to tell the story. The overall mood and look of the film reminds one at first of perhaps Francis Ford Coppola's DRACULA or Tim Burton's SLEEPY HOLLOW, but this film's look is better and what might be expected if you were able to look into the mind of Edgar Allen Poe.

I have not mentioned the performances, but they were wonderful as well. I just felt that all was eclipsed by the visual wonder of the film. The DVD's picture and sound are pristine, as they are THX. Watch this film not for "surgical" accuracy, but for sensory overload. Unplug the phone and get under the blankets, because you're going to want to hide at times watching this brilliant wide-eyed feast!!!

Rating:
Summary: THE TITLE IS RIGHT
Review: It's a lot like the gothic horror of "Sleepy Hollow" in feel and tone -- dark. Neither film is perfect, but both are passable movies if you have a general taste for the genre.

Characterizations are cardboard as you may imagine. Whitechapel prostitutes were all apparently pretty, clear-skinned young women with hearts of gold. Fred Abberline was an opium addict who committed suicide after the Ripper murders (p.s. he wasn't, and he didn't -- he lived until 1929). Johnny Depp, fine actor though he is, was hilariously miscast in this film -- about 20 years too young to begin with.

Also, why do all American actors playing British characters feel they need to put on awful cockney accents? The real Abberline was born in Dorset and would likely not have the irksome "ullo guvnor" accent. Mary Kelly (Heather Graham) was born in Ireland, raised in Wales and did not move to London until the age of 21.

Leaving aside the horde of factual errors, this was really a rather dull film. Far too long, overly melodramatic, and quite ridiculous in parts (the romance between Abberline and Mary Kelly, for example).

Interested in Jack the Ripper? Read Stephen Knight's speculative, but well-researched, "Jack the Ripper: the Final Solution". As for this movie, as I said above, a worthy rental if you are into the genre but not much else.

Rating:
Summary: Chasing the Dragon
Review: After watching the first few minutes of this spellbinding film, I pushed away the meatlover's pizza. Suddenly lost my appetite. But that's quite all right: FROM HELL's fascinating story--along with its mercurial cinematography--rapidly overwhelms and consumes all the muck and the gore of London's notorious Whitechapel district of the late 19th Century.

Yes, this is (yet) another film about Jack the Ripper, yet it presents the brutal murderer with a most bizarre twist, along with a plot suggesting a motive for the crimes as farfetched as an elephant swimming the Atlantic. But the zany story works--a story about a small click of Whitechapel prostitutes harboring a secret and subsequently murdered, one by one--in part due to the ingenious visual devices employed by directors Allen and Albert Hughes, and in part due to the spine-tingling acting of Johnny Depp and Ian Holm. Depp portrays Inspector Fred Abberline, a Scotland Yard detective who, aided by his dependency on opium, laudanum, and absinthe, has an uncanny ability to solve crimes. Through his drug addiction, Abberline is "chasing the dragon"; when the fragile vulnerability of his character is exposed, the viewer learns the detective is chasing much, much more.

Holm plays Sir William Gull, an aging physician of Britain's royal family. The good doctor is so calm, cold, reserved, detached, and calculating I'll wager he could freeze the mercury on a thermometer. Holm and Depp easily carry this movie, augmented by haunting images of avarice, brutality, and a less than complimentary portrayal of the freemasons. FROM HELL is a seat-squirming, stomach-twisting thriller. And the film gave me an added bonus: I now have plenty of cold pizza for breakfast.
--D. Mikels

Rating:
Summary: Slow but well done !
Review: The acting and filming are very good. Lighting is great.The acting is alright.This movie is quite good.Not historic. It's before all a fiction but the plot is well balanced. The only thing I didn't like is the 2 hours because It's pretty slow moving.For sure don't get this movie because you expect a true story or because you want to be scared.It's more kind of "investigation & suspense" movie.

Rating:
Summary: Not historically accurate but it is the comic book version!
Review: From Hell is taken from the comic book From Hell. So do not believe that what you are seeing here is historical or accurate. The From Hell comic is great and this film lives up to it somewhat. There is a great slow motion sequence of a murder at the start and the cinematography is first rate. I really like this horror movie. Depp is also great.

Rating:
Summary: Mr Depp does it again!
Review: This film is, which has been unfairly critiqued by some viewers, I found to be yet another wonderful performance by Johnny Depp.
Here is an actor who NEVER overplays his hand. And is very careful about the films he chooses to do.
He is an artist. And (ok I never saw "21 Jump Street") but I'd guess he's always been good.
In "From Hell" his character is driven but understated,he doesn't feel the need to chew the scenery as many other actors in the same role would have.
The only fault I'd find at all is that the plot is almost the same as "Murder By Decree" with Christopher Plummer as Sherlock Holmes, That is the fault of plagerism , not this film.
Iam Holme and Robbie Coltraine are the pro's they've always been and Heather Graham is comely,while perhaps a bit too wholesome for a prostitute and I still believe she is a very capable actress.
This film is buried gold.
Remember, "Citizen Kane" and "the Wizard of Oz " did't get good reviews either!

Rating:
Summary: good but couldve been much much better
Review: this movie was good in some point of views
the acting i will admit was some what horrible
especially for Depp, it didnt seem like him speaking more like a robot: but there was a good hint of accent in his part for him to play an englishman. Ian Hold was good as usual in his movies, he seemed to fit the part of an aging surgeon, but overall i thought the Hughes brothers couldve brought character development out much more. but i will admit this too, the cinematography is absolutly fantastic, and the films score by Trevor Jones gives me chills. The story portrays the killings of Jack the Ripper, and in the movie of course, the killings are gruesome and graphic. Mutilation, cutting throats, butchery, blood and guts the whole nine yards, the violence isnt absent in the film. i recommend it for fans of whodoneit? horror films, but not for a masked killer chasing a girl through a isolated house, and for Johnny Depp fans. If your looking for a better Hughes brothers film, try Menace II society or Dead Presidents. those were much better than from Hell.

Rating:
Summary: From Hell but not scary
Review: Just looking to buy a good hooro movie and saw this a week ago. Not taht sitting on a stapler feeling. therfor I dizz it.

Rating:
Summary: Disjointed
Review: I bought this purely for Johnny Depp, and it did sound like an interesting story. Right at the start, there's a lovely shot of Johnny's eyes, but when you hear people getting stabbed, it's so realistic, and so horrible! Sends shivers up your spine. There are a few familiar faces in this - Lesley Sharpe, Robbie Coltrane & Ian Holm.

The soundtrack is quite haunting and creepy, although the bit which really sticks out in my mind, is the heartbeat which appears faintly in the background when Johnny appears on screen, and steadily gets louder. It's a brilliant sound effect to use.

The one thing I noticed about Johnny's character (Inspector Fred Abberline) was that he seemed to be reprising his role of Ichabod Crane in Sleepy Hollow. Very similar characters. His English accent is surprisingly good, considering some of the other actors who have tried and failed in the past. (Not naming any names, but Keanu Reeves springs to mind!)

There's some lovely shots in this including close ups of Johnny's eyes, a cracking shot of Big Ben against a red sky, and the whole film seems to capture the essence of London in 1888 perfectly.

Heather Graham (Mary Kelly) has always annoyed me as an actress, for no particular reason, and I tend to avoid films with her in them. The red hair in this was a big mistake, she's very pale skinned to begin with, and the redness washes her out even more.

To begin with, it was hard to work out whether the character played by Robbie Coltrane was superior to Johnny's character. Later we find out that he was a sergeant. He plays the part of a sarcastic, temperamental policeman, a role which he is well known for, and particularly good at.

The film is an 18, due to a couple of scenes. The scenes where the 'unfortunates' "livelihood" is removed, is particularly disgusting, and not a pleasant image to have in your head. You just need to see the reactions in the film to feel nauseous. Also the scene where a girl's throat gets cut is really graphic, and I thought Murron's throat in Braveheart getting cut was bad! This is much, much worse!

The ending of this totally threw my opinion of the entire film. Up until then, the film had been good. From Hell is a film about Jack the Ripper, but the Hughes brothers (Coen brothers, Wachowski brothers and now the Hughes brothers!) provided their own solution to the Jack the Ripper mystery. This has been an unproven and unsolved mystery, so I didn't like how they decided to "solve" the mystery. It should have been left well alone. It seems like they wanted to wind up the story, so chose any random character to be Jack the Ripper. It doesn't work.

This isn't really a horror movie, more a dramatisation, and there was a lack of tension as a thriller. Definitely a must-see for Johnny Depp fans, and people interested in the Jack the Ripper mystery - although the ending doesn't really match the rest of the film. And the ending is also sad!

Rating:
Summary: Very well made...
Review: This movie isn't really ground breaking or anything, however, I found myself enjoying this film for the fantastic surroundings and sets. Great acting and a bizarre story topped it off. Very well made and a must for any Johnny Depp fans.