FROM HELL

by David Downs aka PoeticCrow

If you have seen Murder by Decree, with Christopher Plummer and James Mason, or the television mini-series staring Michael Cain on the Jack the Ripper murders, then you will know how this movie will end. It isn't a new theory but it seems to be the most popular one. Alright given that it is not a new spin on the Ripper why bother? It is because the Hughes Brothers brought together a very atmospheric and taunt chiller.

White Chapel has been painstakingly recreated and the murder scenes adhere to police and newspaper reports. The Hughes Brothers went a step further taking their knowledge of modern day backstreets and ghettos to embellish a London district filled with hoods, prostitutes and derelicts. It works extremely well giving an added texture to the story.

The camera work is sly and slick. The murders are giving to you in flashes of imagery that leaves the imagination to fill in the grisly details. Something allot of horror directors seem to have forgot. The technique is actually more horrifying.

The story From Hell was taken from the graphic novel by Alan Moore which is an underground cult classic, though loosely based. The story is not an entirely accurate account nor is it entirely faithful to Moore's graphic novel. There are changes. Johnny Depp plays Inspector Abberline, who was involved in the Ripper cases, but he is the combination of Robert Leeds, a psychic who claimed he had dreams of the murders and suspected who the Ripper was and Inspector Abberline.. Depp plays the opium smoking Inspector deftly and delivers a believable cockney accent. Heather Graham as Mary Kelly is very good, but almost stands out too much against the rest of the street worn prostitutes, she is simply too fresh, too clean to be one of them.

There is no hurting here in the supporting cast. Ian Holm as the Queen's Physician, Robbie Coltrane as the Shakespearean quoting companion to Depp, and others create believable Victorian characters avoiding stereo typical caricatures. Even the sets become actors, the mental hospital, the London alleys and the higher class backdrops are created with attention to detail. The cameo with John Merrick the Elephant Man was a nice touch only adding to the atmosphere of the Victorian England Upper Class' somewhat perverse voyeurism on the lower classes.

This is not the best rendition of the Ripper tale, nor will it be the last. It is just one of the more interesting. Depp fans will love it. Ripper fans may groan abit, but will admire the adherence to the details of the murder scenes. It is worth putting in your collection on those merits alone.

Then there is the second DVD and it is almost worth the price of the set itself. It has a mini documentary on the different suspects that were considered during the Ripper case. Absinthe and its history are also covered as well as a tour of the murder scenes. I have seen may specials covering the Ripper Murders, the worst being the one shown on FOX with a panel of forensic scientist all conjecturing on why their theory is the correct one. This one on the DvD actually does some meticulous research and offers many conclusions that offer allot of merit.

From Hell may not be the ultimate in the Jack the Ripper film noir. But it is the most entertaining with a twist on the Hollywood ending that is satisfying if not bittersweet.

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