Themes: Serial Killers, Murder Investigations, Class Differences
Main Cast: Johnny Depp, Heather Graham, Ian Holm, Robbie Coltrane, Ian Richardson
Release Year: 2001
Country: US
Run Time: 137 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
The true-life horror story of Jack the Ripper gets a new spin in this screen adaptation of the acclaimed graphic novel by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell. In 1888, a ruthless and cold-blooded killer begins hunting prostitutes in East London, and while the murderer's work is savage, the mutilation of his victims suggests the fiend has an extensive medical background. Amidst a background of political unrest and barely contained scandal among the royal family, the murderer's grisly exploits shock and frighten all of England, and one of Scotland Yard's top inspectors, Fred Abberline (Johnny Depp), is put on the case, along with his partner, Peter Godley (Robbie Coltrane). Abberline, depending on one's viewpoint, is either blessed or cursed with second sight, and while he blurs his ability to see future events with opium and other drugs, he still has an uncanny ability to ferret out dangerous criminals, which is put to the test as he and Godley search for the Ripper. As Abberline and Godley investigate the neighborhood where the crimes occur, they become acquainted with the prostitutes and street people who were friends and compatriots of the victims, and Abberline finds himself falling in love with Mary Kelly (Heather Graham), a beautiful Irish streetwalker. As Abberline tries to identify the killer before Mary Kelly can become the next victim, he and Godley have to contend with Sir Charles Warren (Ian Richardson), their superior who is keen to pin the murders on a culprit who isn't British, and Sir William Gull (Ian Holm), a respected physician who has his own ideas about the murders and the benefits of psychosurgery. From Hell marked a change of pace for Albert Hughes and Allen Hughes, the sibling directorial team best known for their gritty depictions of America's urban underground in such films as Menace II Society and Dead Presidents. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
Allen and Albert Hughes clearly studied films like Bram Stoker's Dracula and Sleepy Hollow in preparation for their own gothic costume horror, from the operatic camera work to the eye-candy fetishizing of blood and other atmospheric fluids. From Hell boasts gorgeous art direction and as comfortable a genre shift by its directors as one could imagine, given that modern inner-city dramas (Menace II Society, Dead Presidents) were their claim to fame. Although the film's moldering period look may not be trailblazing, it's handled as adroitly as Francis Ford Coppola (Dracula) or Tim Burton (Hollow) presented similar cityscapes, carriages, and cobblestone streets. The directors' own touches distinguish the effort, such as the cool use of time lapse photography to chart policemen and onlookers rubbernecking a victim over a period of hours. It's a 19th century London that's filthy and hopeless, in every respect except for the leads -- Heather Graham is too manicured for a destitute street walker, and Johnny Depp is, well, unavoidably handsome. What holds From Hell back is that even with gruesome disembowelments and sprays of arterial blood, it's never all that creepy or unsettling. Beyond a few morbid snippets of dialogue, you never get a sense of Jack the Ripper as a character, given the film's (correct) decision to cloak his identity until the end. The chosen plot is a reasonable way to address the lingering unknowns about the killer, but it keeps him at a regrettable distance. In the era of Hannibal Lecter, viewers expect a dynamic villain to haunt them after they leave the theater -- especially if it's one of history's most methodologically twisted serial killers. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide
Cast
Johnny Depp - Inspector Frederick George Abberline
Jason Flemyng - Netley; Katrin Cartlidge - "Dark Annie" Chapman; Terence Harvey - Ben Kidney; Susan Lynch - Liz Stride; Lesley Sharp - Kate Eddowes; Annabelle Apsion - Polly; Mark Dexter - Albert Sickert/Prince Edward
Credit
Kym Barrett - Costume Designer, Albert Hughes - Director, Allen Hughes - Director, George Bowers - Editor, Dan Lebental - Editor, Albert Hughes - Executive Producer, Allen Hughes - Executive Producer, Amy Robinson - Executive Producer, Thomas M. Hammel - Executive Producer, Trevor Jones - Composer (Music Score), Martin Childs - Production Designer, Peter Deming - Cinematographer, Jane Hamsher - Producer, Don Murphy - Producer, Terry Hayes - Screenwriter, Rafael Yglesias - Screenwriter, Eddie Campbell - Book Author, Alan Moore - Book Author
It is 1888 in London, and the poor lead horrifying lives in the city's deadliest slum, Whitechapel. Harassed by gangs and forced to work the streets for a living, Mary Kelly and her small group of prostitutes trudge on through this daily misery, their only consolation being that things can't get any worse.
Yet things somehow do when their friend Ann is kidnapped and they are drawn into a conspiracy with links higher up than they could possibly imagine. The kidnapping is soon followed by the gruesome murder of another woman, Martha, and it becomes apparent that they are being hunted down, one by one.
Sinister even by Whitechapel standards, the murder grabs the attention of Inspector Fred Abberline, a brilliant yet troubled man whose police work is often aided by his psychic "visions". Abberline becomes deeply involved with the case, which takes on personal meaning to him when he and Mary begin to fall in love.
It is then revealed that Sir William Gull, the doctor of the Royal Family, is Jack the Ripper. He has been killing the witnesses to Prince Eddy's forbidden Catholic marriage to a prostitute who bears his legitimate daughter (Alice), who is therefore the heir to the British throne. The Freemasons, a secret society of which Gull is a member, decide to lobotomize him to protect the Royal Family from the scandal. Mary Kelly doesn't die; Jack mistakes Ada, the Belgian girl, for her and kills her instead. Mary lives happily ever after with Alice in a cottage on a cliff by the sea. Inspector Frederick Abberline dies alone of an opium overdose, knowing he can never see Mary again without endangering her.
Cast
Johnny Depp as Inspector Fred Abberline, the visionary and sympathetic police officer who has to investigate the murder series. The consumption of drugs makes him dream scenes from the murders. The investigation itself though he carries out based on a conclusive line of thought.
Heather Graham as Mary Kelly, a young "bangtail" who builds up a relationship to Abberline and eventually falls in love with him.
Ian Holm as Sir William Gull, a fine gentleman, retired surgeon and physician ordinary to Queen Victoria, now teaching at the Royal London Hospital. Because of his expertise in anatomy and the soul, he becomes the scientific adviser of Abberline.
Robbie Coltrane as Sergeant Peter Godley, the humorous and literate subordinate assistant and friend of Abberline. The character is based on Sgt. George Godley.
Joanna Page as Ann Crook, an ex-bangtail and now wife to Albert and young mother of a daughter.
Mark Dexter as Albert Sickert/Prince Edward Albert Victor, husband to Ann and grandson of Queen Victoria. A composite character based on Walter Sickert and Prince Albert Victor
Danny Midwinter as Constable Withers, a cheeky member of the task force led by Abberline.
The film got mixed reviews from critics. Ebert and Roeper gave the film a "two-thumbs up" (Roger Ebert alone gave it 3 out of 4 stars).
E! Online stated it is "two hours of gory murders, non-sequitur scenes, and an undeveloped romance" and gave the film a C-. The New York Post called it a "gripping and stylish thriller".
The film grossed $31.6 million domestically and $74.5 million worldwide. [1]
When Godley doubts the testimony of Mary and calls her a whore, Abberline's look at him causes him to ask "A rose by any other name". This is a reference to William Shakespeare's play Romeo & Juliet.
During the murder of Liz, Netley yells at a Jewish passer by "What the fuck are you looking at, Lipski?", a reference to Israel Lipski's connection to the murder cases.
Differences from comic
The film version of From Hell differs enormously from the graphic novel.
In the film Abberline is a young, psychic widower who is addicted to opium. In the book, and historically, Abberline is a gruff, middle-aged, married detective. Towards the end of the graphic novel he is assisted by a professed psychic who, despite being fraudulent, eventually leads them to the killer.
In the original graphic novel the small group of prostitutes attempt to blackmail the House of Hanover regarding the Anne Crook scandal, thus giving a more clear reason for their murders.
In the graphic novel, Martha Tabram is barely mentioned and Catherine Eddowes is shown as a minor character murdered by mistake. Neither was a part of the group of prostitutes covered in the storyline.
In the graphic novel, Mary Kelly is shown as a promiscuous lesbian, but in the film much of that subplot has been transferred to Elizabeth Stride.
In the film, Mary Kelly and Abberline have extensive dealings and an actual relationship. In the book their relationship is far smaller in scale, with the two being portrayed as having a coincidental friendship under false pretenses (Abberline claiming to be a saddle-maker and Kelly going by the name of "Emma"), completely unrelated to their respective involvements with the Ripper case, and with neither ever learning the truth about the other.
The film condenses or ignores much of the graphic novel's discussion of the supernatural and occult.
The graphic novel makes no mystery of Jack's identity, concentrating instead on the psychology of the character and of the era, while the film is a whodunit mystery.
