FROM HELL (2001)

Country Of Origin: USA

USA Release: Friday, October 19, 2001 (Wide Theatrical)

How I Saw It: Family Member's DVD

MPAA Rating: R for Violence, Gore, Nudity, Sex, and Language

Running Time: 2 hours 2 minutes

Directed by: Albert Hughes, Allen Hughes

Written by: Terry Hayes, Rafael Yglesias

(Based on the graphic novel by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell)

Starring: Johnny Depp, Heather Graham, Ian Holm, Robbie Coltrane, Ian Richardson, Jason Flemyng

Jack The Ripper has to be one of the most notorious serial killers in world history! His story is perfect fodder for the horror genre. Based off the notorious graphic novel, FROM HELL tells the story of Fredrick Abberline who is assigned to investigate a serial killer who is slicing up prostitutes all over foggy London town. He also seems to be having psychic visions of who the Ripper will kill next (which is one of the main flaws with this film), meanwhile he falls in love with a whore (played by Heather Graham) and is assisted by a medical teacher (Ian Holm) to try and catch this madman before it's too late.

This movie excels at creating atmosphere, which the story requires to work. The acting is great from almost everyone involved (especially from the Ripper, when his real identity is revealed). The characters are well-developed and we do care about them, so it is horrifying when something terrible happens to them (and terrible things do happen in this film). This is a piece of historical fiction (as was 300) it blends facts with fiction, but it was refreshing to see some of the real events that did happen in the Jack The Ripper case brought to life on screen.

Johnny Depp is good in this film, but his character is smoking opium through most of the film...so it doesn't offer him a lot of range for the role. Also, I really didn't like the psychic visions aspect of this movie. It would have been much better to make the story realistic, rather than having a somewhat supernatural angle to it.

It seems like this movie offers too many red herrings as well. It literally tries to make people look like suspects who are just random guys wearing top-hats. Oh well, when the Ripper is revealed the last 30 minutes of this movie become insanely intense. One scene imparticular concludes with a rather nasty kill that will chill your blood. Another flaw with this film would have to be Heather Graham (she is akin to Megan Fox in JONAH HEX as a whore who doesn't look or act like a whore). She can't seem to decide on what accent she wants to use as well, Irish, British, no accent at all, or a mix of all three!

Grade: B+: This is a great film, despite some shortcomings. It could have been a masterpiece, if some aspects had been changed. This still comes highly recommended and is well worth a viewing in the dark. It runs a little too long and definitely has flaws, but the good far outweighs the bad. Check this one out!