From Hell (2001)

In Victorian-era London, a troubled clairvoyant police detective investigates the murders of Jack the Ripper.

Directors:

Albert Hughes (as The Hughes Brothers), Allen Hughes (as The Hughes Brothers)

Writers:

Alan Moore (graphic novel), Eddie Campbell (graphic novel)

Stars:

Johnny Depp, Heather Graham, Ian Holm

14 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Johnny Depp	...	Inspector Frederick Abberline
Heather Graham	...	Mary Kelly
Ian Holm	...	Sir William Gull
Robbie Coltrane	...	Sergeant Peter Godley
Ian Richardson	...	Sir Charles Warren
Jason Flemyng	...	Netley, the Coachman
Katrin Cartlidge	...	Dark Annie Chapman
Terence Harvey	...	Benjamin 'Ben' Kidney
Susan Lynch	...	Liz Stride
Paul Rhys	...	Dr. Ferral
Lesley Sharp	...	Kate Eddowes
Estelle Skornik	...	Ada
Nicholas McGaughey	...	Officer Bolt
Annabelle Apsion	...	Polly Nichols
Joanna Page	...	Ann Crook

Storyline

It is 1888 in London, and the unfortunate poor lead horrifying lives in the city's deadliest slum, Whitechapel. Harassed by gangs and forced to walk the streets for a living, Mary Kelly and her small group of companions 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, Polly, 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 abilities. Abberline becomes deeply involved with the case, which takes on personal meaning to him when he and Mary begin to fall in love. But as he gets closer to the truth, Whitechapel becomes more and ...

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Plot Keywords:

queen victoria character | bare breasts | jack the ripper | prostitute | opium | 

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Taglines:

Only the legend will survive.

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Genres:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence/gore, sexuality, language and drug content

Did You Know?

Trivia

Commissioner of Police Charles Warren never really arrived at the site of the fifth victim, because he had resigned shortly before her murder. Strangely, before his resignation, he ordered that no police officer was to enter the scene until he arrived (which is strange, because all of the past victims had been killed on the street) and as a result, no officer or investigator entered the building for three hours, because they were unaware of his resignation.

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Goofs

William Gull says that he is the Royal Family's "physician-in-ordinary," misspeaking the scripted line "physician-in-extraordinary."

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Quotes

Abberline: [about Polly's murder] I'm waiting for the police surgeon's report for more details.
Sir Charles Warren: [sits at his desk while smoking a cigarette] I see. Well, one thing's for certain; an Englishman didn't do it.
[Warren pulls up a newspaper clipping of American Natives]
Sir Charles Warren: Maybe one of these Red Indians wandered into Whitechapel and indulged his natural inclinations.
[Abberline looks doubtfully at the drawing]
Abberline: With all due respect, sir, I believe this was done by someone with at least a working knowledge of dissection. ...
[...]

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Crazy Credits

Thanks to the Megerdichian family

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Alternate Versions

Three endings were filmed: one where Abberline dies of a drug overdose in London, one where he travels to the Far East and dies of an overdose in an Opium Den and one where he sneaks off to be with Mary.

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Connections

Featured in HBO First Look: A View from Hell (2001)

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Soundtracks

The Nobodies (Wormwood Remix)
Written by Marilyn Manson and John 5 (as John Lowery)
Performed by Marilyn Manson
Courtesy of Interscope Records
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User Reviews

Simply a fantastic movie

The critics, nit-pickers and historical pedants who've trashed this superb piece of truly cinematic movie-making have totally missed the point.

So what if Johnny Depp's English accent isn't exactly "right" for his character? (English accents have always been problematic for all but the most skilled of American actors: Depp pulls it off entirely passably, way way better than - say - Keanu Reeves, risible in Coppola's Dracula. Think of Kevin Costner, who didn't even bother trying in Robin Hood Prince of Thieves.) I'm a Londoner by birth, and for me the accent in no way detracted from Depp's excellent performance.

As for history, again, who cares if the filmmakers have employed a degree of dramatic licence? This is a movie, not a documentary. Nobody knows for sure who Jack the Ripper was, and in order to make the film interesting and enjoyable the writers have speculated a little. Fine by me.

OK, so Heather Graham was impossibly glamorous, but movies with big budgets need a little bit of star appeal. The notion of the "tart with a heart" is a cliché, sure, but nevertheless her character works in the context of the film. (Contrast the depiction of prostitution generally in this film with the utter garbage that is Pretty Woman.)

What's so great about this film? The quirky, literate script; the performances (all, with the possible exception of Graham, excellent); the wonderful photography and production design; the depiction of the murders themselves - elliptical, shocking, mesmerising; and above all the aura of brooding menace, gloom, cruelty, darkness, melancholy and downright despair running through it as deeply as the veins through a block of marble. This is marvellously thoughtful, evocative film-making, very bold and brave. No happy Hollywood ending, no phoney saccharine or cheap laughs to satisfy the popcorn brigade. This is a proper grown-ups movie that probes some of the darkest regions of the human psyche, places mainstream filmmakers like Lucas, Spielberg, James Cameron and their ilk don't dare to go, or couldn't go even if they wanted to. To me it appeals almost on a subconscious level, forcing us to confront our deepest fears and taboos - death, pain, suffering, human wickedness. I can't think of a recent major release that is so relentlessly downbeat.

Don't let the detractors put you off. It's hardly surprising a generation weened on MTV - folk with the the attention span of a gnat and the emotional depth of a paper cup - didn't like it. They've got their Screams and their Scary Movies, and they're welcome to them. This is super stuff, and the Hughes brothers and their collaborators should be heartily congratulated for it.

A classic, not so much for the plot, which is a little contrived, but for its sure command of cinema as a visual storytelling medium.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA Czech Republic UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 October 2001 (USA)

Also Known As:

Jack

Filming Locations:

Czech Republic

Box Office

Budget:

$35,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$11,014,818, 21 October 2001

Gross USA:

$31,602,566

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$74,558,115

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox, Underworld Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

122 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1