IMDb > From Hell (2001)
From Hell
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From Hell (2001) More at IMDbPro »

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From Hell (2001) -- In Victorian Era London, a troubled clairvoyant police detective investigates the murders by Jack The Ripper.
From Hell (2001) -- In Victorian Era London, a troubled clairvoyant police detective investigates the murders by Jack The Ripper.
From Hell (2001) -- Cine.gr - Trailer (Flash)

Overview

User Rating:
6.8/10   48,591 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 4% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Writers (WGA):
Alan Moore (graphic novel) and
Eddie Campbell (graphic novel) ...
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Contact:
View company contact information for From Hell on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
19 October 2001 (USA) more
Tagline:
Evil has a new address... more
Plot:
In Victorian Era London, a troubled clairvoyant police detective investigates the murders by Jack The Ripper. full summary | add synopsis
Awards:
8 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(147 articles)
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User Comments:
Simply a fantastic movie more (507 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)
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Additional Details

Also Known As:
Jack (USA) (working title)
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MPAA:
Rated R for strong violence/gore, sexuality, language and drug content.
Runtime:
122 min
Country:
Language:
Colour:
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
The Hughes Brothers originally wanted Daniel Day-Lewis to play the lead role. When that fell through, they interviewed Sean Connery, Jude Law, and Brad Pitt before settling on Johnny Depp. more
Goofs:
Continuity: When Abberline is taking Mary into the gallery to view the picture of Prince Albert Victor, they pass the same lady in the white dress twice in different shots. more
Quotes:
Sir William Gull: Have you forgotten the most telling fact? What ever the Prince may be, he knows little or nothing about human anatomy. more
Movie Connections:
Soundtrack:
The Nobodies (Wormwood Remix) more

FAQ

How does the film differ from the book?
Is this based on a book?
Is there any truth to the solution offered here regarding the Ripper's identity?
more
118 out of 148 people found the following comment useful.
Simply a fantastic movie, 1 October 2003
9/10
Author: johnnyparker from Oxford, England.

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.

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Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for From Hell (2001)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
Serial killer performances that could give Tony Hopkins Lecter comptiton glemay25
The Identity of Jack The Ripper??? Benji725
Elephant Man Question sareroam2002
Anyone see the Discovery Ch. Special on Jack The Ripper last night glemay25
Frederick Abberline's Death lisamitchell-2
How they could have made this a different sort of series glemay25
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