“From Hell” starts with a glorious shot of late 19th century London bathed in the bloody glow of a sunset. From there the camera cranes down to the subterranean inferno that is the city. Darkness, drinking and debauchery prevail on these cobblestone streets. Directors Allen and Albert Hughes effectively create a nightmare-scape worthy of Edgar Allen Poe’s grimmest imagining.
The setup is brilliant. You are plunged into this terrifying vision of urban terror that serves as the backdrop for a retelling of Jack the Ripper’s career.
Everyone knows Jack was a brutal serial killer who preyed on the prostitutes of London. When Heather Graham and friends saunter on screen in corsets with flesh bared, you all know that they will be dead soon. The Hughes brothers know that you know this, and they wisely tease out the violence for a while and let you get know the hell that they’ve created.
First, you are introduced to Inspector Abberline, played by the always-interesting Johnny Depp (“Sleepy Hollow”). There is apparently an unwritten Hollywood by-law that all gothic noir films produced within this era must in some way feature Mr. Depp. An excellent law, indeed. Abberline is an opium-smoking, absinthe-sniffing rebel who happens to have visions that help him solve crimes. Depp makes it work.
Abberline is balanced out by the more traditional Sergeant Godley (Robbie Coltrane, “Goldeneye”) as his sidekick. Coltrane originally made a name for himself as a murder investigator in the popular British show “The Cracker.” But possibly the best performance is pulled off by Jason Flemyng (“Rock Star”) as Jack’s morally conflicted driver. So far in American cinema, Flemyng has only been awarded bit parts, and his immense talent is poorly wasted here. Hopefully this film will springboard him into some recognition.
These three aforementioned men round out the stellar cast. As for Graham (“Boogie Nights”) as Mary Kelly, “stellar” is the last word that jumps to mind. Playing a prostitute who hails from Ireland, Graham wanders around looking confused and irritated that she’s wading through dirty streets in a gown. She not only fails at affecting an Irish accent but she can’t even maintain an English one from one scene to the next. This is an example of Hollywood’s tragic prioritization of aesthetics over talent. Graham and Depp are supposed to be love interests, but the Hughes brothers make another wise decision and downplay that plot element, most likely because Depp and Graham have about as much chemistry as two dead fish.
“From Hell” is based on a graphic novel by Alan Moore that in turn takes its name from a supposed letter Jack the Ripper sent to Whitechapel police and signed, “from hell.” The events in the novel and in the movie represent an actual theory on the killer’s identity and the characters are based on real people.
The Hughes brothers are the twins responsible for “Menace II Society” and “Dead Presidents.” They craft this tale well, utilizing MTV editing and fancy special effects sequences to convey ethereality. The violence is excessive, no doubt, but the historic events were violent and this is a retelling.
In fact, it is the sheer, mad brutality of Jack’s murders that captivate people even today. Five murders in a film is nothing when you compare it to the average action movie carnage-fest. But as Sergeant Godley mutters in the film, “Ah, `tis the way she was done, Inspector, `tis the way she was done.” These deaths are violent, grizzly and boring. All of the elements are in place but somehow the scary beast that was Jack the Ripper gets lost in all the blood and camera tricks.
This horror movie about one of the most horrific events in history is not scary at all. So while the Hughes brothers succeed in painting a masterful vision of Hades and its demon, they fail at capturing the terror he wrought upon industrial London. All work and no payoff makes Jack a dull boy.
Grade: B
