Every Horror movie, to one degree or another, is a monster movie. Monsters can come in many forms, but there are none quite as terrifying as one that actually existed. One of the worst monsters in human history was Jack The Ripper. The Whitechapel serial killer was singular in his cunning and brutality. While serial killers certainly existed throughout history, Jack The Ripper was the first to operate in the media era – giving his crimes an exposure that none before had. Adding to the terror was the fact that he was never caught, and this gave rise to a mythos that is just as morbidly fascinating today as it was in the waning years of the 19th century. Oddly, most of the films made concerning Jack The Ripper have been sterile, procedural affairs more concerned with uncovering the identity of Jack The Ripper rather than contemplating how horrible he was. In 2001 a film was released that took a look at Jack The Ripper and the society around him and came back with the first Jack The Ripper movie that captured just how horrific his crimes were and how complicit was the society in which he was born. It was the first scary Jack The Ripper film. That movie was FROM HELL.
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FROM HELL is based on the graphic novel by Alan Moore, which is a universally admired and beloved comic book. It is a massive 14 volume work, dense with mysticism, symbolism, and ruminations on what Jack The Ripper was and his place in humanity and history. The idea of whittling this epic and important work down to a 2 hour movie is folly. It simply can’t be done and still do justice to Alan Moore’s achievement. A wholly different approach was necessary, and directors Albert and Allen Hughes’ approach to the Jack The Ripper mythos is a sound one. The Hughes Brothers, up to this point, had been known for their urban crime dramas “Menace II Society” and “Dead Presidents”. It is this background that the Hughes Brothers bring to FROM HELL, and the resulting film has a very real, urban vibe to Victorian London that previous Jack The Ripper films failed to convey.
Where Alan Moore’s graphic novel acts as a history of Jack The Ripper and contemplates the spiritual and mystical implications of his crimes, the Hughes Brothers are more interested in the societal structures that make such a murderer possible – if not inevitable. In FROM HELL, the wealthy and powerful prey upon the poor and powerless with impunity. The gap between the haves and have-nots is so vast the people of Whitechapel are nothing more than playthings and inconveniences to those at the top of society. The slums of the city are an unpleasant, but necessary place for the elite to indulge their perversions and deposit their victims. The beleaguered and overwhelmed Whitechapel police force stands in between - just as guilty as the elites in their contempt for the citizens of their district, and just as much a victim of the elites in their lack of support and resources. This is a police force whose function is to contain the Jack The Ripper crisis, not to solve it.
The meticulous and detail-rich production design of Martin Childs reproduces the district of Whitechapel in all of its gritty glory and Peter Deming lights and photographs it brilliantly – giving us a real taste of what the slums of London must have felt like. The cast delivers good performances all around, portraying exhausted prostitutes, jaded policemen, and hypocritical elites well and convincingly. Trevor Jones’ brooding score is rich with darkness, tragedy, and even glimpses of beauty. All of this is brought together by the expert direction of Albert and Allen Hughes, who pace the film perfectly, balancing sympathy with horror, action with contemplation, and desperation with hope. It is a profoundly satisfying film.
For all the film has going for it, FROM HELL has an Achilles Heel, and that is its association with the source material. The resulting film bared little resemblance to the graphic novel and the built-in audience was not at all disposed to judging the film on its own merits. They savaged the film for the changes it made and made sure everyone knew it. This was a case where it would have been best if the producers had simply re-named the film and released it as a stand-alone Jack The Ripper movie. Although FROM HELL received good reviews, lack of support from the studio and negative word of mouth from fans of the graphic novel sunk the film at the box office. It’s too bad, because FROM HELL is a gripping, frightening film about one of humanity’s most awful monsters. It really deserved a better fate.
Parental Guide - Keep all but the most mature of teenagers away. 16+
FROM HELL fun facts –
The first person to sign on to the film was composer Trevor Jones. The Hughes Brothers reportedly offered the job to him based on their admiration of his score for “Dark City”.
Ian Holm replaced Nigel Hawthorne in the roll of Sir William Gull due to Hawthorne’s cancer preventing him from working on the film.
At the Mary Kelly crime scene, an officer describes the scene for the note-taker. The lines of dialogue are taken verbatim from the police report of the original crime scene.
The Mary Kelly crime scene is the only murder scene depicted in the film that had to be toned down. The actual murder scene was far more gruesome.
Abberline - “This ain’t killing for profit. This is ritual.”
Sir William Gull - “How long have you been chasing the dragon, Inspector?”
Jack the Ripper – “We’re in the darkest region of the human brain. A radiant abyss where men go to find themselves.”