My first impression was that From Hell is set in Hell! London’s East end in 1888 seems like an overwhelmingly filthy, corrupt, brutal and heartless environment. We are introduced to a group of prostitutes who lead the most desperate existence imaginable. Too poor to rent a bed, they sleep upright, literally bundled together on a bench. As hard as they scramble, their earnings fail to appease the terrifying street pimps. Amidst all this, as if more adversity was needed, one group of “unfortunates” becomes the target of the world’s first (and to this day most notorious) serial killer.
Police inspector Fred Abberline (Johnny Depp) is put on the case. We first meet him passed out in an opium den. He’s an odd, dark, tormented sort who gets clairvoyant visions while he’s high. Clean cut he’s not, but he does care about the case, and he’s daring enough to imagine that Jack The Ripper may not come from the degenerate ranks of the lower classes. As the death toll rises and the inspector falls in love with one of the targeted women (Heather Graham), he begins to realize that the killer and his cohorts may be unarrestable.
Adapted from the graphic novel by Alan Moore, From Hell portrays Jack The Ripper as being the spearhead of a sinister conspiracy, one that reaches up to the very highest levels of the British monarchy. It’s an interesting theory, certainly a delicious torpedoing of supposed Victorian morality, but in the movie it’s not entirely compelling.
Indeed, From Hell scores only moderate success as a thriller or as a drama. I wanted to care more about where the investigation would lead and who the next victim would be... but I didn’t. I was interested but not captivated. The movie also fails to convey the intense excitement, the mass hysteria that spawned the original media frenzy. (Kind of ironic since 113 years later, this movie is part of same said frenzy.)
Although it’s not movie perfection, From Hell is still worth the price of admission. I enjoyed the performances (hard to go wrong with Depp), and was particularly pleased to see Canadian actor Ian Holm (The Sweet Hereafter, eXistenZ) in a significant role. The eerie 19th century atmosphere was very well-established, and there were a lot of good small creepy touches. (I, for one, learned that an early lobotomy was not a good thing to get.)
Those of you who are slightly squeamish can go, knowing that From Hell won’t be quite as intense as true horror classics like Psycho, The Shining or Silence of the Lambs. It will, however, make your toes wiggle for two hours, and when you leave the theater, you’ll be grateful not to be living in the Victorian era.