From Hell
, MA15+, on general release




I ended up seeing this movie last Friday night with my friend Fiona because it was the only good thing we both hadn't seen, not because we really wanted to!! But I wasn't disappointed. This is a very creepy, somewhat gory and fairly dark movie which is generally well done and did a good job scaring the hell out of me.




I suppose this film is in the thriller genre, not gory enough to be a horror movie. Directed by The Hughes Brothers, who haven't done anything else that I've heard of(which isn't saying much), 'From Hell' stars Johnny Depp, Heather Graham, Robbie Coltrane, Ian Holm, and Steve John Sheperd(aka Jo from This Life, for all the other This Life fans!! Okay, he has two lines and is thus not really a star, but his minor part was a highlight for me).




This movie deals with the story of Jack the Ripper and the sinister conspiracy behind the murders which occured in Victorian London. I have no idea how true or how fictional this movie is, having done little to no research for this review, but, well, without giving too much away, it is suggested that the reason the victims were murdered stretches all the way to the top authority in England at the time who wanted them dead. Yes, Jack the Ripper is depicted as a bit of a psycho but its the motive behind the killings which make up an intriguing part of the storyline.




Johnny Depp plays a detective who is trying to stop the murders/find the killer, in between feeding his opium addiction, Heather Graham plays a prostitute and sort of love interest for said cop. Life isn't exactly rosy for either of them, actually, all the characters have it tough as they try to survive on the streets of London's Whitechapel district which isn't exactly the most salubrious or respectful place to be, especially when people are being regularly chopped up all over the place.




This movie started off slowly for me but got better as it went along, twisting and turning until the final revelations. Murder scenes are quite grisly, and the suspense/whodunit element is pretty well done, some arty metaphoric camera images are used to good effect. The sets are excellent, London's gritty, grubby side is almost another character lurking in the background of every scene, overall this movie looks very good. One drawback for me is that Heather Graham looked too clean and well made-up compared to her colleagues whose faces were always dirty and appearances dishevelled. And the story has a touch of the 'Pretty Woman' which could have been left out in my opinion but wasn't overdone.




Freemasons feature in the storyline and aren't depicted too nicely but definitely added a fascinating touch, for me anyway. If you liked 'Sleepy Hollow', you'll like this too, there are some similarities but 'From Hell' is much darker and has no supernatural element to fall back on. The IMDB site is comprehensive, and I'll again agree with their current user rating of 7.1 out of 10. A good movie, but not necessarily one of my all time classsics, simply because I generally prefer my movies with less murder and mayhem. Okay, I'm a wuss.




Em!!



P.S. French Film Festival starts next week, running 5th to 17th March. Go see something!!