Master Jimmy (From Hell)
From Hell
Directed by Albert & Allen Hughes (as The Hughes Brothers)
Screenplay by Terry Hayes & Rafael Yglesias
Based on a graphic novel by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell
In the late 1800’s a string of ghastly murders occurred in the Whitechapel area of London, England. This district was a slum in the Victorian era due to a large influx of impoverished immigrants and, in many ways, was much like the degenerate Five Points area of New York. Also like the Five Points, Whitechapel was known for abject poverty, the prostitution and gangland crime which inevitably thrives in that atmosphere, and a largely ineffective police force. This set the stage for the man who might just be the most infamous serial killer this world will ever know—Jack the Ripper.
The notoriety of Jack the Ripper was caused by a number of different factors, not least of which were the murders he committed, that is, anywhere between five and eighteen prostitutes numbering from the five dozen brothels crowding the area. But rather than just let the graphic murders speak for themselves, many of the victims had notes left with them for the press and police, both. Yes my friends, Jack the Ripper is the basis of that whole genre of crime fiction where the villain leaves mocking clues for the detectives working on the case. So you can thank him for that… whoever he is. You see, Jack the Ripper was never identified. He was never found, and his reign of terror went totally unpunished. It’s a pretty bleak history any way you slice it, but it inspires writers no end.
This film gives the Jack the Ripper a new and rather unique twist. Yes, I know that’s been said before. However, unlike so many other pieces of fiction written on this topic which pretty much exploits all the grim facts of the Ripper case to make some lousy piece of tripe dialogue look like it has weight, From Hell uses it as the backdrop to a larger scheme—to usher a powerful psychological exploration of the time period.
The actors all do adequately with their roles (but none really rise above), the cinematography is gruesome (but not too gruesome to handle when the blood starts flying), the sets and actors look Hollywood-generated (but not so much to completely distract), and what we’re left with is a pretty competent handling of the yarn by Alan Moore and Alan Hughes.
Actually, I take that back. One actress does distract from time to time, and that actress is Heather Graham. Perhaps this is not her fault. After all, it would be impossible for the Hollywood blockbuster machine to produce a film with an unattractive female lead. That’s how Heather Graham with her $500 hairstyle, aristocratic wardrobe, perfect body, and perfect teeth got to play a run-down prostitute from one of the most notorious of 19th-century English slums. Suffice to say, she doesn’t carry herself like someone that often needs to sell her body for food. But I guess making her pretty makes it easier for the audience to like her, though, and this expedites the plot. With this in mind, how about remaking The Elephant Man with Brad Pitt playing the lead?
Still, From Hell is, to date, the best handling of an Alan Moore story that’s been done yet, and that includes Watchmen. Now, it’s really hard to talk too much about it without giving it all away. Yes, yes I know. This movie’s like The Titanic in that we all know what happens in the end so why bother with the film, right? Suffice to say this movie is well worth watching. It has twists and turns you’ll not expect and while some liberties are taken with the history and a few more with the adaptation, it more than satisfies in the end. Better than The Titanic unless, like me, you thoroughly enjoyed Leonardo Di Caprio’s slow-motion plummet to the bottom of the sea.
Review by Master Jimmy