A gorgeous gothic horror film with a little ideological meat

Rating: 9/10 (20 December 2001)

Okay, so it's not as complex as the book by a long shot (but if
you've read Moore's 600-page, heavily researched masterpiece
with its 40 or so pages of historical notes in back, you weren't
expecting that). But the acting varies between decent and excellent
(the latter on the part of Johnny Depp and Ian Holm), the script is
solid (structured, unlike the book, as a mystery where you don't
find out the killer's identity until the end), and the visuals are
gorgeous -- a bleak Victorian landscape under a smoky red sky.
Particularly nice are Abberline (Depp)'s green-tinted opium visions
of the murders. The gore is also appropriately restrained for the
first two-thirds or so of the film, such that when we finally see one
of the women's throats being slashed (it opens up like a mouth),
the sight is truly shocking. I was also glad to see that despite
lacking the novel's depth, the film retained a strong focus on the
murders as the act of a man embodying the violence of a
dominator society. The film successfully associates that society's
racism with its oppression of women -- a significant ideological
statement. The ripper's vision at the climax of the film (the last
murder) has him being applauded by the all-male members of the
rich, educated upper class, making his vision of himself as
serving his class clear.
Finally, kudos to Robbie Coltrane as the sergeant -- his earthy,
practical character made an excellent contrast with Depp's
intuitive, emotional Abberline.