One of the best modern Gothic horror films ever made. An overlooked masterpiece.

Rating: 9/10 (16 May 2002)

My oh my, if ever there was a film overlooked last year, this was it. Not since David Lynch's "Elephant Man" has there been such a hauntingly unique and creative artistic vision of Victorian England. And not since "Bram Stoker's Dracula" has there been such an enjoyably disturbing onslaught of blood and guts. This surely is one of the most gory and shocking horror films ever produced. Add in a delightfully witty performance from rotund British character actor Robbie Coltrane, some fantastic theories on Jack the Ripper, marvelously imaginative and literate direction from a pair of ghetto-raised black brothers, a wonderful script spun from a graphic comic-book (!), a suitably off-kilter turn by Johnny Depp, conspiracy theories, political intrigue, scantily clad women, cool costumes, a wonderfully bad Irish accent from Heather Graham, some wild dream sequences and low and behold, you have one of the greatest Gothic-horror-gory-murder mysteries ever produced. A must see for horror film fans.