A Ripping Yarn

Rating: Null/10 (13 February 2002)

This Hughes Bros. film opens upon a nightmarish London - a sort of Victorian Gotham in this - awash amidst a tide of prostitutes and sleaze. At times, however, the movie seems almost on the point of drowning amidst 19th century clichÃ©. I was half-expecting to see a few child chimney sweeps, Count Dracula sloping past or a farmer tolling a bell and shouting 'Wives for sale!' to complete the somewhat overblown dystopian portrait
Ultimately 'From Hell' is passable entertainment but falls dramatically short of classic status. The underlying conspiracy theory: that the Whitechapel murders were a grandiose conspiracy concocted (I simplify) by a combination of Queen Victoria, the Freemasons and the Elephant Man takes some swallowing as does Heather Graham's cockney accent which makes her sound like the missing link between Dick Van Dyke and the dodgy Australian guys who used to play Daphne Moon's 'English' boyfriends on Frasier.

That said, hers is not a bad performance and there is good acting aplenty to be seen here notably Ian Richardson as a particularly moronic bastion of the Mafia of the Mediocre, Coltrane as a Victorian Cracker and Depp himself who is as decent as always as the junkie. His accent is actually pretty spot on (speaking as a limey myself) though as some have noted a bit 'below stairs' for a middle class officer of the law.
Adapted from the 'graphic novel' written by the Great Bearded Ayatollah of British comics Alan Moore, 'From Hell' is ultimately something of a disappointment. Despite a French cameo UK TV audiences will recognise, it all ends fairly corny and I left feeling I'd learnt nothing reliable about the Ripper case. But until Halo Jones, V for Vendetta or D.R. and Quinch hit the silver screen (unlikely) Moore fans will just have to make the most of this decidedly average picture.