Wonderful look at 1888 London

Rating: 8/10 (26 October 2001)

To look at "From Hell" as a slasher or gore film is to miss the forest for the trees. The true value of this film is to gain insight into the ways of life in Victorian London. Few of us can imagine what life was like for the folks that we see
portrayed in this film and if one looks beyond the plot one can learn much. How often have any of us seen what an opium den was like or how the poor had to
sleep upright in doss houses or heard what a dank, busy London street
sounded and looked like at night? No, the film wasn't 100% historically
accurate, taking liberties with the facts in the Ripper case, but that should be obvious to anyone viewing. Take the investigation with a grain of salt but not what the film has to say about the slice of the human experience it shows you. Further, do not discount the excellent acting that From Hell contains. Anyone who discounted Heather Graham's abilities based on what they saw in The Spy
Who Shagged Me needs to eat their words. Admittedly Johnny Depp's facial
expression changed little (even when he was having his drug-induced visions), but Ian Holm always brings his all to any role he fills and Liz Moscrop's
incarnation of Queen Victoria is uncanny. Also, the direction of From Hell nicely complemented the unsettling nature of the material it was portraying. Viewers will feel as if they are a part of the disjointed mind of a serial killer. From Hell transcends being a movie and is more aptly described as an
experience. It passes the test of any good film--that it leaves you thinking and wondering about it long after you leave the theater.