a very tough, realistic and unflinching tale

Rating: Null/10 (4 June 2002)

I wasn´t expecting this to be very good, in fact I expected an over-stylized Hollywood version of Alan Moore´s great and horrific Ripper-tale. The Hughes brothers previous DEAD PRESIDENTS, I found to be overlong, overexplicit and illogic. So I was (un)pleasantly surprised when it turned out to be a very tough, realistic and unflinching tale. Not since SE7EN, have I squirmed in my seat so much. What´s impressive is among other things, Peter Demings cinematography and the brilliant sets which really transports you back in time. The stylized visions and scene transitions work very well and never become overly flashy. I also didn´t find Johnny Depps Cockney-accent irritating, which I also was expecting, he´s done another great role here. As for Heather Graham, she´s been criticized of being too pretty for this part, and maybe that´s true, but on the other hand, wouldn´t it have been just as unrealistic if every prostitute of that time was ugly-lookin´? Very effective score and sound design also. This is the best work of the Hughes Brothers thus far. A nice touch was also the very "unflashy" main titles.