From Hell (film)
From Hell | |
---|---|
The Hughes Brothers | |
Screenplay by | |
Based on | From Hell by Alan Moore Eddie Campbell |
Produced by | |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Peter Deming |
Edited by | |
Music by | 20th Century Fox |
Release date |
|
Running time | 122 minutes |
Countries |
|
Language | English |
Budget | $35 million |
Box office | $74.6 million[2] |
From Hell is a 2001
From Hell was theatrically released in the United States on October 19, 2001 by
Plot
In 1888,
The prostitute murders grab the attention of
Ann is soon located in a workhouse after being lobotomized because doctors deemed her violent and insane. It is implied that the operation was performed in order to silence her.
Abberline consults
Abberline deduces that
The Freemasons try to eliminate Abberline without leaving any witnesses, but Abberline fights back and kills one of the assassins by overturning a carriage. Next, he rushes to save Mary but arrives too late, and blames his superior for not helping him or Godley on the cases. Going through the gruesome murder, Abberline discovers a brunette lock of hair differing from Mary’s red, concealing this evidence to protect her. Gull's increasingly sinister behaviour lends insight into his murderous, but calculating mind. Rather than publicly charge Gull, the Freemasons lobotomize him to protect themselves and the royal family from the scandal. Gull defiantly states he has no equal among men, remaining unrepentant until the operation, which renders him an invalid like Ann.
Abberline goes to the Ten Bells Tavern in Whitechapel and receives a mysterious letter from Mary. It is revealed that Gull had mistaken another prostitute, Ada, for Mary and killed her instead. Leery of being watched closely by Freemasons, Abberline decides not to look for her despite knowing she’s out there. He burns Mary's letter, knowing that he can never have a normal life with her. Sergeant Godley later finds Abberline dead of an opium overdose. Distraught, Godley places two coins over Abberline's eyes and mournfully says, "Good night, sweet prince."
Years later, Mary is shown to have adopted Alice, and the two are living in a cottage on a cliff by the sea.
Cast
- Johnny Depp as Inspector Frederick Abberline, a sympathetic police officer who investigates the Ripper murders. The consumption of drugs makes him dream scenes from the murders, but he nevertheless conducts the investigation in a rational way.
- Heather Graham as Mary Kelly, a young prostitute, who builds up a relationship with Abberline and eventually falls in love with him.
- Ian Holm as Sir William Gull, a retired surgeon and physician ordinary to Queen Victoria, teaching at the Royal London Hospital.
- Robbie Coltrane as Sergeant Peter Godley, the humorous and literary-minded subordinate assistant and friend of Abberline.
- Ian Richardson as Sir Charles Warren, a stiff bureaucrat and Abberline's superior.
- Jason Flemyng as John Netley, the coachman and stooge of the Ripper.
- Samantha Spiro as Martha Tabram, prostitute.
- Annabelle Apsion as Polly Nichols, prostitute.
- Katrin Cartlidge as Annie Chapman, prostitute.
- Susan Lynch as Liz Stride, prostitute.
- Lesley Sharp as Kate Eddowes, prostitute.
- Estelle Skornik as Ada, an old friend of Liz Stride from Brussels.
- Terence Harvey as Benjamin Kidney, the leader of London police's Special Branch.
- Paul Rhys as Dr. Ferral, an ambitious young doctor and specialist in the treatment of dementia.
- Vincent Franklin as George Lusk - chairman of the Whitechapel Vigilance Committee.
- Ian McNeice as coroner Robert Drudge
- David Schofield as McQueen
- Sophia Myles as Victoria Abberline, Frederick Abberline's late wife.
- Joanna Page as Ann Crook, Mary Kelly's friend, who was kidnapped.
- Mark Dexter as Prince Albert Victor aka Albert Sickert.
- Peter Eyre as Lord Hallsham.
- Anthony Parker as Joseph Merrick, The Elephant Man.
Production
From Hell took several years to reach production, and two studios had owned the property before it found its home at
Principal photography began on June 5, 2000[9] in and around Prague, Czech Republic and at Barrandov Studios on a massive backlot set recreating the 19th-century Whitechapel district of London.[6] Additional exteriors were filmed in the United Kingdom, including at Crackington Haven, Boscastle in Cornwall and Goldings estate in Hertfordshire.
Nigel Hawthorne was originally cast as Sir William Gull,[10] but on July 26, 2000, it was announced that Hawthorne had withdrawn from the role because of his terminal cancer. He was replaced by Ian Holm.[9] The disparity in height between Hawthorne and the much shorter Holm forced some of the scenes to be altered. Hawthorne died two months after the film's release.[citation needed]
As some critics considered the film to be too violent and gory, it was edited in order to avoid an
From Hell's premiere took place at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2001.[12] During the September 11 attacks, Heather Graham was flying to New York City for a number of meetings with film directors when she saw smoke coming from the World Trade Center.[13]
Marilyn Manson originally intended to work with the film's composer Trevor Jones to remix portions of the score for use within the film.[14] It proved impossible to do this work before the film's release date, so Manson instead contributed a remixed version of his song The Nobodies, which plays over the film's end credits.[15]
Reception
Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 57% based on 151 reviews, with an average rating of 5.30/10. The site's critic consensus reads: "Visually impressive, but this latest Ripper tale is dull and far from scary."[4] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 54 out of 100, based on 32 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[16] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B−" on an A+ to F scale.[17]
E! Online stated that the film is "two hours of gory murders, non-sequitur scenes, and an undeveloped romance" and gave the film a C−. The New York Post called it a "gripping and stylish thriller". Roger Ebert gave the film three stars out of four. Leonard Maltin gave the film three stars, calling it "colorful and entertaining; an impressive showing for the Hughes Brothers."[18]
Empire's Kim Newman awarded the film four out of five stars, praising the "range of squirmingly superior British acting talent" although noting that "the script can't quite sell its Jack as at once a purposeful assassin and a mad killer."[19] Philip French was impressed by the film, praising Depp's "very good" performance as well as those who played the Ripper's victims. French also praised the production design and cinematography, which evoked representations of London by the artists Whistler and John Atkinson Grimshaw.[20]
The original comic's writer, Alan Moore, criticized the replacement of his "gruff" version of Frederick Abberline with an "absinthe-swilling dandy".[5]
Box office
From Hell grossed $31.6 million in the United States and a total of $74.6 million worldwide.[2]
During its opening weekend, the film earned $11 million and finished in first place at the box office, beating Training Day, Riding in Cars with Boys and The Last Castle.[21] It dropped into third place in its second weekend behind K-PAX and Thirteen Ghosts with $6.3 million.[22] When Monsters, Inc. was released on its third weekend, From Hell would hold on with a 38% drop, ranking in seventh place and earning $3.7 million.[23]
Home video
From Hell was released by
On October 9, 2007, the film was released on Blu-ray.[28]
See also
- From Hell letter
- Murder by Decree
- Jack the Ripper
References
- ^ "From Hell". letterboxd.com. Retrieved June 6, 2019.
- ^ a b "From Hell (2010)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved August 27, 2019.
- ^ Deming, Mark. "From Hell". AllMovie. Retrieved August 16, 2021.
- ^ a b From Hell (2001). Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved September 7, 2020.
- ^ a b "Shared - Movies - Interviews - M - Moore Alan 060315". Mtv.com. 2006-03-09. Retrieved 2015-09-29.
- ^ a b c Salisbury, Mark (2002-01-25). "The set that Jack built". The Guardian. Retrieved 2021-07-30.
- ISBN 9781888669206.
- ^ "Tales From Development Hell: Twisted Path to Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes".
- ^ a b Ill Hawthorne Bails, Holm Enters From Hell - IGN, 26 July 2000, retrieved 2021-07-30
- ^ "Allen Hughes - Interview". Sci-fi-online.com. Retrieved 2015-09-29.
- ^ Wloszczyna, Susan (October 18, 2001). "The brothers Hughes". USA Today. Retrieved August 31, 2007.
- ^ Head, Steve (September 5, 2001). "Film Festival Fever". IGN. Retrieved June 17, 2023.
- ^ ""From Hell" role a heavenly experience for angel-faced Heather Graham".
- ^ "Trevor Jones - Interview". www.soundtrack.net. Retrieved 2021-07-30.
- ^ Archive-Jon-Wiederhorn. "Marilyn Manson Cover 'Tainted Love,' Record Live DVD". MTV News. Retrieved 2021-07-30.
- ^ "From Hell Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved September 7, 2020.
- ^ "Find CinemaScore" (Type "From Hell" in the search box). CinemaScore. Retrieved September 7, 2020.
- ISBN 1-101-10660-3. Signet Books. Accessed May 9, 2012
- ^ Newman, Kim (January 1, 2000). "From Hell Review". Empire Online. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
- ^ French, Philip (10 February 2002). "Jack the knife". The Observer – via The Guardian.
- ^ "'Monsters' Scares Up Some Big Business". Los Angeles Times. 2001-11-05. Retrieved 2022-02-07.
- ^ Rivero, Enrique (April 11, 2002). "Fox Planning More Limited Edition DVDs". hive4media.com. Archived from the original on April 20, 2002. Retrieved September 10, 2019.
- ^ a b Horn, Steve (April 22, 2002). "From Hell: Director's Limited Edition". IGN. Retrieved April 4, 2023.
- ^ "From Hell (2001) - DVD Movie Guide".
- ^ "From Hell - Blu-ray DVD Johnny Depp - DVDBeaver".
External links
- From Hell at IMDb
- From Hell at AllMovie
- From Hell at Rotten Tomatoes
- From Hell at Box Office Mojo