From Hell

Pros: Many. Style. Grit. Intelligent. 'No apologies' moviemaking.
Cons: The love interest debacle.

Here lies

Vormancian's entry in the Friday the 13th Write-Off. A spookable write-off in celebration (mockeration) of Friday the 13th. More info below. It is still, by the way, Friday the 13th, because I haven't been to sleep yet.
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Pros: Atmosphere, direction, editing, most of the acting.
Cons: I still want to see a film adaptation of the book.

I’m really torn about how I feel about this movie. On hand I am very impressed. On the other, I’m horribly disappointed. Let me state though, that the majority of my disappointment comes from the fact that I had recently read the Graphic Novel that...

Pros: An extremely evocative mis-en-scene.
Cons: A central relationship which does not jell; plot foolishly incorporates all known theories.

After reading over 50 Epinions of FROM HELL, some excellent, and almost all written by people who must have seen the movie, I have but a few notes to add -- and those to the Video Section, where this film will soon appear:

After Midnight:...

Pros: Has all the gore, horror, violence and thrills, plus Depp.
Cons: Not strong on facts.

Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell published a graphic novel called "From Hell". They began it in 1988, inspired by the centenary of the Jack the Ripper murders. The project was finally completed ten years later. Moore wrote the story and Campbell did the...

Pros: Sometimes you gotta show a little blood to make 'em squirm!
Cons: It's about Jack the Ripper, which isn't exactly a new story.

Though you're no doubt familiar with the tale of Jack the Ripper, From Hell offers some well-told exposition that allows the filmmakers some entertainingly creative license, while still holding close enough to history. (Students of this legend...

Pros: Blood soaked beauty!
Cons: Not much of a mystery. Pacing is a bit odd.

Have you ever had a discussion with someone who had some part of their body amputated? When ever this has happened to me, part of my body actually feels weird. Or have you ever read a text book that was so graphic, and medically correct, that you...

Pros: Johnny Depp, Photography, Sets, Score, Production Design
Cons: Overly flashy direction, Poorly realized characters

Johnny Depp does a good job as a drug addicted police inspector who finds himself up against Jack the Ripper in the gloomy thriller From Hell, directed by the Hughes brothers, Albert and Allen.

Adapted by the Hughes’ from a...

Pros: Johnny Depp. Remarkable production design. Intuitive feeling for societal corruption.
Cons: Heather Graham. Unfocused third act.

The contretemps here at epinions over the latest changes to the site have left me somewhat unnerved. I had to call my personal physician, and have him send over another case of the family sized Xanax bottles to make sure my delicate nerves would...

Pros: acting, setting, cinematography
Cons: gore might turn off some

It seems that lately Hollywood has become enamored with Freemasonry. At least one big movie per year seems to vilify the "secret society" and makes them responsible for everything from covering up the birth of Jesus' offspring to hiding a priceless ...

Pros: Depp.
Cons: Plot.

Suppose you took Johnny Depp and put made him a lone X-File investigator for the FBI. Let's say you make him a heroin addict and his boss covers this up because Depp is such a good agent. Let's say Depp is assigned to investigate the Roswell flying...

Pros: Engrossing story. Depp.
Cons: Violent and gory at times.

Most people have at least heard of Jack the Ripper even if they don’t know a lot of details about the crimes he committed. There has been a lot of speculation about him over the years since he was never caught and several books and movies have tried to ...

Pros: Imagery, pacing, generally well told
Cons: Tacked on romantic bit and a fanciful guess at the man himself

To paraphrase the epigraph that opens the Hughes Brothers’ film From Hell (a stylized telling of the famous Jack the Ripper story): Men will look back and say I gave birth to the twentieth century. Well yes, but mostly no. At least in ...

Pros: Mood, setting, Depp, the first 40 minutes.
Cons: The last 80 minutes, and everyone except Depp. And it's not even scary.

Word is the Hughes Bros., Albert and Allen, of "Menace II Society" fame wanted to do a movie based on the late 19th Century serial killer Jack the Ripper because they saw the squalid side of Victorian-era London as a 100-year-old parallel of some...

Pros: Sir Ian Holm, Suspense
Cons: Uninteresting characters, Lesbianism is random

Life is full of choices: Should I attend Carnegie Mellon University or Cornell? Should I buy the green shirt or the blue one? Should I spend spring break in Cancun or in Tiajuana? But, most importantly, should I review the movie I saw on Saturday or...

Pros: Production design; cinematography; neat tie-ins to the Ripper
Cons: Thin story

The Hughes Brothers’ “From Hell” is a sickly exercise in grim bodywork, where during the inevitable crime scenes you’d swear you could smell a faint scent of dried blood. Its overwhelming morbidity is so distasteful that I found myself...