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From Hell (film)

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From Hell
Directed byThe Hughes Brothers
Written byTerry Hayes (screenwriter)
Rafael Yglesias (screenwriter)
Alan Moore (graphic novel)
Eddie Campbell (graphic novel)
Produced byJane Hamsher
Don Murphy
StarringJohnny Depp
Heather Graham
Ian Holm
Robbie Coltrane
Ian Richardson
Jason Flemyng
Music byTrevor Jones
Distributed by20th Century Fox
Release dates
October 19, 2001
Running time
122 min.
CountryUSA
LanguageEnglish
Budget$35 million

From Hell is a 2001 film based on the graphic novel of the same name by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell. It was directed by the Hughes Brothers, and first released on October 19, 2001. For the directors The Hughes Brothers, this was their first and only foray outside of the urban film genre.

Plot

It is 1888 in London, and the unfortunate poor lead horrifying lives in the city's deadliest slum, Whitechapel. Harassed by gangs and forced to work the streets for a living, Mary Kelly and her small group of companions trudge on through this daily misery, their only consolation being that things can't get any worse.

Yet things somehow do when their friend Ann is kidnapped and they are drawn into a conspiracy with links higher up than they could possibly imagine. The kidnapping is soon followed by the gruesome murder of another woman, Polly, and it becomes apparent that they are being hunted down, one by one.

Sinister even by Whitechapel standards, the murder grabs the attention of Inspector Fred Abberline, a brilliant yet troubled man whose police work is often aided by his psychic "visions". Abberline becomes deeply involved with the case, which takes on personal meaning to him when he and Mary begin to fall in love.

But as he gets closer to the truth Whitechapel becomes more and more dangerous for Abberline, Mary, and the other girls. Whoever is responsible for the grisly acts is not going to give up his secret without a fight....will they be able to survive the avenging force that has been sent after them from hell?

Reception

The film had mixed reviews from critics. Ebert and Roeper gave the film a "two-thumbs up" (Roger Ebert alone gave it 3 out of 4 stars). E! Online stated it 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". The film grossed $31.6 Million domestically and $74.5 Million worldwide. [1]

Differences from comic

The film version of From Hell differs enormously from the graphic novel version.

  • In the film Abberline is a young opium addicted psychic. In the book, and historically, Abberline is a gruff middle aged married detective with a strong sense of intuition. Towards the end of the book he is assisted by a professed psychic who, despite being fraudulent, eventually leads them to the killer.
  • The original graphic novel, the small group of prostitutes attempt to blackmail the House of Hanover regarding the Anne Crook scandal, thus giving a more clear reason for their murders.
  • In the novel, Martha Tabram is barely mentioned and Katherine Eddows is showed as a minor character murdered by mistake. Neither were a part of the group of prostitutes covered in the storyline.
  • In the book, Mary Kelly is shown as a promiscuous lesbian, but in the film much of that subplot has been transfered to Elizabeth Stride.
  • In the film, Mary Kelly and Abberline have extensive dealings and an actual relationship. In the book their relationship is far smaller in scale, with the two being portrayed as having a coincidental friendship under false pretenses (Abberline claiming to be a saddle-maker and Kelly going by the name of "Emma"), completely unrelated to their respective involvements with the Ripper case, and with neither ever learning the truth about the other.
  • The film condenses or ignores much of the book's discussion of the supernatural and occult.
  • The book makes no mystery of Jack's identity, concentrating instead on the psychology of the character and of the era, while the film is a whodunit mystery.

Cast

See also

References

  1. ^ http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=fromhell.htm
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