DVD Movie Rating for: From Hell

3 out of 5

Movie Plot of: From Hell

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 walk 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 abilities. 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?

DVD Production Details of: From Hell

Director: Albert Hughes, Allen Hughes

Format: Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound

Studio: Twentieth Century Fox Home Video
DVD Features:
Commentary by directors Albert and Allen Hughes

Disc 1:

Feature Film

Disc 2:

HBO Special :"A View From Hell"

23 deleted scenes with optional alternate ending

Interactive documentary "Jack The Ripper - Six Degrees of Separation"

Making of

Behind-the-scenes with the Hughes brothers

Image gallery

Storyboard comparisons

Mini-documentary "Tour of White Chapel"

Widescreen anamorphic format

Number of discs: 2

DVD Easter Eggs

Hidden Credits and extra documentary  

Access The Egg

1) On Disc One, go to the Language Selection menu. Highlight "Main Menu" at the bottom and press Right. The eye at the top will open. Press enter to view hidden credits.

2) On Disc Two, Use your players menu to access Title 4. For a collection of informal rehearsals and similar fun.

3) On disc one, if you press 5 in the special features menu, you will see a silhouette of Jack The Ripper, and get a THX promotional video.

4) On the second disc, or features disc, you are given the first of two pages of special features. "Jack the Ripper: 6 degrees of seperation" is your first choice. Press right once and you've highlighted what looks like a fishing hook in the carving tools. You press "enter" and you are treated to a 40 min cheesy '70s style show about Steven Knight, the author of the book that inspired the graphic novel that the Hughes Bros took ot make the movie. Enjoy!!

The egg on disc 2 may not be accessable on some dvd players. You click "right" as the instructions say and the "tour the murder sites" gets highlighted instead. It is easier to access this egg on a dvd-rom and just use the mouse on the computer..

Use your DVD player's menu to access this 40 minute documentary. Under Title 21.

Cast of the movie: From Hell

• Johnny Depp .... Fred Abberline
• Heather Graham .... Mary Kelly
• Ian Holm .... Sir William Gull
• Robbie Coltrane .... Peter Godley
• Ian Richardson .... Sir Charles Warren
• Jason Flemyng .... Netley
• Katrin Cartlidge .... Dark Annie Chapman
• Terence Harvey .... Ben Kidney
• Susan Lynch .... Liz Stride
• Paul Rhys .... Dr. Ferral
• Lesley Sharp .... Kate Eddowes
• Estelle Skornik .... Ada
• Nicholas McGaughey .... Officer Bolt
• Annabelle Apsion .... Polly
• Joanna Page .... Ann Crook

Photo Gallery of the movie: From Hell

Click on one of the thumbnails to see the full size, high resolution photographs

Reviews of the movie: From Hell

Heavy on atmosphere and light on everything else, From Hell is visually impressive while lacking the depth of the acclaimed graphic novel it's based upon. Making their third feature since 1993's Menace II Society, twins Allen and Albert Hughes approach the Jack the Ripper case with physical precision, re-creating the gritty Whitechapel district of 1888 London in meticulous detail. What they've forgotten is the sheer terror that gripped Whitechapel in the wake of the Ripper's slaying of five prostitutes, investigated here by a Scotland Yard sleuth (Johnny Depp) who uses opium, laudanum, and absinthe to fuel his semiprescient visions of the slayings. Heather Graham attempts a slippery Cockney accent as a would-be victim, while Ian Holm steals the show as a has-been surgeon with devilish delusions of grandeur. Violence is obliquely suggested or briefly graphic, but no matter how you cut it, From Hell is only marginally thrilling as it treads familiar territory

Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell's brilliant graphic novel 'From Hell' is one of the most original and intelligent works of fiction in recent years, and something I cannot recommend highly enough. Please don't let this useless film adaptation put you off the superb original. 'From Hell' the movie is simply awful. The basic thing which sinks it from the outset is a lousy, illogical script that seems to totally miss everything that made Moore's work so enthralling. All the original and thought provoking elements are thrown out, and the bare bones of the plot are recast as a tired, cliched murder mystery, which holds no surprises or suspense, and which, let's face it was done much more convincingly in 'Murder By Decree' back in the 1970s. Johnny Depp is badly miscast as the middle aged Inspector Abberline, his accent is very shaky, and his drug use and clairvoyant visions are bogus and unnecessarily tacked on. The rest of the cast struggles with the poor material. Heather Graham is also a strange casting choice and not very convincing. Robbie Coltrane is reasonable. Ian Holm is well chosen but his character is a major disappointment. And so it goes, on and on. I liked The Hughes brothers underrated 'Dead Presidents', and enjoyed their documentary 'American Pimp'. I think they've got more good movies in them, but this isn't one. No matter how talented they are with a script as bad as this one there's very little that can be done to rescue this misguided and embarrassing project.