To everyone on here... what was your reaction when you first saw "From Hell"...

[KatBradshaw]

Yes CD, its a guy thing.

[c.d.]

Maybe it's a guy thing but to me the lesbianism added to the movie. Why they don't feature that in more movies is beyond me.

c.d.

[DarkTaleProductions]

Imagine what a Jack the Ripper movie would be like in the hands of , say, Christopher Nolan or PT Anderson.

Or maybe even Scorsese as long as he does not cast Cameron Diaz as Mary Kelly.

Agree with you there deckard. Christopher Nolan is actually my favorite film director of all time, Scorsese being my 3rd favorite.

I don't care how inaccurate it was, if Nolan did a Ripper film, I know I would really enjoy it.

I guess it's my turn to input my opinion on the "From Hell" film. Personally the first time I saw it, I knew nothing about the Ripper case. This was back in 04 or 05. Didn't care for it, I thought it was boring.

Last year, I saw it again, knowing more about the actual case, and honestly, I barely remembered the movie, but I enjoyed it. Even though I did point out the inaccuary to my friend, who was watching it with me.

Personally, I liked it more on my second viewing. But honestly, I admit, if you watch it as just a film, then you'd most likely enjoy it more. If you watch it as a 'Ripper' based film, then you'd probably want to blow your head off with .44.

But I do agree Depp did great with what he had to work with. Graham was okay, I guess. I agree the sets looked great, as well as the murder scenes. I thought the costumes were pretty good as well.

But anyway, one of my dream movies is to either make a Mary Kelly film or a Jack the Ripper film that sticks to the facts.

[Ally]

I thought, "As always, Johnny Depp makes for an adorable spanky toy".

[KatBradshaw]

No one would come and see it with me because they knew that I would be moaning about the problems.
The problems that I had with it though were issues which in truth, given the type of film it is, were to be expected.
I thought that they way that the victims were cast and portreyed was very very wrong. They didn't evoke anything of what these women would really have been like and worse than that chose to protrey Liz Stride as a lesbian which I thought was odd.
The detectives were completely wrong for the real men and I found Robbie Coltrane a bizarre choice for Godley.
That being said when you look at this not as a 'Ripper Film' but as an adaptation of a comic it is not so bad. Although the actual 'From Hell' is clever in the way that the film isn't and as a piece of fiction based on the murders I love it! The film loses much of the spirit of the comic so is in a sort of limbo.
If you can get passed the 'Ripper' issue then its a good piece of entertainment!

[deckard1]

An overall disapointment, and a missed oportunity.
Imagine what a Jack the Ripper movie would be like in the hands of , say, Christopher Nolan or PT Anderson.

Or maybe even Scorsese as long as he does not cast Cameron Diaz as Mary Kelly.

Furthermore, most here seem to feel that Heather Graham did the best she could and I agree. She was just tragicaly miscast by the Hughes brothers.

Greetz, Chris.

By the way, the extras on the dvd are worth the effort, espescially the doc on Absinth, with a curious interview with a strange fellow who seems to have hit the green stuff a little to often.

[belinda]

My reaction to From Hell isn't really printable.I didn't like it.I hate the way they portrayed Abberline. I can't watch films where they change the facts around so much. A bit like the new Marple films they've been making.Too many changes to the original story.

Hi Jane I just bought a copy of Murder By Decree it's a real sentimental favourite. I hope your research is productive

[DanaeChantel]

I tried to post something and it disapeared. Has this ever happened to anyone else. Very strange.

[RJM]

Funnily enough, I was watching it last night, followed directly after by the Michael Caine version, and tonight it's Murder by Decree and a Study in Terror. (research )

As long as you're doing research, Janie, you might as well add The Ripper (1997) with Patrick Bergin to your list. Whitechapel has an Australian feel to it. Not only do you have to suffer through a familiar storyline, but some real people (Sir Charles, Mary Kelly) are mixed in with a lot of fictitious ones. Who needs an Abberline addled by drink and drugs when you have Insp. Hansen on the case!



Robert

[Bob Hinton]

First reactions

I think you have to watch the film with the absolutely certain knowledge that what you are about to see has absolutely nothing to do with Jack the Ripper. That said it does have a good, fast paced plot with good actors and actresses turning in good performances.

The sets were brilliant (built just outside Prague) and the costuming well above standard. There were however two incidents that made it worth watching.

One was the technique of shooting up through a glass tank of water as the murderer plunges his bloody hands in to it to wash them. Brilliant and I noticed copied on several films since.
The other was the brilliantly atmospheric shot of the coach’s steps unfolding. All you could hear was the click clack as they released. Absolutely fantastic – so creepy!
For those two things alone From Hell gets the patented Bob’s Seal of Approval.

[kensei]

I was still learning the real facts of the case when I first saw "From Hell," but I still knew it was riddled with inaccuracies. In retrospect, while I'll admit to squirming in my seat when the Ripper sat down on the edge of Mary Kelly's bed and paused dramatically before beginning his work, thinking, "Oh god, how gruesome is this going to be?", my main criticism on Heather Gramm's MJK (apart from the very end of the film) is in how knowing that MJK was described as ginger-haired should not mean flaming orange!

[mattwill]

I saw it in theaters after waiting patiently for months. I was pretty disappointed with the inaccuracies and the fact that it was based on the royal conspiracy theory. I knew it was based on the Alan Moore novel but I didn't know what it was about. I was hoping for a laundry list of suspects and red herrings, but all I got was BS. I plan to write a movie some day with the history intact. I agree that's a much better story.

[The Grave Maurice]

I don't notice any cats. Well, except for the two that live in our house. I agree with what you say and I've always liked Murder By Decree but mostly for the Holmes-Watson interplay and because it's chock full of Canadian actors (Christopher Plummer, Donald Sutherland, Genvieve Bujold). John Gielgud wasn't Canadian, unfortunately, but I always liked him too.

[Jane Coram]

Hi,

Okay, I was a bit harsh, but I did feel the same way about it the first time I saw it at the cinema. I was expecting great things because of the cast, but was sadly disappointed. I think that Phil hit the nail on the head by calling it 'Hollywood-ised'. Hollywood seem to generally, (although not always) have problems dealing with history in an authentic way. From Hell is probably typical of many of their efforts.

I'm watching Murder by Decree at the moment, and compared to From Hell, it really is a superior effort. It is actually very moving in comparison to the soulless way the victims are treated in From Hell.

Particularly moving is the way Catherine Eddowes is shown in Murder by Decree, in comparison to her depiction in From Hell. In the former, she is possibly the closest to the real Catherine, a vulnerable middle-aged woman, who was in the wrong place at the wrong time and the moment she is picked up is really very sad and poignant. In the latter she was a hard faced woman with little heart who made it hard to feel much compassion for her.

That's what I think I objected to so much. Mary came out as a sympathetic character, and Polly as a vulnerable and sad one, in From Hell but the portrayal of the victims was generally insensitive to say the least. Liz was particularly insulted, being portrayed as quite a vile character. It was not that she was portrayed as a lesbian, but the real Liz was a hard-working, generally well like woman, who did have flaws, but was nothing like the creature she portrayed in the film.

From Hell was visually satisfying for the most part. It was really only the total disregard for the facts and the cavalier attitude towards the victims' real characters that rankled me.

I bet I've put the cat amongst the pigeons now.

Hugs

Jane

xxxxx

[Phil Carter]

Hello all,

I agree with GM. Look and feel-wise, good...entertaining in parts too. Factually, poor, knocking on awful. Far too sensationalised and Hollywood-ised for my liking.

I also agree with Jane about Murder by Decree. Probably the best of the lot. With Gielgud and Mason amongst others, the quality of the acting made it very realistic, even if the basis for the story probably wasn't.

Although From Hell entertained, and although Depp is a superb actor, Abberline's "part" in the story was horribly distorted.

best wishes

Phil