FROM HELL - Blu-ray (2oth Century-Fox, 2001) Fox Home Video

Inspired by the Alan Moore/Eddie Campbell graphic novel about Jack the Ripper, directors, Albert and Allen Hughes’ From Hell (2001) is a harrowing, bloodthirsty journey into the heart of a madman, akin in spectacle and thrills to the unnerving experience of careening through the darkened recesses of an amusement park funhouse. Stylishly executed with attention to period detail, sumptuously realized in Peter Deming’s lush cinematography, the Hughes’ opus magnum grips its audience almost from the beginning, thanks to a very clever screenplay by Terry Hayes and Rafael Yglesius. To date, no one knows for certain the real identity of Jack the Ripper. And while mountains of speculation have arisen in the years since his murderous tirade in London’s seedy Whitechapel district, only one man – the Ripper – knows for sure. From Hell is therefore not the story of ‘the Ripper’, but only a possible hypothesis of who he might have been; Yates and Yglesius doing an intriguing job of weaving all sorts of plausible suspects into their ‘whodunit’, ultimately to settle on a grand conspiracy involving the Free Masons, Scotland Yard, Prince Albert, and, the physician to England’s Queen Victoria. It’s an intriguing tapestry to be sure, and immeasurably blessed by fine performances from cinema’s chameleon, Johnny Depp, as the unusually introspective and empathetic, Inspector Frederick Abberline, Heather Graham, as prostitute and – according this plot, ‘the whore that got away’, Mary Kelly, and, Ian Holm (in a role originally intended for Nigel Hawthorne) as Sir William Gull, the otherwise retiring physician who actually turns out to be so much more.

There is just enough truth in From Hell to muddle the historical record, enough to drive some critics wild in their condemnation of this movie’s artistic license. For the record, the real Inspector Frederick George Abberline was not an opium addict who died of his addiction at the height of his career, but rather, a mild-mannered and proficient investigator who worked for London’s Metropolitan Police after giving up his profession as a clockmaker. He was assigned to oversee the Ripper murders by Chief Inspector, Walter Dew, who greatly respected his intellectual approach to solving crimes. Among the leading suspects in the Ripper case was Severin Antoniovich Klosowski, a.k.a George Chapman, whom many today widely regard as the real Ripper. Subsequent to the Ripper murders, Abberline went on to investigate the Cleveland St. scandal, a case to leave him thoroughly disenchanted with police work as he suspected some of his colleagues, as well as his superiors, were actively involved in covering up the actions of Queen Victoria’s grandson, Albert, a frequent visitor to a homosexual brothel. From Hell mangles this scenario, inveigling Albert with a prostitute instead, whom he secretly weds and impregnates, necessitating the Ripper’s murder spree to silence the working girls who attended the ceremony and therefore can vouch as to its legitimacy. And although Depp’s detective ostensibly commits suicide to conceal the whereabouts of the only surviving witness, Mary Kelly, the real Abberline, wed twice, and semi-retired, worked as a Pinkerton detective in Bournemouth, living to the ripe old age of 86, still married to wife #2, Emma Beament – a union lasting 50 years, until his death on Dec. 10, 1929.

As already stated, From Hell is not an ‘accurate’ history, but a reconstituted one; the picture, shot mostly in Prague in the Czech Republic, and, at Barrandov Studios on sets recreating 19th-century London with only a few inserts actually lensed in the United Kingdom. As authenticity is not this movie’s ‘thing’, one can justly celebrate From Hell as a daringly demonic thrill ride – an alternative ‘theorizing’ to the reality, that begins with a troop of ‘unfortunates’ working the sex trade in the seedy White Chapel district. Here we meet Mary Kelly, who encourages her fellow prostitutes, Martha Tabram (Samantha Spiro), Polly Nichols (Annabelle Apsion), Liz Stride (Susan Lynch), Annie Chapman (Katrin Cartlidge) and, Kate Eddowes (Lesley Sharp) to stick together and resist becoming pawns of the ruthless Nichols brother – a pair of pimps. One of their own, Ann Crook (Joanna Page) seems to have already escaped this threat by marrying Albert Sickert (Mark Dexter) whom she believes is a successful businessman. Having placed their young daughter in the care of Mary Kelly for the afternoon, Ann goes off for a romantic rendezvous with her husband. What she cannot know is that Albert is really Queen Victoria’s (Liz Moscrop) nephew – Prince Albert, who has been stricken with incurable syphilis.

Working in the Queen’s service, Scotland Yard superior, Ben Kidney (Terence Harvey) learns of Ann and Albert’s rendezvous and seizes them in the act of love-making. Kidney packs Albert off to the palace and exiles Ann to a mental institution where she is lobotomized to procure her continued silence. Meanwhile, the Ripper begins to work his carnage on the streets of White Chapel, slowly eradicating all of Ann Crook’s friends. Enter Inspector Frederick Abberline, a brilliant mind who experiences moments of clairvoyance while taking opium. Abberline and Mary Kelly form an unlikely bond. She provides him with pieces to the puzzle that do not quite fit, even as – nightly – her friends die gruesomely at the hands of the Ripper. Taking a clue that the Ripper is a man of surgical expertise, Abberline engages Sir William Gull, physician to the Royal family, for a little expert advice. Through Gull, Abberline discovers the secret society of the Masons and begins to suspect one of their own, Dr. Ferrel (Paul Rhys) may be the Ripper. Abberline baits Ferrel. He also sends Mary Kelly and Ann Crook’s baby away to the relative safety of the country. Unfortunately, Abberline has critiqued the situation badly. It is Gull, not Ferrel who is responsible for the killings.

From Hell is gripping entertainment from start to finish – haunted by that specter of genuine evil, and the real mystery, as yet unresolved, and likely to remain so for all time. The movie is fleshed out with stellar performances, headlined by Depp magnificent assimilation into Abberline, embracing the role of this fictionalized, if brilliantly flawed detective, so tormented by his hallucinogenic visions, he is eventually driven beyond the brink of self-destruction. Heather Graham is remarkable as the careworn whore whose faith in humanity is restored by her burgeoning romance with Abberline. Trevor Jones’ musical score provides the finishing touches on this period drama/thriller, elevating the sheer terror of the exercise with a paralyzing grace. In the final analysis, From Hell is grand, nail-biting entertainment!

Fox Home Video’s Blu-Ray release is disappointing. First, the good news: despite being derived on the more primitive single-layer disc, From Hell on Blu-ray looks marvelous. Colors are rich, fully saturated and vibrant. Contrast is excellent and we get some good solid grain, as well as generally fine details, faithfully reproduced throughout for a thoroughly beguiling video presentation that likely could be improved by a new 4K scan. The audio is represented as 5.1 DTS and generally packs a wallop. So, good stuff here. Now for the bad news: Fox continues to neglect the special features on its Blu-Ray releases – extras made available on their lavishly appointed DVD releases. On this Blu-Ray we get the previously available audio commentary, alternate ending and 20 deleted scenes, all of it in 480i. Missing here, the magnificent ‘making of’ featurette and the extensive documentaries on the real Jack the Ripper, produced by the BBC. We also lose the extensive, picture-in-picture feature that offered a detailed running commentary by the Hughes’ brothers. For shame! Bottom line: From Hell is an exhilarating pseudo-historical/uber-horror fright fest. It’s story-telling is solid. Just disregard history and you’ll be fine. Recommended.

FILM RATING (out of 5 - 5 being the best)

4.5

VIDEO/AUDIO

4

EXTRAS

2