Movies
Weekend Box Office
Film Awards & Top 10s By Year
All-Time High Scores
All-Time Low Scores
Best / Worst of the Decade
Wide Releases
Now In Theaters
49
2012
41
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel
84
Avatar![]()
69
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
53
Blind Side
53
Book of Eli, The
55
Christmas Carol, A
57
Daybreakers
43
Dear John
27
Did You Hear About the Morgans?
55
Edge of Darkness
45
Extraordinary Measures
83
Fantastic Mr. Fox![]()
42
From Paris with Love
65
Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, The
74
Invictus
57
It's Complicated
34
Law Abiding Citizen
33
Leap Year
33
Legion
42
Lovely Bones, The
54
Men Who Stare At Goats, The
34
Ninja Assassin
19
Old Dogs
xx
Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief
39
Planet 51
79
Precious: Based on the Novel by Sapphire
73
Princess & the Frog, The
64
Road, The
57
Sherlock Holmes
27
Spy Next Door, The
36
Tooth Fairy
44
Twilight Saga: New Moon, The
83
Up in the Air![]()
43
Valentine's Day
25
When in Rome
71
Where the Wild Things Are
xx
WolfMan, The
63
Youth in Revolt
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Limited Releases
Now In Theaters
46
44 Inch Chest
83
Ajami![]()
73
Amreeka
xx
Barefoot to Timbuktu
19
Bitch Slap
24
Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day, The
76
Broken Embraces
64
Cloud 9
65
Coco Before Chanel
84
Cove, The![]()
84
Crazy Heart![]()
21
Crazy on the Outside
48
Creation
xx
Daddy Long Legs
81
Damned United, The![]()
68
Departures
62
District 13: Ultimatum
85
Education, An![]()
71
Eyes Wide Open
24
Falling Awake
81
Fish Tank![]()
56
For My Father
xx
From Mexico with Love
43
Frozen
68
Girl on the Train, The
52
Killing Kasztner
74
Last Station, The
43
Little Traitor, The
51
Loss of a Teardrop Diamond, The
73
Me and Orson Welles
76
Messenger, The
57
Missing Person, The
67
Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, The
xx
My Name is Khan
49
Nine
63
North Face
59
October Country
67
Off and Running
52
Paranoids, The
49
Pop Star on Ice
49
Private Lives of Pippa Lee, The
xx
Promised Lands (Re-release)
69
Red Riding Trilogy, The
29
Saint John of Las Vegas
69
September Issue, The
36
Serious Moonlight
63
Shinjuku Incident, The
77
Single Man, A
xx
Still Bill
76
Terribly Happy
74
That Evening Sun
19
To Save a Life
68
Town Called Panic, A
59
Until the Light Takes Us
57
Videocracy
65
Waiting for Armageddon
82
White Ribbon![]()
43
Women in Trouble
xx
Word is Out
64
Young Victoria, The
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
From Hell
EMAILPRINT20th Century Fox Film Corporation

Mixed or average reviews
Based on 32 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 22 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Suspense/Thriller
Written by:
Terry Hayes
Rafael Yglesias
Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell (comic book series)
Directed by:
Albert Hughes
Allen Hughes
Release Date:
Theatrical: October 19, 2001
DVD: May 14, 2002
Running Time: 137 minutes, Color
Origin: Czech Republic / USA
Summary
RATING: R for strong violence/gore, sexuality, language and drug content
Starring Johnny Depp, Heather Graham, Ian Holm, Robbie Coltrane, Susan Lynch, and Ian Richardson
Based on a popular graphic novel, From Hell puts an intense psychological spin on the horrific legend of Jack the Ripper and unravels a chilling alleged conspiracy involving the highest powers in England. (Twentieth Century Fox)
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
LA Weekly F. X. Feeney
Their discretion makes From Hell less a horror movie than a classical film noir.
Read Full Review >Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern
Ambitious, visually stunning and hugely accomplished.
Variety Derek Elley
Surprisingly conventional Olde London Towne gaslight mystery, gussied up with some doctored visuals, and an eccentric performance by Johnny Depp.
Read Full Review >New Times (L.A.) Gregory Weinkauf
A visionary breakthrough for the young directors, a darkly alluring and largely successful attempt to crowd the territory of Roman Polanski and Dario Argento.
Read Full Review >Village Voice J. Hoberman
Superbly shot around Prague -- From Hell is even more stylish than gruesome -- it has the lush decrepitude of an autumn compost heap or an old Hammer werewolf flick.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Bob Graham
Mystery skillfully evokes Victorian London's dark depths.
Read Full Review >Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt
The movie works well as a straight-out horror yarn, proving that the Hughes Brothers are more versatile than their previous "ghetto pictures" suggest.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
The movie feels dark, clammy and exhilarating -- it's like belonging to a secret club where you can have a lot of fun but might get into trouble.
Read Full Review >Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman
Depp gives yet another introspective, slightly mopey performance -- Graham never begins to act (and never has begun, as far as I know). But they're surrounded by an authentic, first-rate English cast.
Washington Post Stephen Hunter
It's not a great movie by any means, but it grips tighter than a chokehold and it cuts as deep as a knife.
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy
A tug-of-war between a bracing vision of a truly infernal crime spree -- complete with engaging whodunit storytelling -- and a sometimes clumsy period drama.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold
It's by far the most violent, most clinical and most sumptuously atmospheric.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Jack Mathews
An amazing physical specimen, beautifully photographed and edited. If you think of it as your own opium dream, you may dismiss the lousy story as a mere side effect.
Read Full Review >Mr. Showbiz Cody Clark
The movie's most glaring flaw is that the brothers and their screenwriters, Terry Hayes and Rafael Yglesias, don't manage to preserve the secret of the Ripper's identity for nearly as long as they intend to.
The New York Times A.O. Scott
So beautifully realized as a mood piece that it takes a while for a slight disappointment to register.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Maitland McDonagh
An astonishing act of synthesis, bringing together disparate Ripper theories and a fiercely idiosyncratic version of London's history, architecture, policing and social structure.
Read Full Review >USA Today Staff [Not Credited]
With almost as many subplots as corpses, the movie maintains its mild watchability only because the Ripper saga still engrosses.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Lisa Alspector
Labyrinthine yet oversimple, the story seems to hide a more provocative one. But perhaps this is the nature of the beast.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez
There's no bite or sting, nor is there a single moment when the film is anything close to scary. It isn't ever engaging, either; it's a dull, sluggish bum-out.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Mark Caro
Lacks the energy and urgency of its source material.
Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov
A visual tour-de-force; it's just that there's not much else to sink your teeth into once the pretty colors fade from view.
Read Full Review >Film Threat Heather Wadowski
Could have been a beautiful and suspenseful thriller, lukewarm performances make the film just another movie to add to one's "rent-it-when-it-comes-to-DVD" list.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan
It is deeply unpleasant to see women abducted, tortured and eviscerated by a methodical and meticulous butcher.
Read Full Review >Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow
A visionary sort of horror movie should ponder three words: "Bram Stoker's Dracula."
Boston Globe Jay Carr
What the Hughes brothers have come up with is, to borrow another phrase from that bygone age, a penny dreadful.
New York Magazine Peter Rainer
The only note of authenticity in the movie comes from Ian Holm, playing the royal physician. What is this nuanced performance -- at least until the final fireworks -- doing in this twaddle?
Read Full Review >Washington Post Desson Thomson
Feels razor thin. None of the characters is particularly noteworthy. And the revelations of deep-seated conspiracy in the usual privileged, closed circles are hackneyed and tired.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone Peter Travers
The Hughes boys blow it by burying a fine cast -- Robbie Coltrane as a cop and Ian Holm as a royal sawbones are standouts -- in stock scares, sappy romance and cliches that really are from hell.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 6.3 (out of 10) based on 22 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Gino E. gave it a 5:
"From Hell" is a modern serial killer police mystery, that is trying to be hip by taking an old London setting. The accents are terrible. Johnny is really trying, but obviously not good enough. Sometimes too bloody. Too many characters are beeing introduced who has nothing to do with the storyline at all. No wonder this film is 45 minutes too long. Nobody wants to watch long scenes about town hookers and their daily problems and lesbian escapades. Loads of other cliches come to mind, but are not worth mentioning. There is one nice scene, that has nothing to do with anything, but pays a nice tribute to David Lynch's "Elephant Man". Overall: Enjoyable if you're bored, but after all, it's another "Let's-guess-who-the-killer-in-question-is" flick, that we've all seen before.
Gabor A. gave it a 5:
The Hughes brothers have an eye for detail and know how to work the camera, but the storyline was terrible. If you are a hooker whose friends are all being horribly murdered then would you still enter any mysterious carriage for some grapes and money? Also, despite the fact that this is suposed to be a murder mystery jonny depp's character does little solving. The crimes just happen until finally the killer gives himself away knowing that clues are apparently non existent. Interesting but story line falls short very much.
raVen gave it a 4:
Johnny Depp has this way of ingesting opiates and wading through pools of blood that makes you half suspect that this is what he does in real life between movies...But of course we all know he's REALLY a pirate. I was a big Depp fan before this movie, and I was still a big fan afterwards. But other than a good turn by Ian Holm, this movie didn't have much for me besides the aforementioned opiates and pools of blood. If I had to give it a grade I'd say O+.
Tyler G. gave it an 8:
Very entertaining, and the characters are intriguing. Depp is as cool as ever, and Heather Graham is stunning. Ian Holm is one spooky doc in this movie. I recommend the DVD and the special features if you are at all interested in the Jack the Ripper lore. Then you should go to www.casebook.org and you will be enlightened. Anyway the movie is as good as an escape as any you'll find out there.
BJ gave it a 10:
The best movie about Jack the Ripper.
AJ M. gave it a 9:
Fantastic movie. The ending wasn't very good, but other than that, it was fantastic. It's pretty poor how not many people actually realise that this is (for most part) a true story.
Jake M. gave it a 6:
This is not the greatest movie of all time but its still a movie worth watching. Although you do come out of the theater asking questions, its still pretty cool because of the horror. The Hughes Brothers did a good job at showing the evil in Jack's eyes. And thats about it. I think people will watch this movie just to get some more knowledge of one of the most famous killers of all time.
