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From Hell
20th Century Fox Film Corporation


6.7

based on 32 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 18 votes
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MPAA 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)

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:	DVD: May 14, 2002 Video: May 14, 2002 Theatrical: October 19, 2001
RUNNING TIME:	137 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	Czech Republic / USA

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...

100

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

Sensational and accomplished.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

Gripping and stylish thriller.

LA Weekly F. X. Feeney

Their discretion makes From Hell less a horror movie than a classical film noir.

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.

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.

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.

San Francisco Chronicle Bob Graham

Mystery skillfully evokes Victorian London's dark depths.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold

It's by far the most violent, most clinical and most sumptuously atmospheric.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

It is deeply unpleasant to see women abducted, tortured and eviscerated by a methodical and meticulous butcher.

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

A visionary sort of horror movie should ponder three words: "Bram Stoker's Dracula."

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

Feels stagy, stiff and entirely unnecessary.

Boston Globe Jay Carr

What the Hughes brothers have come up with is, to borrow another phrase from that bygone age, a penny dreadful.

Salon.com Charles Taylor

A brain-dead version of a dark and complex work.

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?

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.

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.

The average user rating for this movie is 6.7 (out of 10) based on 18 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.

From Hell 20th Century Fox Film Corporation

From Hell
20th Century Fox Film Corporation