| Film Review - From Hell |
| First of all, I have to say I was really looking forward to this movie. Partly because I'm a big Johnny Depp fan, and partly because the idea of him doing a Jack the Ripper movie seemed like it had a lot of potential. And it did. However, my main problem with From Hell was that it didn't live up to the potential it had, not by a long shot. That said, it's not a bad movie, it just could have been so much better. One of the key elements of any horror movie is often overlooked by unskilled directors of the genre - atmosphere. Atmosphere should always gain priority over gore or nudity in any horror movie being made. Unfortunately, the latter two, although they can be useful to maintain audience interest, tend to be included more as some form of inadequate compensation. From Hell manages to avoid this trap pretty well, as there's no nudity (although to be honest it wouldb't have gone astray, as long as it wasn't Robbie Coltrane), and the gore is pretty minimal by today's standards of slasher films. However, that doesn't necessarily mean it has the atmosphere needed to scare the crap out of an audience. For the most part, From Hell seems to be continually trying to drape atmosphere everywhere, but somehow keeps falling short. This is due in part to the performances given by the cast; noone actually seems to be that scared. Heather Graham in particular should have at least given some indication that she was in grave danger, but she's too busy falling in love with the police inspector. Which leads me to the second primary cause of the lack of atmosphere. About two thirds of the way into the film, the plot gets sidetracked into a rather predictable love story. I know, I know, it's Hollywood, but to be honest, I'm getting a little tired of it. Okay, enough about atmosphere. That is really the only major downfall of the film, along with a couple of other minor points which I'll quickly run over. I found the whole plot fairly predictable, and I barely know anything about Jack the Ripper. I picked him within the first half hour of the film, and after that, I was just waiting for him to get found out. The film has come under criticism for naming Jack at the end, but to be honest I had no problem with that, it gave the film a nicely tied up ending. Also, the murders are hardly given the emphasis that they deserve. Somehow, they tend to become just another part of the plot, hardly shocking at all. The man is cutting up prostitutes and taking their organs, yet everyone seems to treat the situation with an air of indifference. Oh well. There are good points to this film as well, of course. The cinematography is quite interesting, as is the sound. The costumes don't jump out at you, nor should they really, as most of them are on poor folk or police inspectors. Overall, the tech aspects are pretty good, although the set was missing something pretty crucial - fog. There is no such thing as a clear London night in a late 19th century period piece. Of course, this was filmed in Morocco, from memory, so maybe everyone just forgot. The acting is not lacklustre, but it's not Oscar material either. To her credit, Heather Graham manages to pull off a cockney accent pretty well, as does Depp. Robbie Coltrane is believable in the supporting role of Depp's partner, and each of the upper-class British characters are portrayed fittingly by appropriately upper-class British actors, each of whom do a good job. Overall, it's not too bad, and worth seeing if you're a fan of either the genre, the star, or the Ripper. Just don't expect to get scared. *** |