From Hell (Widescreen Edition) | 
| Directors: Albert Hughes, Allen Hughes
Actors: Johnny Depp, Heather Graham, Ian Holm, Robbie Coltrane, Ian Richardson
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Category: DVD
List Price: $14.98
Buy Used: $1.95
You Save: $13.03 (87%)
New (53) Used (84) Collectible (5) from $1.95
Rating:  365 reviews
Sales Rank: 7372
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dts Surround Sound, Dvd, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), French (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Dubbed)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 122 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: 024543054481
UPC: 024543054481
EAN: 0024543054481
ASIN: B00006JDU8
Theatrical Release Date: October 19, 2001
Release Date: October 22, 2002
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
In 1888 in the Whitechapel section of London, Inspector Fred Abberline uses his psychic powers to track down Jack the Ripper.
Genre: Horror
Rating: R
Release Date: 7-SEP-2004
Media Type: DVD
Amazon.com
Heavy on atmosphere and light on everything else, From Hell is visually impressive while lacking the depth of the acclaimed graphic novel it's based upon. Making their third feature since 1993's Menace II Society, twins Allen and Albert Hughes approach the Jack the Ripper case with physical precision, re-creating the gritty Whitechapel district of 1888 London in meticulous detail. What they've forgotten is the sheer terror that gripped Whitechapel in the wake of the Ripper's slaying of five prostitutes, investigated here by a Scotland Yard sleuth (Johnny Depp) who uses opium, laudanum, and absinthe to fuel his semiprescient visions of the slayings. Heather Graham attempts a slippery Cockney accent as a would-be victim, while Ian Holm steals the show as a has-been surgeon with devilish delusions of grandeur. Violence is obliquely suggested or briefly graphic, but no matter how you cut it, From Hell is only marginally thrilling as it treads familiar territory. --Jeff Shannon
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| Customer Reviews: Read 360 more reviews...
 Johnny Depp a Brand Name for Me June 28, 2009
Robert D. Steele (Oakton, VA United States)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
No one needs my review of this superb film, this annotation is just a marker for those who follow my generally non-fiction reading and viewing.
Johnny Depp has become an icon for me, a brand name. One of my teenagers brought this home and I put it on background while doing paperwork, but the TV is above my desktop and I watched every single minute, stopping as necessary when leaving the room.
I admire the reviewer that has researched Jack the Ripper more deeply and tells us that we have been let off the worst of the worst. That's fine by me. Between Johnny Depp's performance, the other stars in the cast, the over-all screenplay and the period depiction, this was simply a fine offering.
I might offer that Heather Graham shows great promise, brining to mind such stars as Jodie Foster and Julianne Moore.
I'd like to see more reviewers use the "Insert a Product Link" that Amazon offers, instead of just typing out the name of a book or DVD.
Here are some examples:
The Libertine
Pirates of the Caribbean - Dead Man's Chest (Widescreen Edition)
The Complete History of Jack the Ripper
A Study in Red: The Secret Journal of Jack the Ripper
The Ultimate Jack the Ripper Companion: An Illustrated Encyclopedia
Spine-Tingling Good!!! June 12, 2009
T. Meziane (Cleveland, Ohio)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Wow, this movie was good. If your like me, and love Johnny Depp, this is another one for you to add to his long collection of awesome movies. This whole movie was great, it had Depp, gruesome murders, good cast, on the edge of your seat suspense, twisting plot, and it also had Depp. Great movie, and a must own!
From Hell: Director's Limited Edition June 1, 2009
Joe Kenney (Dallas, TX USA)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Please note: I'm here reviewing the two-disc "Director's Limited Edition."
It's hard to believe this movie's almost ten years old; seems like yesterday it was released, but it was filmed in 2001. Other than the fact that it co-stars Heather Graham (who hasn't co-headlined a major motion picture in quite some time), there's very little about this film which seems dated. In fact it's probably improved with age. Staying close to the template of "Se7en," producers-directors the Hughes Brothers adapt Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell's graphic novel with aplomb, bringing the late 19th Century to life in all its opium-den decadence.
I'm sure a lot of viewers have issues with how this movie strays from the source material, but I prefer to look at it as a wholly separate entity. And it works well. In Moore's version the reader quickly knows who Jack the Ripper is, but the Hughes Brothers make this more of a traditional mystery. The viewer can, however, pretty easily figure out who the murderer is. You can expect that this film will be violent - any movie about Jack the Ripper would have to be - but it reminded me more of "Chinatown" than anything else. The web of intrigue, period details, and twisted conspiracies are all very well panned out and executed, making this much more than the grisly hackwork it could've become.
Acting is good throughout - Johnny Depp is fantastic as usual in his role, as is Heather Graham, though I have to wonder why the producers couldn't at least have gotten an English actress for the role. The actor playing Jack the Ripper is as malevolent as you could want, and I love the detail of his expanded irises when he's in "Ripper" mode, as if he's a demon in human guise. The Hughes' directing is also stylish and confident - lots of tracking shots and well-done establishing shots which pull you into the sordid world of 1880s London. I also appreciate how they filmed the gruesome murder scenes, leaving much to the viewer's imagination. Again, this could've easily become some cheap gorefest, but the Hughes have made it a bit more highbrow, going for a macabre approach that works perfectly for the material. The things the Ripper did to his victims were unthinkable, and certainly unfilmable - certainly things I'd never want to see in a film, at least.
But let's talk about the drugs. I'm all about the mystique of those Victorian-era opium dens, with the velvet walls and plush rugs and languorous addicts puffing away in contentment. Depp's character is an opium addict, so we get a few scenes in Chinese-operated dens, and the Hughes brothers bring these places fully to life. And since Depp's character solves his cases via opium-induced trances, we get a neat tripping scene, complete with worshipful close-ups of an opium pipe being prepared, fired up, and toked. But the later absinthe scene goes even further, and glorifies drug use moreso than any other scene in recent film. Depp prepares a glass of absinthe in the classic "Prague ritual" method, with laudanum-dosed sugar cube placed over a slotted spoon, doused with fire, and then plunged into the drink itself. This scene about made me want to rush out and buy an overpriced bottle of absinthe. In fact, I'm still considering it.
I'd say this movie is a good purchase, as it is one you could watch at least a few times. The first viewing you're moreso occupied keeping up with who's who, figuring out who the Ripper is, and piecing together the strands of conspiracy. And it is an enjoyable movie, despite the subject matter and the numerous prostitute-butcherings. It even has a somewhat "happy" ending that doesn't seem tacked on just to appease the Middle American market.
As for the DVD release, the movie is on disc 1 and looks and sounds great. Disc 1 also features a plethora of deleted scenes, none of which are more than two minutes long. There are about twenty of them, and they're basically little pieces that either set up scenes or provide more resolution for others. None of them stand out, and none of them were integral to the movie. That being said, since none of them are that pertinent, they could've easily been integrated back into the film, which would've truly given us the "Director's" edition promised on the cover. The only incongruous scene is the one that couldn't be integrated back into the film - an alternate ending which is the same as the one in the film itself, only taking place in a different location and a different time. It's filmed in a gorgeous Shanghai opium den (complete with a gorgeous and nude Chinese woman, about whose rear Hughes expounds upon at length in the optional commentary) and has some of the best shots in the film, but was understandably dropped in favor of the "real" ending.
Disc 2 features several making-of documentaries, including one about the Moore/Campbell graphic novel, a "tour of the murder sites" (which is a tour of the film's set rather than the actual murder locations in London), a "first look" documentary hosted by Heather Graham (which features the most annoying camera pans and zooms this side of MTV), and an insider's view into absinthe (which was still illegal when this film was made, but is now legal pretty much everywhere...even here in the US! Yep, I'm gonna buy that bottle after all.).
Johnny Depp rules March 21, 2009
Laura J. Drye (Sapulpa, Oklahoma U SA)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I realize a lot of people might not agree.. but I loved this different look at the Jack the Ripper typical movie.. and of course Johnny Depp can do no wrong as far as I am concerned, and I am not a teeny bopper groupy , I am a grandmother, haha..
Joann in Sapulpa Oklahoma
Wicked! February 4, 2009
Mrs.Depp (New England)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I love this movie!! Thought Johnny was great in it! I would DENITLEY buy buy it. The plot was very good and it's just an all around good movie.
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