From Hell

The atmosphere of old London is captivating thanks to the great production design and Johnny Depp is great as always, but the modern music-video visuals used by the directing Hughes brothers don’t suit the nostalgic atmosphere of the film at all. (11.04.2002)

The Hughes brothers try to compensate for their narrative ineptitude with fast editing in tense scenes, and to achieve a gruesome effect, they spare no glimpse of dismembered bodies and splashes of blood. Johnny Depp is very bland, he must have been bored during the filming. The highlight of it all is the artificially grafted love story between the inspector and the prostitute played by Heather Graham. What comes out of it, it’s not worth commenting on. I just don't buy it, guys. (04.07.2003)

As an adaptation of the great work of Alan Moore, it is very bad. On its own, however, it’s a pretty solid film, it’s a pity that Murder by Decree is the same, but much, much better. (25.02.2005)

Jack The Ripper grabbed me by the hand, led me into the first dark narrow alleyway, and left me at the mercy of Victorian London. This is how the atmosphere is created. The feeling that I am in some infamous district and that something very unpleasant is about to happen to me at any moment was so unpleasantly vivid that I was actually looking forward to the image clearing up a bit in a moment. The whole story is excellently crafted, but it has one fundamental flaw. Its main character is not detective Abberline, but Mary. And that, of course, brings a lot of tiresome and desperately uninteresting studies "of the life of prostitutes". However, the atmosphere commands me very decisively to rate it higher. 70% (15.06.2008)

Unfortunately, I am disappointed, although thanks to the generous budget and the resulting set design, there is still something to see here. Given the choice of exteriors, lighting, and music motifs, there can still be talk of a mysterious atmosphere, but anyone who knows the comic book source material must necessarily be disappointed. Due to shortcomings in the script, problematic portrayal of some characters, and mediocre direction, only an average film was created, which originally had greater ambitions. Although Johnny Depp is an excellent actor, this time he had a weaker moment, and even his presence could not mask the failure of the overall concept of the film. There is no need to elaborate further, as my arguments would only repeat the criticisms of others. Overall impression 50%. (18.08.2008)

Maybe slightly above-average, but definitely not madness. The Hughes brothers attempt to create some kind of dream world and partly succeed, because London is more than high-quality in terms of form (production design, cinematography, costumes). Unfortunately, it is quite simple in terms of the screenplay, even the character of Jack the Ripper (without knowing who he is) could have had more nuances. Instead, we only see a few seconds of knife action, blood and mutilated bodies, and when the story finally starts to unfold, it does so quite uneventfully. Johnny Depp surprisingly doesn't deliver much, he can act much better. And those quick cuts and hallucinations really don't suit old England. (28.05.2007)

A nicely and cleverly written whodunit whose biggest fault is the bland TV production design and some clunkers, such as the main characters' incomprehensibly presentable appearance in relation to their surroundings, etc. (08.05.2004)

I would like to say that it is an excellent movie, but it simply isn't. I have to take into account that it is a movie based on a comic, moreover a comic that is simply fantastic. Alan Moore is a literary genius and, together with Eddie Campbell, they created something unparalleled in the world of comics. The film that was made based on the source material is quite dark and has interesting characters, but it simply dismisses the depth of the comic book novel. (23.05.2014)