When Ryan at The Matinee started The Blind Spot Challenge, his goal was to get himself and his fellow bloggers to watch at least one "significant" film a month that they hadn't previously seen. Well, I missed September...sorta. I actually watched the film, but didn't write about it because it fit better with my stated October theme, 31 Days of Horror. So here we are, talking about...
Why did I pick it? My reason for watching From Hell goes back to the directors, brothers Albert and Allen Hughes, and their brilliant debut feature, Menace II Society. When it was released, it was an instant cult-classic. It is undoubtedly one of the very best films to come out of the "hood movie" explosion of the early to mid 1990s. It's one of the few to contain tons of senseless violence with yet still be genuinely poignant. Their follow-up, Dead Presidents, is an underrated gem featuring more mature and patient story-telling. It's social commentary is no-less relevant and left me excited for whatever they had in store. 2001's From Hell is what was in store. Trailers didn't appeal to my wife or my brother, my other frequent movie partner at the time. Therefore, the plan then became for me to watch it alone whenever I had the chance. A few years went by and i just couldn't find time for it. A number of years pass before I finally broke down and bought it on DVD with the intent on watching it shortly after getting home. I've lost count of how many years ago that's been. High time I dusted off the cover and gave it a spin.
Our saga begins in London, late in the nineteenth century. It focuses on a small, tight-knit group of prostitutes, seemingly headed up by Mary Kelly (Heather Graham). When, one by one they start turning up laying in the street, brutally murdered, and with various organs removed from their body, it becomes apparent that someone is hunting them down. Police inspector/minor psychic/opium addict Frederick Abberline (Johnny Depp). He begins investigating the crimes which grow in frequency and depravity. All of this is loosely, make that very loosely, based on the murders of Jack the Ripper. It's more closely based on the graphic novel of the same name.
Early in the film, there are plenty of horror elements, but its strength lies in the way it handles the whodunit aspects of the script. The unfolding mystery holds a good deal of intrigue. It takes a number of cues from David Fincher's Se7en. In particular, there is much discussion about the psychiatric makeup of someone who could commit such atrocities. Watching our heroes go through the process of elimination proves to be fascinating, for a while. Unfortunately, it becomes tedious because we watch them talk themselves off the path of the killer several times. Inspector Abberline makes a number of logical points only to ignore them or, worse, for his superiors to tell him that doesn't make sense for little reason other than "because." Unnecessary padding is thus added to the runtime, robbing it of some much-needed tension.
From Hell tries to compensate for its narrative faux pas in two ways. First, it gives ample time to a budding love affair between Abberline and Mary. While the performances of Depp and Graham are both good, overall, their scenes together are rather tepid. The chemistry between them fizzles. Each actor does their best work without the other on the screen. The other way the film tries to cover its blemishes is by leaning heavily into violent horror during the final act. However, even this lacks bite. It's visually interesting, but the reveal is so far less than our imagination as to be perplexing. Jack the Ripper is a killer real authorities have never caught. This affords From Hell the opportunity for a wonderful ambiguous, or even, dark ending. I hate to drag David Fincher back into this, but his film Zodiac is also about an uncaught killer. Truthfully, I'm not a big fan of it, feeling that the third act grinds thing to a halt and goes on for far too long. That said, it still makes far better use of its mystery than From Hell, maintaining it through the closing credits. From Hell gives up trying to really disturb us and just tries exciting us by behaving in manic fashion. There is an element of fun to it, but it's not exactly gripping.
While not a white-knuckler, From Hell isn't a terrible watch. It's competently made and it does get some solid performances from its cast. However, as I've alluded to, it's awfully derivative of lots of other movies. Nowhere is this more evident that in Inspector Abberline, himself. He's nothing, if not Sherlock Holmes with pointlessly tacked on psychic abilities. Still, the lack of originality is not this film's biggest sin. That dishonor belongs to its inability to combine all of its ingredients into a smooth mixture. The viewer often feels suddenly yanked from one genre to another and the movie never seems to really find its footing.
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It's an alright film. Flawed but still interesting. For me, the best film about an unsolved murder is Memories of Murder by Bong Joon-Ho of The Host/Snowpiercer fame.
ReplyDeleteI've seen a few of his movies. Usually, he leaves me awed so I'm definitely willing to see Memories of Murder.
DeleteI haven't seen From Hell in years. I barely remember it, it's something I would revisit though.
ReplyDeleteI'm not opposed to watching it again. I just won't be in a rush to do so.
DeleteI quite liked this one. The score and the atmosphere were wonderful and while I agree Graham and Depp lacked chemistry that kiss in the alley was quite something
ReplyDeleteFair points, all.
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