If you are into conspiracy theories, then the unsolved serial murders in Whitechapel, London at the turn of the century is one of the best. Yes, Jack the Ripper, the most famous of all serial killers is back in theaters again, in From Hell staring Johnny Depp (Chocolat and Sleepy Hollow) as the infamous Scotland Yard inspector Fredrick George Abberline. We have heard of most of the theories passed down in the hundred or so years since Jack the Ripper stalked the streets of London in 1888 seeking unfortunates or hookers as we Americans like to call them. This conspiracy theory takes a little of the truth and some of the fiction and then combines a few of the theories together to get the killer.  Some believe the police knew whom the killer was, but for whatever reason never brought him to justice and then destroyed the evidence. Others believe this is false because of the many concurrent investigations going on within each department had different suspects and motives and none agreed with the other. Then there is the royalty theory, surgeon theory, homosexual deviant theory, occult theory, and so on. Well you get a little of each in the newest version of Jack. Ironically enough Mary Kelly (Heather Graham, Bowfinger) in history is a victim of Jack the Ripper, but the Hughes brother’s (Albert and Allen) who are the directors of From Hell, say she did not die that summer or early fall. How could she die, since then we would not have a love interest for the opium soused Depp. Yes, opium in a liquid form. He uses the poison lanthanide as a cocktail which is a derivative of opium (that is when he is not in an opium den sucking on his pipe) to relax at home. Then there are the annoying side stories like what the hell does the Elephant man have to do with this story. Yeah yeah yeah this is where Depp gets in touch with a surgeon to inquire about the weapon, but an Elephant man symposium gets in the way. Wrong film, wrong surgeon, wrong distraction. There was another story going on and it looked as if they just dropped it in, but that one turned out to be relevant once the side story was returned to the main story, plus it was a segue into their conspiracy theory.

We already know the victims are prostitutes, we know or we have been told the killer is an educated man, so when street thugs/pimps attack Graham it is fairly safe to assume that they are not the killer. Another murder has occurred so the detectives of Scotland Yard go in search of Depp who is in a trance at some opium den. Oh this is when he gets his visions. He saw the murder, only not the one he is being summoned to, but he saw the next one. With a few leads in hand he butts head with the head of another department, Police Commissioner Sir Charles Warren (Ian Richardson, Dark City). He does not like the educated man theory, nor the fact that he is a Londoner. Richardson wants the killer to be Jewish, Irish or a butcher or some lower class person. He also doesn’t want to spring for a real surgeon to consult. Depp is forced to deal with police surgeon Drudge (Ian McNeice, Town & Country). The man is a drunk and can’t hold the contents of his stomach when dealing with a mutilated corpse. The brilliant detective that Depp is, well why not he figured out the Legend of Sleepy Hollow so why can’t he figure out a hundred + year old mystery.  Okay not only does he figure it out but finds himself a little plaything if only for a little while. Well we can’t change history, so yes Depp knows who it is and why, he also lets others know who and why too. But because who the killer is and what he is connected to and the why he did it, he will get away with it. He is punished in a peculiar way but only because he developed a god like complex while on his murdering.

The film was dark and you could feel the dirt and dampness of the streets. Graham was a little over the top with her woman ranting. Depp was every bit as convincing as a crack inspector and a crack addict too. Opps, sorry no crack, only opium to smoke in 1888. The new theory of combining several old ones was a nice effect. Some parts were predictable as to how the director would take the story, others were refreshingly novel. I gave From Hell an eight on the About-Movies.com scale.

Last updated: Saturday, October 28, 2006 05:37:37 PM

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