Review

Hell is said to exist on many levels. There is hell on earth; the mythic hell of fire and brimstone; there's also one man's hell that is another's heaven. No matter what our perception of it, it couldn't be much worse than the hell imagined by the Hughes Brothers in their merciless, gritty telling of Jack the Ripper's reign of terror in 19th-century London. Based on the graphic novel by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell, From Hell captures time and place exceedingly well, the smallest detail not overlooked. However, this is an unsettling journey, one distinguished by an unusually good look -- murder and gore have rarely looked so shockingly splendid. Depp plays an unorthodox police inspector (he's a drug addict and psychic) assigned the case of the Ripper, who is mutilating EastEnd prostitutes. As he digs deeper -- much in the same vein as the excellent Murder by Decree -- clues begin to point to high society and the royal palace. From Hell is essentially a mystery story, not a horror tale, but one told with the elements of a horror film. The directors know there's no more effective monster than man at his basest, and they spare little in conveying such. For in the dark, everyone looks the same, and each approaching stranger is either salvation or doom.