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Hell gyeah! A Review by |
| When I first heard
of this production, I must say I was a little apprehensive. The Hughes Brothers have made
some pretty damn good movies (Menace II Society, American Pimp, Dead Presidents) but the
subject matter has always seemed limited. You could take the Hughes brothers out of the
'hood, but not the 'hood out of the Hughes' movies. Not to say that I have a problem with
their previous movies, I just wondered how smooth the transition would be to a period film
like From Hell. But as soon as I saw the first preview, all doubt was erased from my mind. The movie's setting looked as disturbing and as dark as any story involving Jack the Ripper deserved. My first thought, and probably most of yours, is damn this is one hell of a switch for the Hughes brothers. Well the time and place may be different, but From Hell's city and ghettos are just as dangerous and violent as our modern inner city crisis. But enough about the Hughes ability to make the transition, as it's obvious they achieved that, let's get to the movie... As many of you know, From Hell is the story of Jack the Ripper. But Hell has a new twist on the story, one that was original found in a comic novel, that the movie is based on. Any comments I make on how the story is "new" or "interesting" will more than likely give away or reveal too much for those that have yet to see the movie. Rather than tell you what I loved about the story, I'll instead just stick to the basics: -A killer is murdering the prostitutes of Whitechapel (England) in a way that sets him apart from anything that has come before. Not only is he slitting their throats, but he's oftentimes removing organs and leaving notes. The killer has been dubbed "Jack the Ripper" for his trademark throat slitting technique, and Fredrick Abberline (Johnny Depp) is the head inspector in charge of stopping Jack. Abberline uses many hallucinogenic drugs and oftentimes sees visions that at times help in capturing criminals. He sees many of Jack's victims before their demise, but has yet been unable to capture or stop Jack. One of the victims in Abberline's dreams is Mary Kelly (Heather Graham), who Abberline questions. It seems that all the prostitutes who have been murdered are friends of Kelly's. Have they seen something? What do they know? Who do they know? Why's Heather Graham always play a whore? Muahhaha, you'll have to wait and see for yourself. After you watch this movie yourself, you'll be thinking "Damn, why didn't he tell me about that? or this? Cause that was some good shit." Well, that's exactly why, if I tell you all the twists and turns, you're going to sit in the movie theater bored. This isn't a movie to study or research prior on the internet prior to viewing. This is one to sit back and enjoy. This is one where you'll get someone's take on the most infamous killer in our world's history. Nearly 100% of us have heard of Jack the Ripper, but not one of us knows who he really was (or anyone for that matter). This movie show's just one of the possible reasons and people behind Jack the Ripper, and even though it might not be the most sinister, gruesome, or nightmarish; it's hard to doubt that it makes the best story. From Hell keeps you interested from the start with a completely believable setting, interesting characters, a few gruesome shots here and there, and tons of characters that are all brilliantly connected. At the end of this movie, you could sit back and try and
find faults or historical inaccuracies. But this movie never claims to be a "true
story" or a history lesson. This is just a story that happens to center around events
that actually occurred. And it's a great story at that. Constantly interesting, exciting,
and just enough thought provocation to make it one of my favorite films of 2001. Go see
From Hell, or I'll kill ya! |
-Now that you've read something, he's written. Wouldn't you like to find out more about Goc? Here you go. |
