The Hughes brothers hadn’t really had a big hit by the time they were offered to direct the adaptation of Alan Moore’s and Eddie Campbell’s graphic novel “From Hell,” detailing the characters involved in the ‘Jack the Ripper’ slayings in 1888 London. It offered an opportunity to tell a gritty story that still dealt with the people struggling at the bottom of society, something they’d already proved successful at. But the graphic novel’s incredibly dense and despite the many rewrites the script went through, it still ended up a film that is hard to call a great success for the brothers. Join us – Pete Wright and Andy Nelson – as we continue our series on the Hughes brothers with their 2001 film From Hell.
We look at the film and our thoughts on both the good and bad elements of it, and discuss the graphic novel and how by its very nature was not an easy thing to adapt. We discuss Albert and Allen and some of the decisions they made going into this film. We talk about the cast and why some of them work better than others (Heather Graham is definitely the one who stands out as a sore thumb unfortunately). We chat about the cinematography and the film technique they used to achieve the fascinating dream sequences. And we discuss Trevor Jones score and how well it works, as well as how it felt like there were sequences that needed score that didn’t get any.
It’s a fascinating film, if not as successful as we’d have liked it to be. Perhaps a longer tale told would work better? Who knows. Until that happens, though, check this one out then tune in!
