From Hell
About the Film
In the fog-bound Whitechapel of 1888, a series of savage murders is claiming the lives of local prostitutes — among them the friends of the young Irishwoman Mary Kelly. Investigating the killings is Inspector Frederick Abberline, a gifted but haunted detective who dulls the pain of his wife’s death with opium and absinthe, and whose drug-induced “visions” give him uncanny flashes of insight into the crimes.
As Abberline pieces together the ritualistic pattern of the murders, the trail leads improbably upward — toward the medical establishment, the Freemasons and the royal family itself. He uncovers a conspiracy to bury the scandal of a secret royal marriage, and identifies the respected surgeon Sir William Gull as the killer. But powerful forces close ranks to protect the crown, and Abberline’s pursuit of the truth — and of Mary — ends in tragedy.
Plot synopsis by johnny-depp.org.
Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp plays Inspector Frederick Abberline as a brilliant, melancholic detective adrift in grief and addiction. Numbing himself with opium and absinthe, he is prone to trance-like premonitions that guide his hunt for the Ripper, and he risks everything — including his growing love for Mary Kelly — to expose a conspiracy that reaches the highest levels of society. Depp adopts a careful English accent and a quiet intensity, though the graphic novel’s author Alan Moore wryly dubbed the screen version an “absinthe-swilling dandy.”
Cast & Crew
Cast
Inspector Frederick AbberlineJohnny Depp
Mary KellyHeather Graham
Sir William GullIan Holm
Sergeant Peter GodleyRobbie Coltrane
Sir Charles WarrenIan Richardson
John NetleyJason Flemyng
Crew
DirectorsAlbert & Allen Hughes
ScreenplayTerry Hayes & Rafael Yglesias
Based on the graphic novel byAlan Moore & Eddie Campbell
MusicTrevor Jones
CinematographyPeter Deming
ProducersDon Murphy, Jane Hamsher
Studio20th Century Fox
Filming Locations
- Barrandov Studios, Prague, Czech Republic (recreated Whitechapel)
- Crackington Haven and Boscastle, Cornwall, England
- Goldings estate, Hertfordshire, England
More about this film
Trivia
- Daniel Day-Lewis and Sean Connery were both considered for Abberline before Johnny Depp was cast.
- Ian Holm stepped into the role of Sir William Gull after Nigel Hawthorne withdrew due to illness.
- The film was trimmed to secure an R rating in the US rather than an NC-17.
- Marilyn Manson contributed a remix of his song “The Nobodies” for the end credits.
Awards
- 2002 Bram Stoker Award — Best Screenplay, nominated
