Home » Film & TV » Film & TV Reviews » From Hell

From Hell

© James C. Hess

Recently a fellow I know, who does this Internet radio program sort of thing, asked me to be a guest of sorts on his show.

Against better judgement I accepted his offer.

Now everything went fine until someone e-mail my friend--the host--asking him to ask me what I thought of the Hollywood Machine's latest practice: The deliberate, but perverted adaptation of graphic novels to the silver screen.

Well, I replied. If that's the best you can do. . .

My friend's e-mail crashed within five minutes of my remarks. So much mail from people who took offense to my remarks which, they claimed, implied, was dismissive of the graphic novel.

Not that I want my e-mail crashed, but if I may: I didn't say that. Nor did I imply that.

What I said was: If that's the best you can do. . .

Then do the best you can with what you have.

Yes: The second half of this remark is a bit tricky. Apparently too tricky for the Hollywood Machine to figure out because when it comes to source material, specifically graphic novels--the material du jour--Hollywood just cannot figure out to make the most of it

Even when the graphic novel in question is actually a good bit of storytelling.

"From Hell", then, is a hellish effort.

And that, for what it is worth, is not a good thing.

In case you cannot figure out it (and that possibility is distinct) "From Hell" is the often-told tale of Jack the Ripper who, history tells us, killed five prostitutes in the fall of 1888 over a span of 10 weeks in the Whitechapel area of London, then promptly vanished into history. The title for this telling comes from one of the many letters supposedly written by Jack to taunt his would-be punishers.

Now. For those who don't know the tale of the Ripper, a few quick facts: These five murders were linked together because of the way they were committed: The surgical removal of certain parts of the woman's anatomy.

I digress: In this particular telling of Jack the Ripper one Inspector Abberline of Scotland Yard is brought in to solve these gruesome events.

And so begins "From Hell".

More or less.

This particular telling of this particular tale could have been interesting, given the Bros. Hughes were at the helm, but for reasons I will explain momentarily it comes across as yet another bad effort from the Hollywood machine, which apparently believes window dressing and casting will cover all and any shortcomings narratively.