From Hell (film)

In 1888, Mary Kelly and a small group of London prostitutes trudge through unrelenting daily misery. Their friend Ann Crook is a former prostitute now married to a wealthy painter named Albert, and she recently gave birth to their daughter, Alice. When Ann is kidnapped, the women are drawn into a conspiracy with links to high society. Ann's kidnapping is followed by the gruesome murder of another one of the women, and it soon becomes apparent that each of the prostitutes are being hunted down one by one, murdered, and mutilated post-mortem by a killer referred to as Jack the Ripper.

The prostitutes' murders grab the attention of Whitechapel Police Inspector Frederick Abberline, a brilliant, yet troubled, man whose police work is often aided by his psychic "visions." Abberline is still grieving the death of wife during childbirth two years prior. His colleague, Sergeant Peter Godley, tries to grasp his friend's strange theories. Abberline's investigations reveal that an educated person, likely knowledgeable in human anatomy, is responsible for the murders due to the highly precise, surgical methods used.

Ann is soon located in a workhouse, having been lobotomized after doctors supposedly deemed her violent and insane. It is heavily implied that this was done to silence her.

Abberline consults Sir William Gull, a physician to the Royal Family, drawing on his experience and knowledge of medicine. During this meeting, it is revealed Abberline is struggling with opium addiction. Gull's findings, coupled with his superiors impeding his investigations, point Abberline to a darker, more organized conspiracy than he originally thought. Abberline becomes deeply involved with the case, which takes on personal meaning to him when he and Mary begin to fall in love.

Abberline deduces that Freemason influence is present in the murders. His superior, a high ranking Freemason himself, opposes Abberline's methods and suspends him from the case. Thereafter, Abberline persists and discovers that Gull is the killer. Gull was instructed to dispose of all witnesses to the forbidden marriage of painter Albert Sickert's to Ann Crook, the mother of his legitimate daughter, Alice. In a plot twist, Sickert is revealed to be Prince Albert, grandson of reigning Queen Victoria. Albert is dying of syphilis, which makes baby Alice the soon-to-be heiress to the British throne. Gull boasts to Abberline that he will go down in history for giving "birth to the 20th century." Abberline draws his gun, vowing that Gull will never see the 20th century, but before he is able to shoot Gull, he is knocked out by Ben Kidney, another Freemason.

The Freemasons try to eliminate Abberline without leaving any witnesses, but Abberline fights back and kills two of the assassins by overturning a carriage. Abberline rushes to save Mary but arrives too late, and blames his superior for not helping him or Godley on the cases. Gull's increasingly sinister behavior lends an insight into his murderous, but calculating, mind. Rather than publicly charge Gull, the Freemasons decide to lobotomize him to protect themselves and the Royal Family from the scandal. Gull defiantly states he has no equal among men, remaining unrepentant up to his lobotomy, resulting in him becoming an invalid like Ann.

Abberline goes to the Ten Bells Tavern in Whitechapel and receives a mysterious letter, which he soon realizes is from Mary. It is revealed that Gull had mistaken another prostitute, Ada, for Mary and killed her instead. To protect Mary, Abberline decides not to look for her, as the Freemasons are still watching his every move. He burns Mary's letter, knowing that he can never have a normal life with her.

Years later, Mary is shown to have adopted Alice, and the two are living in a cottage on a cliff by the sea. Sergeant Godley finds Abberline dead of an opium overdose. Distraught, Godley places British coins with Queen Victoria's image over Abberline's eyes, pats him on the arm, and mournfully says "Good night, sweet prince."

The film took a number of years to go into production, with two studios putting it into turnaround before it found its home at Fox. The Hughes Brothers originally wanted Daniel Day-Lewis to play Abberline.[4] Later, in a 1997 interview, Alan Moore stated that Sean Connery had been cast in the role.[5] When Connery dropped out, the Hughes Brothers met with Brad Pitt and Jude Law, before deciding to cast Johnny Depp.[6]

Principal photography began on June 5, 2000[7] in and around Prague, Czech Republic and at Barrandov Studios, on a massive backlot set recreating the 19th-century Whitechapel district of London.[8] Additional exteriors were filmed in the United Kingdom, including Crackington Haven and Boscastle in Cornwall, and at Goldings estate in Hertfordshire.

Nigel Hawthorne was originally cast as Sir William Gull,[9] but on July 26, 2000 it was announced that Hawthorne had withdrawn from the role, due to terminal cancer. He was replaced by Ian Holm.[10] The disparity in height between Hawthorne and the much shorter Holm led to some of the scenes being changed.

Marilyn Manson originally intended to work with the film's composer, Trevor Jones, to remix portions of the score for use within the film.[11] It proved impossible to do this work before the film's release date, so Manson instead contributed a remixed version of his song The Nobodies, which plays over the film's end credits.[12]

The film was released by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment on DVD on May 14, 2002.[18]

• From Hell letter
• Murder by Decree
• Jack the Ripper

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