From Hell

From Hell is a graphic novel by writer Alan Moore and artist Eddie Campbell speculating upon the identity and motives of Jack the Ripper. The title is taken from the first words of the "From Hell" letter, which some authorities believe was an authentic message sent from the killer in 1888. The work is dense, multilayered and immensely detailed; the collected edition is about 572 pages long.

The film

Moore's and Campbell's book was filmed in 2001 by the Hughes Brothers. It was first released on September 8, 2001 at the Venice Film Festival.

Related Topics:
2001 - Hughes Brothers - September 8 - Venice Film Festival

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This film has been criticised for altering many details of the source (such as changing Abberline from a hardworking, conflicted police officer into a psychic who induces visions via opium) and remaking the complex story into a whodunit. It received mixed reviews and performed rather poorly at the box office, earning only $31.6 million in domestic receipts for a budget of $35 million.

Related Topics:
Psychic - Opium - Whodunit

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As usual with film adaptations of his works, Alan Moore refused to be involved with the script.

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Another difference between the comic and movie involved a dispute between Moore and Campbell. In the appendix to the comics, Moore reveals that he and his co-author had strong disagreements about the personality of Queen Victoria - namely, Moore believed she was quite capable of ordering cold-blooded murders, while Campbell insisted she must have worked through an intermediary. Although Moore had his viewpoint presented in the comic, in the movie, Victoria uses an intermediary, Lord Salisbury. In this and other respects the film is closer to being a remake of the 1978 Jack the Ripper thriller Murder by Decree than an adaptation of the graphic novel.

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Starring:

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• Johnny Depp - Inspector Frederick George Abberline
• Heather Graham - Mary Kelly
• Ian Holm - Sir William Withey Gull
• Jason Flemyng - John Netley
• Susan Lynch - Liz Stride