From Hell: Movie Review, DVD Review, Blu-ray Disc Review (2007)

Directed by Albert Hughes and Allen Hughes, written by Terry Hayes and Rafael Yglesias, 137 minutes, rated R.

Albert and Allen Hughes’ “From Hell” wouldn’t be nearly as effective without its dark, richly effective atmosphere, which is soaked in a heady mix of Gothic and Victorian excess.

From its claustrophobic shots of gaslit streets, blood-red skies, freshly cut corpses, and syphilitic whores slinking in the slums of London’s Whitechapel district circa 1888, the film is a violent mood letter sent to shock the senses.

Inspired by the story of Jack the Ripper, the legendary psychopath who terrorized London for 10 weeks in 1888, “From Hell” is a speculative account of who Ripper was and why he went on his bloody killing spree, gutting five prostitutes before vanishing to become one of history’s favored enigmas.

Based on the graphic novel by Alan Moore and Terry Hayes, the film follows Frederick Abberline (Johnny Depp), an opium-addicted inspector from Scotland Yard whose trippy dreams have the power of helping him solve crimes.

Because of his psychic gift, Abberline is enlisted to track down Ripper, who’s viciously murdering prostitutes for their genitalia, which he brutally removes for a gruesome keepsake.

But why a keepsake? As the body count rises and the blood begins to flow, Abberline’s investigation takes him to the highs and lows of London society, where he infiltrates a secret group of Freemasons, befriends Queen Victoria’s physician (Ian Holm), and meets a pretty prostitute named Mary (Heather Graham) who--if Ripper has his way--won’t be flashing her angelic smile for long.

A film that looks this great can’t help building expectations; certainly, you hope, the quality will extend to the characters, performances and story. But with the exception of a few individual scenes, “From Hell” never rises to the brilliance of its cinematography or to the superbness of it sets; it may look otherwise, but it’s never anything more than a camp melodrama filled with cartoonish characters straight out of “Sweeney Todd.”

At 137 minutes, it’s too long by a third, meandering when it should race, racing when it should linger. But where the film truly sinks is when it reveals Ripper’s identity, which has the stink of unlikeliness all over it.

Depp and Graham are problematic--there isn’t a moment when their romance doesn’t feel like a Hollywood contrivance. They have no chemistry together, no spark, which isn’t much of a surprise considering their one-dimensional characters are as soulless as Ripper himself.

Grade: C-