From Hell
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation | Release Date: October 19, 2001 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
54
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 32 Critic Reviews
Positive:
15
Mixed:
10
Negative:
7
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
38
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
A visionary sort of horror movie should ponder three words: "Bram Stoker's Dracula."
40
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
It is deeply unpleasant to see women abducted, tortured and eviscerated by a methodical and meticulous butcher. Read full review
67
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
A tug-of-war between a bracing vision of a truly infernal crime spree -- complete with engaging whodunit storytelling -- and a sometimes clumsy period drama. Read full review
80
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
Ambitious, visually stunning and hugely accomplished.
38
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
Feels stagy, stiff and entirely unnecessary. Read full review
60
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
An astonishing act of synthesis, bringing together disparate Ripper theories and a fiercely idiosyncratic version of London's history, architecture, policing and social structure. Read full review
40
Film ThreatHeather Wadowski
Could have been a beautiful and suspenseful thriller, lukewarm performances make the film just another movie to add to one's "rent-it-when-it-comes-to-DVD" list. Read full review
50
USA TodayStaff [Not Credited]
With almost as many subplots as corpses, the movie maintains its mild watchability only because the Ripper saga still engrosses. Read full review
60
The New York TimesA.O. Scott
So beautifully realized as a mood piece that it takes a while for a slight disappointment to register. Read full review
88
New York PostLou Lumenick
Gripping and stylish thriller. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderLisa Alspector
Labyrinthine yet oversimple, the story seems to hide a more provocative one. But perhaps this is the nature of the beast. Read full review
80
L.A. WeeklyF. X. Feeney
Their discretion makes From Hell less a horror movie than a classical film noir. Read full review
67
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
It's by far the most violent, most clinical and most sumptuously atmospheric. Read full review
63
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
An amazing physical specimen, beautifully photographed and edited. If you think of it as your own opium dream, you may dismiss the lousy story as a mere side effect. Read full review
20
Rolling StonePeter Travers
The Hughes boys blow it by burying a fine cast -- Robbie Coltrane as a cop and Ian Holm as a royal sawbones are standouts -- in stock scares, sappy romance and cliches that really are from hell. Read full review
38
Boston GlobeJay Carr
What the Hughes brothers have come up with is, to borrow another phrase from that bygone age, a penny dreadful.
80
VarietyDerek Elley
Surprisingly conventional Olde London Towne gaslight mystery, gussied up with some doctored visuals, and an eccentric performance by Johnny Depp. Read full review
80
New Times (L.A.)Gregory Weinkauf
A visionary breakthrough for the young directors, a darkly alluring and largely successful attempt to crowd the territory of Roman Polanski and Dario Argento. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
There's no bite or sting, nor is there a single moment when the film is anything close to scary. It isn't ever engaging, either; it's a dull, sluggish bum-out. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMark Caro
Lacks the energy and urgency of its source material.
75
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
Depp gives yet another introspective, slightly mopey performance -- Graham never begins to act (and never has begun, as far as I know). But they're surrounded by an authentic, first-rate English cast.
40
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
A visual tour-de-force; it's just that there's not much else to sink your teeth into once the pretty colors fade from view. Read full review
20
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Feels razor thin. None of the characters is particularly noteworthy. And the revelations of deep-seated conspiracy in the usual privileged, closed circles are hackneyed and tired. Read full review
100
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Sensational and accomplished. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
The movie feels dark, clammy and exhilarating -- it's like belonging to a secret club where you can have a lot of fun but might get into trouble. Read full review
30
New York Magazine (Vulture)Peter Rainer
The only note of authenticity in the movie comes from Ian Holm, playing the royal physician. What is this nuanced performance -- at least until the final fireworks -- doing in this twaddle? Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleBob Graham
Mystery skillfully evokes Victorian London's dark depths. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
The movie works well as a straight-out horror yarn, proving that the Hughes Brothers are more versatile than their previous "ghetto pictures" suggest. Read full review
70
Washington PostStephen Hunter
It's not a great movie by any means, but it grips tighter than a chokehold and it cuts as deep as a knife. Read full review
80
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
Superbly shot around Prague -- From Hell is even more stylish than gruesome -- it has the lush decrepitude of an autumn compost heap or an old Hammer werewolf flick. Read full review
30
SalonCharles Taylor
A brain-dead version of a dark and complex work. Read full review
60
Mr. ShowbizCody Clark
The movie's most glaring flaw is that the brothers and their screenwriters, Terry Hayes and Rafael Yglesias, don't manage to preserve the secret of the Ripper's identity for nearly as long as they intend to.
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