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From Hell | fromhell_l
'HELL'-RAISER Depp elevates the tension
From Hell: Jurgen Vollmer

Credits

Release Date: Oct 19, 2001; Rated: R; Video Release Date: May 14, 2002; Genres: Crime, Mystery, Thriller; With: Johnny Depp; Distributor: 20th Century Fox Film Corporation
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By Ty Burr
Ty Burr
Ty Burr
Ty Burr is a writer at large for EW and is no relation to Raymond or Aaron

What's the difference between suspense and horror? One is sensing, the other is seeing; one is expectation, the other is follow-through; one leaves the bloody details to your imagination, the other shows that imagination can fall pitifully short. From Hell is the latter, laying the body parts on the table: The Hughes brothers' interpretation of Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell's comic-book interpretation of the Jack the Ripper myth is pretty much ''Seven'' by way of ''The Alienist.'' Alternating perverse Victorian curlicues like police inspector Johnny Depp's taste for opiates with graphic throat-slitting and disemboweling, ''Hell'' mixes freemasonry, the Elephant Man, and a really bad Heather Graham performance into a steam-punk freak show that vibrates with dread.


Posted May 14, 2002
 

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