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Laramie Movie Scope:
From Hell

Once more, with feeling, Jack the Ripper

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by Robert Roten, Film Critic
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October 27, 2001 -- Jack the Ripper is back on the screens in time for Halloween this year in a creepy, moody, slow-paced film that adds no new angles to this well-worn legend. The story is based on the historical unsolved murders in London's Whitechapel district in 1888.

There have been so many books and films made about these murders, supposedly the work of a single serial killer, that most of the facts, as well as many of the common suppositions, theories and legends about these murders are well-known. Some of the things that are well-known include the theory about the killings resembling Masonic rituals (Masons, sadly, are the object of some of the oldest conspiracy theories around), that the killer may have been related to the royal family, that the killer may have been a doctor, that there was a conspiracy or cover-up, etc. This film travels over the same, threadbare fabric.

About the only thing new in this retelling is that a detective assigned to the case, one Inspector Frederick George Abberline (played by the very talented Johnny Depp of "Chocolat") has drug-induced precognitive visions about the killer. Abberline is assisted by wise and supportive Sergeant Peter Godley (Robbie Coltrane of "The World is Not Enough"). Abberline also gets some unexpected help from Sir William Gull (Ian Holm of "Bless the Child"), a physician to the royal family.

The Ripper targets prostitutes. Those on the hit list may include Mary Kelly (Heather Graham of "Bowfinger"), Annie 'Dark Annie' Chapman (Katrin Cartlidge), Elizabeth 'Long Liz' Stride (Susan Lynch), Catherine 'Kate' Eddowes (Lesley Sharp) and Polly (Annabelle Apison), who are all friends. The story answers all the questions of who the killer is and why he chose the particular victims and why they were killed in such a strange way. It is all tied up in a neat package with an appropriate dash of justice in the end. If only life were that neat. We've seen enough serial killers in our own century to know there is no neat explanation for these kinds of killings. The explanation usually remains locked in the inscrutable insanity of the killer's mind. There is no vast conspiracy, just a lone killer, methodically killing one person after another.

The film, directed by the Hughes brothers, Albert and Allen ("Dead Presidents" and "Menace II Society"), tells the tale as a kind of class warfare in what amounted to a London ghetto. Women, prostitutes in particular, occupied the very bottom rung of the social ladder. We see the filth and squalor of their lives in graphic detail and how they are preyed upon by all manner of scum. There is also a focus on the drug culture in the film. Illegal drugs like heroin were legal in those days. The film establishes a very dark, sombre mood through the use of dim lighting, muted colors and a relentlessly downbeat story emphasizing hopelessness and helplessness. One after another, the women are torn apart, their corpses desecrated. It is all quite artistic, but sick, exploitative and pointless at the same time.

Johnny Depp is a fine actor and he does a good job in this film. While Robbie Coltrane is a supporting actor in this film, he makes the most of his time on the screen. He conveys a lot of wisdom and compassion in those superbly-acted reaction shots of his. Writers Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell give him some fine Shakespearean lines to work with, too. Ian Holm steals the show in a very powerful performance as the doctor to the royal family who is utterly convinced of his own virtue despite evidence to the contrary. As much as I admire these actors, and the artistry of production designer Martin Childs (who designed and supervised the construction of a complete 500-foot by 500-foot Whitechapel set in the middle of a field) and the cinematography of Peter Deming ("Mulholland Drive" and "Lost Highway"), their talents cannot not raise this seamy project above mediocrity.

This is a horror film that is not scary. There is not much shock value in the brutal slayings because the film shies away, tastefully so, from graphic gore and violence. What we are left with is an indirect look at the horror of the crimes. There is a love story as well, but it too muted to leaven the rest of the plot. Inevitably, the film settles into a mood of pervasive gloom as it descends into voyeurism, fatalism, predictability and finally, ennui. This is neither enlightening or entertaining. It is an exercise in style with little substance. The film cannot quite divorce itself from, or rise above, the base exploitation of these poor murder victims. Instead, they are exploited again, as they were in 1888. This film rates a C.

Click here for links to places to buy this movie in video and/or DVD format, the soundtrack, books, even used videos, games and lots of other stuff. I suggest you shop at least two of these places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.

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Copyright © 2001 Robert Roten. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.
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Robert Roten can be reached via e-mail at my last name at lariat dot org. [Mailer button: image of letter and envelope]

(If you e-mail me with a question about this or any other movie or review, please mention the name of the movie you are asking the question about, otherwise I may have no way of knowing which film you are referring to)