Please, allow me to set the scene, curtains please! 1888, the Whitechapel area of London. Prostitutes are being meticulously butchered one by one. Sound familiar? No, this isn't the premise to Harry Potter's next adventure, it's the latest Jack The Ripper incarnation brought forth through the generously creative minds of the Hughes Brother's (Dead Presidents, Menace II Society), From Hell. If you're looking for a history lesson, well you've come to the wrong place mister. Although some of the names may sound familiar, and the historical techniques of the murders may be accurate, the rest is pure fiction. Pure fiction that is utterly entertaining from pretty much start to finish. Murdering prostitutes has never been this much fun, this I can almost guarantee (not a guarantee).

From Hell begins as we're introduced to a fine bunch of English working girls (that's prostitutes to you and me), and at the head of the pack is Mary Kelly (Heather Graham). As if life wasn't hard enough in the slums for these fine gals, they're harassed by a crime lord kind of guy named Mcqueen (David Schofield), things is tough all over it seems. It takes an unexpected and brutal murder to shake things up around here and Scotland Yard sends in their finest, Inspector Fred Abberline (Johnny Depp), to get to the bottom of things. Unfortunately, good 'ole Abberline only wants to get to the bottom of a glass of Absinthe and a pipe of opium. Abberline pulls a Frank Black from Millennium or Cordelia from Angel hat trick with his psychic visions of the murders before they happen, clever huh? Bottom line is this, Abberline has to get to the bottom of these murders and quick, as dead hookers start popping up faster than you can say (in a Cockney accent) "Freshen yer drink for ya gov'nah?" It's fairly important that I don't say anything else, (I think they're watching me) as there's really nothing else you need to know except that the word artistic license is not to be taken lightly as it's used from this point forward 'till the bitter end.

As I write this I see that it's coming across as if I didn't care for the film too much, which is the farthest thing from the truth. I enjoyed From Hell very much and found the story line and surprises to be quite satisfying. The Hughes brothers have truly created a unique look for this film, and From Hell turns out to be quite the visual
treat. There is some really slick camera work and a few of the murder scenes come across as being extremely brutal and creepy. In the commentary they speak of much more gore ending up on the cutting room floor, unfortunately in the 20+ deleted scenes this extra bloodletting is nowhere to be found. No big surprise here. Once again, I'm not complaining, as there is a slit throat that should satisfy even the most jaded gore-hound.

The transfer of From Hell on DVD is a mixed bag at best. For the most part the transfer is quite satisfying. Bright sharp colors and little to no print damage, with the occasional slight blemish popping up here and there. There is however some slight artifacting in a few of the darker scenes. It does become a bit troublesome as it creeps up on you, however, in all fairness the artifacting is minor, and is only present in a few of the much darker scenes. I found the 5.1 and DTS tracks to be comparable with the DTS track having a bit more "umph" if you will, especially present in the deep bass. The surround tracks are effective, but I would have enjoyed it more if they were a bit more spatial. As it stands you can pretty much pinpoint in which speaker particular sounds are coming from. I would have expected the sound to actually fill the room a bit more, as it stands the sound is more than acceptable but it didn't blow me away as I though it would (just chalk it up as another one of life's little disappointments, pity me).

This is a special edition after all, so let's talk extras. I usually don't place my enjoyment of a title based on the extras, but they're worth mentioning nonetheless. Fox has given us plenty to digest with this release, so here come the lesbians! Err, I mean, here come the supplements!

Disc One
20+ deleted scenes and an alternate ending (w/wout Director's) commentary

Feature Audio Commentary w/ Directors, screenwriter, cinematographer and actor Robbie Coltrane

Disc Two
Jack The Ripper: 6 Degrees of Separation "Interactive Investigation" 30+ minutes
12 minute featurette on Production Design
10 minute featurette on the From Hell Graphic Novel
10 minute featurette on Absinthe
8-minute tour of the murder sites on set
15 minute HBO Featurette hosted by Heather Graham

From Hell Trailer
Unfaithful Trailer

As you can see the list appears to be impressive, but when you put a time factor on everything, there's really not too much here to sink your teeth into. I found the featurettes to be mildly entertaining, with the "interactive" investigation to be more annoying than anything else. Basically it's a brief documentary on The Ripper and all throughout the running time, a magnifying glass pops up, and we're supposed to hit enter on the remote to get to even more info. After the new info is given we jet back to the regular documentary for more info and more magnifying glasses, ugh! This is not interactive; this is a pain in the ass! Just give me all the info and let me watch my damn documentary! Sheesh! ::this ends my supplemental rampage::

OK folks, I guess you want the bottom line. It's good. The film is highly entertaining with some very cool, disturbing, and creepy visuals. The extras are mildly entertaining and worth a look. 20 deleted scenes? Well, you'll soon find out that they were deleted for a reason. Not to be looked over if you're in search of some cool and creepy modern horror. Fox has done From Hell justice with a very nice 2-Disc DVD set.