From Hell: Engraved In Stone

The change to a deep black and white is very striking and fits the mood of the film perfectly. It looks great and gives the film a visual sense of creeping dread. I especially like how dark it was when the woman was grabbed from the shadows and disappears into them. The darker deleted scenes also aid the film in feeling darker and less like a typical Hollywood film.

However, these changes cannot overcome the fundamental flaws that the movie has. This should be a dark and disturbing movie with a low budget and no-name actors to justify its poor box office prospects. Instead there are big name actors so of course the movie has to have Johnny Depp doing his standard eccentric performance and the cliche of the prostitute with the heart of gold. It can't be too disturbing either and there has to be a happy ending. TM2YC succeeds in cutting down the eccentricities, removed the happy ending, and made the mood darker so it's a definite improvement. But the big problem I still have with the movie is that it's rather boring. Mostly we just wait until one of the prostitutes is killed and then Johnny Depp strolls up and says there's a mad doctor on the loose. Since Jack the Ripper's identity is a mystery for most of the movie we either follow the prostitutes which are uninteresting and mostly just drink and bicker or we follow Johnny as he does not very interesting detective work. There's not really much suspense as it's mostly just people wandering down dark cobblestone streets and occasionally dying.

In conclusion, this edit is far superior to the original and has a bold look, but some things just can't be fixed through editing. Based off how well the changes were made and what a difference they make, I recommend the edit on the chance others will enjoy it more than I did.

This was a very strong edit of From Hell. Compared with the original, this is a much grittier, more somber and (dare I say) "Victorian" rendering. The black and white plays beautifully, with some particularly striking city-scapes really selling the environment.

The music plays more strongly, too, with greater resonance.

A couple (small) nitpicks:
1. The name "Jack the Ripper" comes out of nowhere; at first multiple names play out in the public's musings. Then, suddenly, we are talking about Jack with no introduction. This may have been a flaw in the source material - I forget. But it jars.

2. The last murder I believe is a mirrored shot from the original. This is slightly frustrating, as the historical photos of this murder show the lady to have been lying head-right rather than head-left as here. Also an inspector later comments that her *left* arm is draped over her stomach, but last we saw her it was clearly her right arm. I suspect the Editor flipped this scene for aesthetic reasons, and it will probably slip by most. As someone who has been fascinated by the Ripper story in the past, I noticed ;)

3. Skyled noted below that the film in general has a palpable lack of suspense. We aren't really invested in any of the characters, and since Depp is not really ever in any direct danger it plays a bit weakly. This is not TM2YC's fault at all: the film (possibly even the original comic?) suffers from playing to certain beats we know are coming: we know the prostitutes will all be murdered - the only question is when. A stronger script might have overcome that, but alas they missed their opportunity. I think this edit improves on the original's mood vastly, but one will still be relatively unconnected to the characters.


Overall a very strong edit. Unfortunately the original material is still weak enough that this is simply an "enjoyable" film rather than a truly "good" or "great" one. That being said, this is much more artistically bold than the original.

It has been a while since I've seen the original; going to have to re-watch it. I do like the original. I've never read the graphic novel!

So, now about this edit - I really enjoyed the cut; I do love my B&W movies!

This edit replaces the original movie for me.

I didn't like the original movie at all, I couldn't finish watching it and I'm glad I didn't because focusing the story on the whores and giving Frederick Abberline superpowers were terrible ideas that this edit got rid of. now it's one of my favorite films, the deleted scenes that were added are so much better for the narrative.
But I didn't get why to removed the death scene of Frederick Abberline's wife, which actually happened in history although she died 3 months after her marriage and not after having childbirth like what happened in the movie, keeping it will make the ending much more powerful, it will explain why Abberline uses opium, that is my only issue with this edit, this scene could be put after Dr. Gaul asks Abberline for how long he uses opium.

Overall I enjoyed this edit a lot.

I just watched this last night. It's been a good while since I watched the original from hell, so I can't say much as to the changes. I watched with 2 other people, and no one noticed anything out place. I went back to check the cutlist. I never would have guessed how much of the film came from deleted scenes. That's truly invisible editing. Great call on ditching the Manson song. I can't even imagine it over the credits.

The biggest change is probably the colouring.. It's gorgeous throughout, and makes the whole town seem more threatening and cold. There's one shot towards the end where Ian Holm's eyes go jet black like Bela Lugosi, which is reason enough for the change.

Well worth the time, and It'll probably be less time til my next viewing. Well done to Tm2yc.