M o v i e R e v i e w From Hell charms with lighthearted escapism By Dave Stinton

The heartwarming Johnny Depp/Heather Graham film From Hell is a brief sojourn into a happier time in history, a "Merrie Olde England" where the most dangerous thing to worry about was Jack the Ripper. Jack the Ripper murdered 5 women over the course of 3 months in 1888, the kind of leisurely pace that typified the modest, friendly killings of a bygone century. The surgical precision with which the killer removed his victims’ organs showed a soothing and methodical concern for each conquest. Why aren’t today’s murderers so thoughtful and brave? Depp plays police inspector Fred Abberline. His addictions – to opium, laudanum and absinthe – are downright adorable, and his struggles with them are guaranteed to give you warm fuzzies. When the first victim is found, murdered with a savagery that borders on sweetness, Abberline is on the case. And now the "meet-cute!" In his investigation, Abberline falls in love with Mary Kelly, a prostitute (Prostitutes! Remember those?) played by Heather Graham. He gains her trust, and she guides him through the lovely and quaint slums of London. The corpses pile up (if you can call five corpses a pile!), and the tension mounts. Can Fred and Mary make it work? And will they put a stop to Jack the Ripper’s mischievous pranks? (By the way – you might want to book your trip to London’s destitute Whitechapel district now; I have a feeling vacationers will be flocking there in the near future!) From Hell is just the escape our battered country needs. I left the theatre awash with happiness, and it was hours before the dread returned to the pit of my stomach. From Hell stars Johnny Depp, Heather Graham, Ian Holm, Robbie Coltrane Directed by Allen & Albert Hughes Rated R for strong violence/gore, sexuality, language and drug content.