Synopsis:

From Hell: Engraved In Stone' is now less of an exploitation whodunnit than the original and more of a disturbing portrait of moral and political corruption at all levels of 1888 London society.

Intentions:

Writer ALAN MOORE and artist EDDIE CAMPBELL's 1996 comic 'FROM HELL' is, at 572 pages, one of the longest, most detailed, richest and most complex books in the medium. So it didn't come as a surprise to many that the two hour 2001 FILM ADAPTATION failed to live up to the source. To be fair to the film's directors, THE HUGHES BROTHERS, they were faced with the formidable task of adapting something that would be practically unfilmable at a conventional length. The comic was a dark and disturbing look into the mind of JACK THE RIPPER, who we knew from the start. But the film was a straight whodunnit with a proxy Holmes and Watson and a romantic subplot tacked on. Some of the casting choices were very poor yet some were outstanding including the film's lead JOHNNY DEPP. But his efforts were for nought, as his character Abberline had been given magic powers to see into the future, rendering him a joke.

Change List:

I present my attempt to edit the film into something closer in tone, content and emphasis to the comic. Obviously in narrative and structural terms the film cannot be altered enough to make it fit the source, the gulf is just too wide. I have however removed the magic powers, removed the happy ending, toned down the romantic subplot and radically reordered the scenes. This film is now darker, bleaker and riddled with human corruption. I give you... 'FROM HELL: ENGRAVED IN STONE'." Cuts and Additions: Sadly I've decided not to do my usual "complete" cutlist, as the amount of changes are too numerous and the recutting and reordering of scenes is too extensive to contemplate the time it would take. However, here is a brief list of the major changes... - 20 of the 22 deleted scenes cut back in (Almost all being of a darker tone) - Order of many scenes radically re-arranged - Film converted to high contrast B&W* to render the film more sombre and timeless - Pop-video-style editing techniques have been removed where possible - Abberline's magic powers are gone - Abberline's backstory removed. His depression and addiction is just who he is now and not as a direct result of a personnal tradegy - Godley's unlikely attack on special branch removed - Poor performances removed or minimised - Heather Graham is no longer a primary focus of the film** - Gull, Prince Albert and Queen Victoria play a more significant part earlier on - Many of the "Happy" moments have gone to keep the mood dark - Dodgy dialogue such as Depp saying "Knob" have been trimmed - Netley is now a more ominpresent spectre of death - Without spoiling it, the film's ending is now less "picture-postcard-happy" - The final scene now plays out without dialogue to heighten the unspoken emotion - Credits music changed to something more appropriate in tone and lyrical content (It no longer features a drum 'n' bass remix of Marilyn Manson...ffs!) * Due to the soft/low-contrast/high-saturation of the original DVD image, this has caused some visual noise in the blurrirer backgrounds in some shots as I had to be very aggressive with the contrast to get the look I was after. ** She now becomes more important as the film goes on in a natural way, due to the deaths of the other characters and other factors. Kind of like the emergence of Ripley in 'Alien'. FANEDIT LENGTH: 109 MINUTES ORIGINAL LENGTH: 117 MINUTES 20 DELETED SCENES RESTORED TIME ADDED: 22 MINUTES / TIME REMOVED: 30 MINUTES

Additional Notes:

So for this edit the tone has been made as dark, frightening and oppresive as possible. The romantic subplot has been toned down, the ending changed and magic powers removed. The film has also been converted to high-contrast Black&White to render it more sombre and timeless.

Other Sources:

FROM HELL - 2-Disc Region2 PAL DVD HOPE THERE'S SOMEONE by Antony and The Johnsons ASLEEP by The Smiths

Special Thanks:

Thanks to all those who contributed to the From Hell thread.