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The last week of April is a sad time for movies. It is usually when the studios quickly brush films under the carpet that have few box office prospects to be quickly crushed by the giant mechanical behemoth robots and superheroes that rule the summer season. While some films play for counter-programming (The Five Year Engagement, The Pirates! Band of Misfits), others are a last ditch attempt at earning some return on investment. This weekend’s The Raven, which falls closer to the former, looks to me the most interesting choice.

Starring John Cusack as Edgar Allen Poe, The Raven has V for Vendetta director James McTeigue fictionalizing the poet into a detective. This version of Poe pursues a serial killer whose murders mirror those Poe writes in his stories. Set in 19th century Baltimore draped in shades of pitch black and blood red, The Raven looks like a dead-ringer to the 2001 genre-crossing sleuth flick, From Hell (just a peek at their posters, and they look like they could be for the same movie). I have always wanted to see From Hell and since none of the films released had a particular connection to the same-weekend ten or more years prior, I thought I would bend my rules a bit and talk about this mid-October Johnny Depp starrer.

Adapted from the Alan Moore (Watchmen) and Eddie Campbell nearly 600 page graphic novel opus, From Hell is a highly visual film that surrenders its depth for its beauty. Directed by the Hughes Brothers (Menace II Society and Dead Presidents previously, The Book of Eli after), I would classify From Hell as a drama. Although it is about the infamous, prostitute-murdering Jack the Ripper, it is not a slasher/thriller. Even with the story focusing upon Inspector Frederick Abberline (Johnny Depp) finding the Ripper’s identity, it is not a mystery. Despite featuring a group of prostitutes (led by Heather Graham), the movie is never romantic or steamy. A clunky two hour Frankenstein monster of genres, From Hell never burns up the screen like it should, instead being too busy trying to be hip and stylish.

Depp leads the film as a Sherlock Holmes-like detective who has clairvoyant breaks in the case when he goes on Opium benders. Robbie Coltrane plays Sergeant Peter Godley, an underwritten Watson, who basically restates in layman’s terms Depp’s analysis of the crime scene.

Graham plays the most platonic prostitute ever put to film. Fairly well characterized, Graham’s Mary Kelly is annoyingly stubborn, but at least adds some sass to the stuffy screenplay adapted by Terry Hayes (Mad Max 2 & 3, Vertical Limit) and Rafael Yglesias (Dark Water, the Liam Neeson-starring Les Miserables).

Critics lambasted the screenplay for far-flung historical inaccuracies; however, I wouldn’t necessarily fault the film for this, being based off of a graphic novel. But like this week’s The Raven, having a historical figure (even though with a complete personality revamp) front and center is just a method used to draw in the audience and trick them into feeling a sense of false realism more easily.

The kills are bloody, yet shot in quick cuts that lessen their brutality (although the after images are haunting). The first murder, where you can only see the silver blade flinging through the air, is tense and chilling. However, the visual inventiveness cannot carry the entire movie, especially when such an unimpressive script is kneecapping it.

The cast does a fine job, but Graham is the weakest link, being overly bawdy. Although not her fault, her red hair is so brightly dyed that it looks more appropriate on top of Rihanna’s head rather than on someone in 1888 England.

Falsely advertised to be in the same vein as Depp’s Sleepy Hollow from 1999, From Hell couldn’t get audiences to bite in the same way (in fact Hollow’s opening weekend was almost the same as Hell’s overall total).

Made for $35 million (an impressive figure given the film’s nice visual polish), From Hell was given the short end of the stick by Fox, only putting it in 2,305 theaters. Opening with a so-so $11 million, this was still enough to debut on top. With really no legs, by Thanksgiving, the film was practically out of theaters, wrapping up with a disappointing $31.6 million ($44.3 million today). Depp’s next film would be Pirates of the Caribbean.

Given the liquid genre, here-and-there performances, and sometimes polarizing visuals, reviews were mix-and-match. Some critics gave it cheers (Roger Ebert) while others gave it jeers (Peter Travers). To stronger visualize this point, among Top Critics on Rotten Tomatoes, the film rests at a near split at 52%.

Working as an atmospheric drama, From Hell is heavenly. As a mystery, thriller, and especially as a horror film (although I feel like only the marketers tried to make this film fit that genre), Hell leaves a lot to be desired.

With an amicable cast and game directors working with the best they are given, From Hell is a failed attempt, but certainly with us given its interesting visual take on a tired tale and genre-bending fearlessness that looks to be all the rage this summer, starting with The Raven and continuing through June with Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.

An overly calculated plot that leaves little looseness for the viewer to toy with who the culprit is (my finger pointed to the guilty character less than halfway in), From Hell is needlessly downbeat and sometimes hammy. With an interesting subject matter and an aesthetic spark, From Hell doesn’t burn up in flames as quickly as it could have thanks to a sturdy foundation provided by Depp’s performance and the competent Hughes Brothers helming.

Verdict: With us
5 out of 10