MovieChat Forums > From Hell (2001) Discussion > this is the most factually incorrect mov...

this is the most factually incorrect movie ever

posted 16 years ago by tfalc62
57 replies | jump to latest

first of all there was only four deaths. william gull was never proved to be the killer and was not sent to a prison. frederick aberline never loved any of the victims. frederick did not have an opium addiction. frederick did not die as young as his character did in the book he died at age 86. jack the ripper was never found. frederick did not have that much incounter with william gull. even if this is just fictional it was still way over done. the horror was not needed at all. the stupid horror just took away from the plot. although i love johnny depp this has to be one of his worsts because the ending was ridicuos as well.

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] MovieJunky101 16 years ago

from what I heard they tried really hard to make the bodies look as close to the actual murders as possible. . . except the last one

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] lu5518 16 years ago

Actually there were five deaths. Mary Kelly was the fifth.

Plus, this is adapted from a graphic novel. So you really oughta take it up with the authors of that piece of literature.

[–] matineeidyll 16 years ago

It may not have occurred to you that the filmmakers never intended to portray an accurate account of the murders - they changed a lot of things for the sake of drama.

Go take a step outside - see what's shaking in the real world.

[–] cookiela2001 14 years ago

<< MATINEEIDYLL: It may not have occurred to you that the filmmakers never intended to portray an accurate account of the murders - they changed a lot of things for the sake of drama. >>

Yes, I agree. The audio commentary on this film is interesting. The project took 4 or 5 years to develop and went through about 5 drafts as a screenplay, so the directors were VERY aware of what the actual murder site facts were, etc. But, for instance, they wanted the Ripper's shadow to fall across Mary Kelly's bed as he came through her doorway, but that wouldn't have happened with the way the real-life furniture was arranged. So they moved the position of where the bed would be. Keeping all the facts absolutely correct wouldn't necessarily have made it a more enjoyable film to watch.

<< SNAZZY442: a lot of good arguments as to why it wasn't correct here, but you all forget the most important one: The victims were NOT friends. They didn't even know eachother in real life. >>

We do not know that the victims were not friends. They all lived and worked in the same profession within the same small area within Whitechapel, and probably drank at the same pubs, etc. It actually makes more sense to theorize they were at least somewhat familiar with each other than totally unaware of each other. It's possible they were friends, just as it's possible they were not.

[–] There_Is_No_Sayid 16 years ago

Actually it's generally considered that there are a "canonical" five victims of Jack the Ripper and some place the number even higher. There were actually a disturbing number of women being murdered and/or mutilated in the East End of London in the late 1880s and it's hard to know exactly who was victims of whom.

The TRUE Hero of Lost:
http://tinyurl.com/by5gwr

[–] redai02-1 15 years ago

And, um, of course it's innaccurate. One, it's a movie, two, it was based off a graphic novel (which was vastly different), and 3, it's whole being based on the Queen being the perpetrator is another one of those conspiracy theories...sorry folks. Movies usually aren't made for historical accuracy. Did Titanic teach you nothing? :)

The Masses are @sses

[–] There_Is_No_Sayid 14 years ago

The graphic novel is actually pretty accurate. Aside from the farcical masonic plot aspect and stuff associated with it, Moore went to some pains to make sure that stuff was accurate or at least could have been accurate (he admits, for example, to having no way of knowing about the sex life of Alois and Clara Hitler but certainly Adolf could have been conceived at the time of the murders)

"Unless Alpert's covered in bacon grease, I don't think Hugo can track anything."

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] legwax-1 14 years ago

This movie actually had more accuracies than originally thought. When I studied Jack the ripper at school we were not allowed to watch the movie because it was considered considerably inaccurate and a work of fiction rather than fact. However, since then I have had an interest in this case and the more I discover the more this film appears to have got a lot of details right, plus the murders themselves were never witnessed, so noone has ever known exactly how they happened.

There were 7 murders during 1888 called the 'Whitechapel muders', however only 5 of these were attributed to 'Jack'. (Personally, I have doubts about Elizabeth Stride being killed by Jack The Ripper as she didn't quite fit with the other murders in the way she was killed and the events of this murder).
Inspector Abberline was never said to have had an opium addiction, however, opium dens were very common in victorian London so it was very likely that he had visited one on occasion.

As for Jack the Ripper being found in the movie, they couldn't exactly end it true to life because essentially it has never ended as he was never found. It's a film, so they have to wrap it up at the end and give the audience a feeling of completion.

I have to agree with you on the ending, not what I was expecting at all. It was quite a clever thing to think of though. I have actually just discovered that the ending was not completely the work of the writers. A man called Joseph Sickert has been credited as claiming it was not Mary Kelly killed in Miller's court, it was a friend of hers.

[–] beckapoe 14 years ago

I guess we'll never know for sure if Jack did kill all 5 known victims and if he had some others (like Martha Tabram).

That being said, yes the OP is true.
I read alot of good arguments as to why it wasn't correct here, but you all forget the most important one: The victims were NOT friends. They didn't even know eachother in real life.
And Mary Kelly actually lived with her boyfriend at the time of her murder, but he wasn't at home that night.

Though, I don't think the movie ever claimed to be a true story. It's fictional based on a true story.

http://www.youtube.com/ChristinaRicciLover

[–] legwax-1 14 years ago

There is actually a possibility that Catherine Eddowes and Mary Kelly knew eachother. Catherine Eddowes body was identified by a man named John Kelly who had been living with her for 7 seven years. This man could have been MAry Kelly's husband whom she was estranged from.

[–] captkirk_4 14 years ago

The minute I saw all those "high society" types conspiring together I knew this movie was B.S. The most probable explanation is that the Ripper was someone who was a regular in the area. Someone whose presence would not attract attention during the hysteria as the case went on. Someone the girls felt comfortable going off with knowing full well a murderer was on the loose, perhaps a previous customer? Gacy had been with hundreds of hustlers in the neighborhood he took his victims from, the murders could have been a final escalation. I don't think the killer need be "an educated man" or "an anatomist," more likely a lowlife, perhaps smart, but not successful in life.