"One day men will look back and say I gave birth to the twentieth century."     
                                                                                                              Jack the Ripper                                                               

The story of Jack the Ripper is as familiar as the tale of Red Riding Hood. That was until the Hughes brothers discovered Allan Moore's graphic novel and decided to resurrect the most notorious and enigmatic serial killer in history, who committed five heinous, ritualistic murders during a ten-week span in London in the fall of 1888, creating a frenzied atmosphere of gossip, rumour and terror, and was never caught.

The notion of a Crown conspiracy in the Jack the Ripper murders has long been advanced by various factions in Europe, where the case holds as much fascination for the British as does the JFK assassination for Americans. Royal responsibility is espoused in Alan Moore's acclaimed 1999 graphic novel From Hell, originally published as a ten-part series in the anthology periodical Taboo. The strips, which feature drawings by artist Eddie Campbell, were optioned by producer Don Murphy ("Natural Born Killers").

"Alan Moore is the dean of graphic novelists," says Murphy. "I am a comic book fan and have admired his work for years. I was immediately hooked by From Hell without even realising at first that it was about Jack the Ripper. It's a brilliant, complex and obsessive story, well documented with extensive research and pages of footnotes."

Moore's novel was adapted into a screenplay by Terry Hayes and Rafael Yglesias, with the latter viewing the conspiracy angle more metaphorically.

Terry Hayes has worked as writer and producer for both film and television in the U.S. and Australia. As a screenwriter, Hayes worked on such notable films as "The Road Warrior," "Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome," and "Payback". He also wrote and produced the feature film "Dead Calm," and "Flirting," which garnered the 1990 Australian Film Institute Best Film award..

Rafael Yglesias has written screenplays for the films "Fearless," based on his own novel, "Les Miserables" and "Death and the Maiden." For television he wrote "Rising Son."  Born in New York to parents who were novelists, Yglesias dropped out of school at age 16 to travel and write his first novel. He has authored eight books.

"Whether the British monarchy was literally involved in the Ripper murders doesn't diminish the power of the accusation levelled at the ruling class," says Yglesias. "That the authorities refused to even consider the possibility the suspect might be wealthy speaks volumes about the Victorian era. Society's ills were viewed exclusively as the fault of the poor and the lower class."

'From Hell' is a departure for the Hughes brothers, known for contemporary inner- city dramas -  Dead Presidents, Menace II Society, American Pimp.  Their affinity for the Ripper story stems from the climate of 1888 London. The city's vast disparity of wealth produced masses of poor and indigent, many of whom congregated in an area known as Whitechapel. The dirty, steamy slum was a haven for drug use, prostitution, alcoholism and random street crime.

Says Albert Hughes, "This is a ghetto story. It concerns poverty, violence and corruption, which are themes we deal with in our movies because they fascinate us. These particular characters happen to be white, but all poor people have the same problems.

"What also intrigued us was the psychology of Jack the Ripper - his behaviour  and the hysteria he incited."

Allen Hughes states, "Previous accounts of this story have been antiseptic, told from the eyes of the prim upper class. We're revealing it from the perspective of the people who lived in squalor, in the neighbourhood where this terror was inflicted."

Johnny Depp, who is very familiar with the case, remarks, "Before Jack the Ripper, there were a few hundred newspapers in London. At the height of his murder spree, thousands of additional papers emerged." Jack the Ripper, created in part by the press, became its first "tabloid star."  Depp's interest in the Ripper story dates to childhood, when he voraciously read numerous books and articles on the subject. "I was always attracted to things on the darker side, especially when I was young," he says. "I must have some 25 books, maybe more, on the case. There are so many theories, any of them could be correct. It's impossible to know. I've always thought it would make a great movie if very carefully done."

It was, in fact, the Hughes brothers' meticulous approach that enticed him. The directors have been fascinated by the infamous murders since age seven, when they saw a profile of the Ripper in an episode of Leonard Nimoy's "In Search OF" "It was so scary that it has stuck in our heads," says Allen Hughes. "We've since absorbed everything about the case we can - books, movies, documentaries..."

When the Hughes met Depp six years ago to discuss another project, they happened to causally mention they were also developing a film about Jack the Ripper. Depp told them he was a "Ripper freak" and asked to read the script. Recalls Depp, "I really liked it. I thought it was great. Then suddenly, years later, I get a call from them. 'How would you like to play Abberline?`

Having been 'blown away" by the Hughes' "Menace II Society" and "Dead Presidents." Depp says he was also impressed with the brothers' subject knowledge. 'Allen and Albert have a great passion for the material and have done more research than almost any other director I've worked with," he remarks. "I'm very familiar with the story, I know the right questions to ask, and they know the answers."

Jack the Ripper, of course, was never apprehended. It is the mystery of his identity, his daring to commit heinous murders in public places, and his ability to slip back into the night that has intrigued the public for more than a century

In retrospect, the Ripper's claim that he gave rise to the twentieth century, ushering in a new era of pulp press and cult of celebrity, has been borne out. British tabloids were instantly enamoured with the story, which has since become legend.

trivia From Hell was filmed in Prague, where the Whitechapel district was meticulously re-created on an open field.