From Hell

[The Great Quail]

Thomas writes about From Hell:

>Quite OK. Very stylish. Provides a nice solution to
>the Jack-the-Ripper-mystery, and, for a Hollywood
>movie, a lot of social, historical, cultural, medical
>details and background. All of this is certainly taken
>from Moore and Campbell's graphic novel.

It was a good movie, very steeped in style and Victorian excess. (And 
yeah, the drug scenes were great!) On one level, I loved it; but on 
the other hand, it really only took a few elements from Moore's 
graphic novel. The graphic novel is a modern masterpiece, 
kaleidoscopic in scope. The film didn't just dumb it down, it gutted 
it.

The best example I can think of is the film of "The Name of the 
Rose." A good movie in its own right, but only an echo of the real 
thing. So I would advise those thinking of reading the Moore work to 
see the film first; you will probably like it better that way.

Pynchon related bit: Alan Moore is a Pynchon fan, and one of his 
characters is seen reading "V." in his 1984-like graphic novel, "V 
for Vendetta."

--Quail