Continuity mistake: The first time we see the young doctor doing his "lobotomy" in London Hospital (to the girl that was married to Prince Edward), Ian Holm comments on the procedure for some guest as they stand behind a glass window. You can clearly see the young doctor doing the third strike with his hammer in a reflection in the window. The movie cuts back to the young doctor and he is doing the third strike for a second time.
Continuity mistake: When Abberline draws the knife on the board its lines are jagged. When it cuts to different angles of the board the knife is completely different, smooth lines and it seems much larger and it is perfectly aligned on the board.
Factual error: Towards the end of the movie, Mary sends a hand-written note to Inspector Abberline. The 'r' in her name is written in a North American style, where she is European.
Factual error: The scene including the appearance of Joseph Merrick is not correct. The scene shows us Frederick Treves presenting John Merrick to the other doctors. He calls Merrick 'Joseph', but someone corrects him that he should call him 'John'. That is not correct: in real life Treves was the only one who instantly called him John, while his real name is Joseph.
Other mistake: When we see the body of Liz Stride after her throat has been cut, the blood is bright pink. This may be due to the light shining on it, but it's still pink. (Surely by then, the blood would have turned brown after mixing with the oxygen?).
Audio problem: Near the beginning of the film Katie Eddowes tells Mary Kelley 'There's one over there'. As she walks past Martha Tabram and Annie Chapman, we hear some dialogue between them about not having very much luck that night. If you look at all three women, their mouths are not matching the dialogue. They appear to be saying something completely different.
Continuity mistake: When Inspector Abberline is talking to his supervisor and requesting a qualified doctor, his bangs change from shot to shot.
Factual error: The first time you see the Royal London Hospital, the sign says "The Royal London Hospital". In fact, the hospital has only been known by this name since 1990. Before that, and certainly in 1888, it was called The London Hospital. Many people in the East End of London still refer to the hospital as "The London".
Factual error: In the gallery, Prince Albert's portrait has his title as "Duke of Clarence". The movie is set in 1888 and he did not receive this title until 1891.
Other mistake: When The Ripper is with Liz Stride, she drops her grapes in a puddle. When she kneels down to pick them up, she sees him in the reflection holding a knife and standing behind her and to her right. When the shot changes, he is directly behind her, and thus his reflection would not have been visible to her.
Continuity mistake: At the end of the movie when Robbie Coltrane puts the two coins on the eyes of the body, the head imprint on the right coin is not vertical, but when the camera cuts the head of the right coin is vertical.
Continuity mistake: In the opening scene, three people suddenly appear at the bottom of the screen, in the middle of the road.
Suggested correction: This is too vague. The opening scene is (what appears to be) a single tracking shot that moves along several different roads. At no point did I see any characters suddenly appearing at the bottom of the screen in the middle of the road. Even the characters that were digitally inserted into the far background when "London, 1888" appears onscreen are there the entire time the shot is on them.
Other mistake: Towards the end of the film when Abberline is kidnapped, you see the carriage he is in cross a bridge over the Thames. In the distance (beneath one of the arches) you can see a tall illuminated building.
Continuity mistake: When Gull shows Abberline his autopsy kit, Abberline takes out one of the knives and touches the middle of the blade with his hand. In the next shot, his hand has suddenly moved to the top of the knife and he's touching the point with a finger. In the following shot, his hand is on the middle of the blade again.
Continuity mistake: When Ben Kidney and his men interrupt Albert and Ann as they are having sex, Ann covers her breasts with the blanket. When the shot changes, she is shown covering her breasts again. (00:08:35)
Continuity mistake: Immediately after Abberline arrives at the yard where Annie Chapman's body is found, there is a shot of a photographer taking a picture of the scene from a nearby building. This shows Abberline's coat and hat already hanging from the fence. The shot changes, and we are then shown Abberline actually hanging them on the fence. After this, the position of the hat and coat vary in different shots, sometimes being very close together, other times with a noticeable gap between them.
Plot hole: Early in the film, we learn that the former prostitute Annie Crook is married to and has an infant daughter (Alice) with Prince Edward Albert Victor. Secretly outraged, Queen Victoria dispatches various high-ranking operatives to eliminate this potential royal scandal. To that end, Prince Edward Albert Victor is secreted away, and his wife Annie Crook is kidnapped and barbarically lobotomized. We then learn that he baby, Alice (who was fortunately in the care of two other prostitutes at the time of the kidnapping), was sent to live with the parents of Annie Crook, no doubt saving the baby's life. That is the last time we hear of baby Alice until near the end of the film, where we are puzzled to learn that Alice was not sent to live with her grandparents at all, as stated earlier. Rather, the prostitute Mary Kelly took baby Alice away from an orphanage to raise as her own. No explanation is offered for this discrepancy.
Deliberate mistake: Frequently during the movie, British surgeons are referred to as "Doctor". In Britain, surgeons are always referred to as "Mister"; this is a hold-over from the surgeon's non-medical past (barbers, etc). This would likely be confusing to American audiences.
