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.
From Hell (2001)
1 plot hole - chronological order
Directed by: Albert Hughes, Allen Hughes
Starring: Johnny Depp, Ian Holm, Heather Graham, Robbie Coltrane
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.
Jack the Ripper: I shall tell you where we are. We're in the darkest region of the human brain, a radiant abyss where men go to find themselves.
Netley: I don't understand, sir.
Jack the Ripper: Hell, Netley. We are in hell.
Question: Why is it a "known fact" that Mary Kelley was killed by Jack the Ripper? Her murder differs in many ways from the others. She was killed indoors, she wasn't wearing any clothes, her body was so savaged that she was unrecognisable. The other murders took place outdoors with victims fully dressed and only partly savaged. Considering the number of violent deaths that took place in London at this time (most of them by slashing the throat) she could have been murdered by anybody. I know Abberline was called to the scene of the crime but that doesn't prove the Ripper actually did it and Abberline was called to more murder scenes than just the five official Ripper ones. What makes people so sure that Jack the Ripper killed Mary Kelley?
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Answer: As the Ripper was never caught and interrogated, it can never be said with absolute certainty that Kelly was one of his victims. Her death does, however, fit the pattern of Ripper murders quite well with regard to time, general location, methodology and class of victim. There was also a noted trend of increasing levels of mutilation as the murders went on, so, while the damage was considerably more extensive that the previous killings, that also fits with a noted trend of the Ripper murder - it's also worth considering that, as Kelly was apparently his final kill, he may well have wanted to sign off with a particularly grand statement, hence the extreme level of mutilation to the body. This would also explain why the attack uncharacteristically took place indoors - what Jack had in mind for Kelly would take a considerable period of undisturbed time, more than could be guaranteed in an on-street attack. It's also believed that Jack had been interrupted during the murder of Elizabeth Stride on his previous night of violence some weeks earlier - this could also have led him to alter his modus operandi to ensure that this would not be repeated. So, no, it cannot be stated categorically that Kelly was a victim of Jack the Ripper, however the evidence suggests a high probability that this was the case, enough so that many people consider this to be a fact.
Tailkinker ★
It wasn't Mary Jane Kelly.
The question pertained to the real-life Ripper murders, not what we see in this film. It was indeed Mary Kelly in real life.
Phaneron ★