Kingdom Hospital
Kingdom Hospital
Review By: Staff
Staff@TheCinemaSource.com
Kingdom Hospital
Let's face it: once you hear the name Stephen King in
conjunction with any film project, you get a bit apprehensive. While
he is a prolific writer, and he has certainly been involved with a few
big winners (i.e. Carrie, The Shining, It), his films/miniseries are also
notorious for being all-too-frequently poor quality (think of
Tommyknockers and The Stand). The Kingdom Hospital DVD release contains the entire miniseries, which turns out to be not as bad as I had
anticipated.
Something about this show gets you hooked right from the
start. Director Craig R. Baxley is skilled at keeping the suspense
level up and making you curious to find out what happens next – after
all, it takes talent to keep an audience focused and interested for 15
hours in a plot that flows around a comatose artist, a paranormal
anteater and a bizarre hospital staff. The cast and crew themselves
have described the show as "ER on acid,"Â and "a supernatural black
comedy."Â If it sounds peculiar, well, it is, but in a good way.
The cast also provides a good backbone to the series. Everyone
does an excellent job portraying their specific characters, all of
whom blend together to generate one weird hospital – full of psychics,
malpracticing doctors, ghosts, murderers, fainting nurses, and a
secret society – to name a few. Bruce Davidson is quite convincing as
the harsh and arrogant Dr. Stegman, Diane Ladd plays the clairvoyant
Sally Druse with ease, and Andrew McCarthy"¦..well what can I say about
him except that he reinforces how life works in mysterious ways: one
minute you are young and hot in Pretty in Pink, and the next thing you
know 20 years have gone by and you are playing an eccentric middle-
aged doctor! But all irony aside, Kingdom Hospital is very well cast.
Sure, there are a good amount of legitimate criticisms to be
made. At times, for example, it seems as though the suspense is just
dragging on forever, and the end will never come! The mysterious,
supernatural twists and turns get so muddled at points that it's
pretty confusing. Also, there are some not-so-subtle similarities to
other films/shows which prove to be distracting and somewhat annoying.
A lot of the overall mood, the music, and atmosphere from Kingdom
Hospital is just too reminiscent of Six Feet Under (somber, dealing
with a lot of death and weirdos). There are other blatant influences
that shine through too well – Donnie Darko, or any one of a plethora
of ghost movies. However, the apparent emulation of these other works
for the most part adds to the drama and success of the series.
Many of the usual Stephen King techniques and characteristics
are present in Kingdom Hospital. The cheesy and sometimes overly-
setting, the signature style of suspense that keeps you wondering and
interested all are present. And of course the blatant self-referencing of Stephen King (for instance people reading Stephen King books) and the cameo from the man himself -
in Kingdom Hospital he plays Johnny B. Good. These are the elements
which remind the audience who they are dealing with.
Still, it is certain that the influence of Danish
writer/director Lars Von Trier (Dogville, Dancer in the Dark) has a
good deal to do with the appeal and quality of the miniseries. He
gives King's work a boost, making it more visceral, mature, and
effective then a lot of King's less triumphant films. The direction is
also a good contribution, done by Craig Baxley in every episode. It is
clearly well thought out and precise.
The special features are also quite extensive, giving a good
deal of behind-the-scenes information, cast interviews, and a look at
the series' special effects. It's definitely impressive, and if you do
watch the entire set of episodes, it's worth it to see how a lot of
the show was made – there are actually some surprising facts given in
these interviews.
I'll be honest, I expected this to be a bomb, and I never
thought that I would actually want to finish all these episodes, but I
was wrong. The acting and overall story of Kingdom Hospital definitely
scores points. However, the fact that it does drag on a bit and certain
aspects are somewhat unoriginal makes it lose a few points as well.
For anyone who has a lot of time on their hands and is looking for an
attention-grabbing suspense/horror/mystery series to get into, this is
a good choice. I also think that anyone who has frequently enjoyed
Stephen King's work before will likewise appreciate this one.
Nonetheless, don't expect a masterpiece – just go in with an open mind
and you won't be disappointed.
Series Grade: B-
DVD Grade: B+
Overall Grade: B