Kingdom Hospital
Genre: Horror Television Series
Year: 2004
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Format: Anamorphic Widescreen
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
Movie Length: ~13hrs
Movie Size: (4-disc set)
Director: Craig R. Baxley
Distributor: Sony Pictures
DVD Release Date: October 12, 2004
MSRP: $49.95 | Click For Best Price |
Kingdom Hospital is one of those horror television series which in my opinion, is a classic. It's one of those movies where you plan a particular day to just lounge around the house, relax, and watch a slow-paced series. Kingdom Hospital could have been reduced by maybe four or five hours, but why do it.
Stephen King adapted this series from Lars von Trier's The Kingdom, which I highly recommend to see as it is much more serious. King decided to get a little wacky with this series and it works in some cases, but in order to fully enjoy King's nasty sick humor, don't expect it to play out appropriately in a television series made for general audiences. Unfortunately, this is one of the major problems why King's movies don't have as much "One-Two Horror Punch" as we all would like. Why some of these movies aren't given the proper theatrical treatment and slapped with an "R" rating is beyond me. Surprisingly though, I still find myself watching these types of series and enjoying them for what they are. A television series.
The series begins with Peter Rickman (Jack Coleman) taking a jog down a Maine road and is hit by a not-so-smart individual attempting to prevent his dog from eating his just bought steak.
Since Kingdom Hospital is under the writing expertise of King, we aren't too surprised to find out the hospital is based in Maine, and has been the area of two historical fires dating back to the Civil War. These fires were due to some terrible incidents, which is why the progression of some rather strange events at Kingdom Hospital are becoming more apparent.
 
The key events happening at Kingdom Hospital center around a little girl Mary (played by the quite talented and future super actor Jodelle Ferland--who by the way, has over 35 appearances and roles at the age of 12) who witnessed a mass murder at a mill where Kingdom Hospital now stands. Jodelle is a great actor, and I expect her to do very well in motion pictures as she matures. She somewhat revised her role from this miniseries in Silent Hill, which I also recommend.
Once Mary's secret is found out (and after many appearances at the hospital with her anteater friend Antibus), the pretty well orchestrated cast has a mission to set things right.
 
Overall, I really liked the miniseries. It is one of the longest Stephen King television made, which is why I recommend watching this on a weekend when you're winding down from hard week's work.
About The DVD
The audio was fine but I did notice colors were subdued because of the apparent over-filtering of the dark atmosphere. I would've hoped to see a little more color brought out.
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Overall Score
7.83
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