Stephen King Presents-
Kingdom Hospital:
The Entire Series
(Columbia Tristar Region 1 NTSC DVD)
(2004)
review by Head Cheeze

Lars Von Trier's creepy Dutch cult mini-series, "The Kingdom", serves as the inspiration for Stephen King's latest forray into televised horror, Kingdom Hospital. Marketed more as a proper television series than a finite extra long (15 hours plus) mini-series, Kingdom Hospital failed to catch on with viewers. It's quirky concept-a cross between ER and The Shining-proved to be something of a challenge for mainstream television audiences, and ABC pulled the plug on the show after its first season. However, King's tale had already been told, and it is now presented on DVD for those who missed it the first time around.

Set in a hospital that was built on the site of a tragic 19th century mining accident, King introduces us to his usual rogue's gallery of richly painted characters, including the mysterious and conflicted Dr. Hook (McCarthy), the confused psychic Sally Druse (Ladd), the paralysed artist Jack (Rickman), and the wise-cracking sadist, Dr. Stegman (Davison). All of these characters are bound together by the ghost of a young girl who died on the grounds decades before, and they must work together to solve the mysteries of Kingdom Hospital.

The series is much more deliberate in its pace than any of King's previous adaptations, making it much more like one of his novels. I suppose this is one of the fringe benefits of episodic television, as it allows King's version of the story to unfold in a satisfying way, offering up ample scares, but also allowing for some very deep character development, and even a bit of traditional medical show melodrama. Kingdom Hospital is also very funny in a very dark way, and features fantastic performances by the ubiquitous Davison (X-Men) as the quasi-evil Stegman, as well as Ladd's delusional and paranoid psychic, Sarah. The show's production values are of extremely high quality, especially for a television series, with some convincing CGI work, effective make-up, and a cinematic look overall. My only gripe is that Kingdom Hospital moves a bit slow at times (just like a King novel!) and seems to go out of it's way to be weird for weird's sake, rather than just let the weirdness find it's way into the story naturally (as it does much of the time).

The DVD set from Columbia Tristar features the entire series over four discs, commentary tracks featuring King, Baxley, and others, as well as four featurettes. It's a well-stocked set, especially given it's somewhat budget price tag (under $40 bucks for nearly 16 hours worth of material).

Fans of Stephen King will most likely want this for their collection. Don't be thrown by the fact that it's a "television" series (or that it was cancelled by the network as this is a complete story with a beginning, middle, and end. No cliffhangers here!). This is a very competent production with really solid production values, performances, and writing all around. Just think of it as a really long mini-series or an absolute epic horror film, and give this one a spot on your shelf.