REVIEW: Stephen King's KINGDOM HOSPITAL (light spoilers)(On Tonight)

[Khephra]

They say, write what you know. Stephen King's been doing it for years. Experiences with alcohol and drug abuse, familial worries, and adolescent fears have permeated all of his works; Pet Sematary, The Shining, The Tommyknockers: peek, if you dare, beneath the surface of all the supernatural happenings he weaves, know a thing or two about King's past, and you'll see that he's doing what I've seen teachers preach time and again with a simple four-word phrase: write what you know.

Kingdom Hospital, King's fifteen-hour "mini" series, may be steeped in the medical world but the series' two-hour pilot has offered the author an open door to depict a tragic moment in his life. Within Kingdom's first half hour we're briefly introduced to a successful painter who, one afternoon while jogging on the backroads, is creamed by a reckless driver. Did you get a tingle of deja vu? Well, it's King writing what he knows and what the paralyzed artist experiences in the minutes after his violent introduction to a van's windshield may not have actually happened to ol' Steve, but it's pure King nonetheless: A crow lands on the painter's chest and contemplates the possible meal before him. "I think I'll start with your eyes," we hear the crow think.

Oh yeah, we're in King territory, alright. But just how much?

Seeing as this series is based on Lars Von Trier's The Kingdom, I won't pretend to juxtapose the two because I've never seen the source material, so if that kills any credibility you might have in this review then feel free to stop reading. I can go on the record to say, though, that I did dig Kingdom Hospital's pilot however heavy-handed its quirky nature sometimes is.

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http://www.creature-corner.com/reviews/kingdomhospital.php3

[4morewars]

1. Sounds good to me !!!

I'm taking the dog out now, so we can watch it !!!!

[Old and In the Way]

2. Cool, here's something you might be interested in knowing.

Story is based on the old Plummer Memorial Hospital in Dexter, Maine (my town). Stephen bought the building many years ago and has since sold it. Our local family practice bought the building recently....they claim it's haunted, strange noises and sights, too.

BTW, the opening scene in Creepshow2 was filmed on Main Street in Dexter, though most of he movie was filmed in neighboring Harmony, ME.

[RoadRunner]

3. I'm gunna' watch it!

popcorn too, with butter.

[Tummler]

4. Lars von Trier's "The Kingdom" . . . for Dummies

Dammit, why must Hollywood shit all over every good piece of foreign TV?

The originals ("Riget" and "Riget 2") were incredibly good: original, dark, relentlessly witty, even legitimately frightening.

This new version? It looks like everything else on network TV. It has the same hammy TV acting as everything else on network TV. It's even thrown in the same hackneyed melodrama as everything else on network TV. So what's the point? :shrug:

Through the first 1:30 that's aired tonight, everything good about the American version is taken directly from the original, but network-TV-ified for mass consumption. If there's anything you like about the ABC miniseries, I highly recommend you check out the original Danish version(s).

[Khephra]

5. I'm taping it, as I have work to do

But I loved Kingdom 1 and 2. Very, very creepy stuff. Even the intro was creepy. I knew that it wouldn't be as good as the original going in, but some new fluff would be nice in this vast wasteland of reality tv.

One question: did they keep the Freemasonish group in the new version?

[Tummler]

6. Glad to see another fan of the original

So far, no secret society ...but we're only into Hour 2 of the fifteen hours, and as I recall, the secret society (the REAL secret society, not the harmless, fraternal group of doctors) wasn't introduced in the original for a little while.

I'm surprised they kept the Down Syndrome "Greek chorus" from the original. That's cool. But I can guarantee they won't keep the female nudity and nightmarish Udo-Kier-headed freakbaby.

Bruce Davison is well cast (for a network TV production) as the new version of Dr. Stig Helmer, the insufferable Swedish exile.

Sad thing is, as much as I hate network TV and dumbed-down adaptations, I'm still watching this abortion to see what they do and don't keep from the original. :(

[Khephra]

7. He kept the "Greek chorus" in?

That IS a little shocking to me.

[CapnJackSparrow]

8. Kingdom Hospital

Watching paint peel was more compelling. What a crapfest.

[Enraged_Ape]

16. I agree. It blew.

I really, really wanted to like it, King fan that I am. But it just flat out blew. Slow moving, with characters so freakin' weird and/or frantic that I couldn't get an emotional grip on any of them.

I fell asleep after the first hour, woke up 10 minutes later, saw that I hadn't missed anything, then said to hell with it. Life is too short for this.

[terryg11]

9. thought it looked good

only got to peek at it since I was watching other things but for what it is could be a good show

[Khephra]

10. I still haven't seen it yet, but if it's like the original even a bit

You don't really want to miss any episodes, or you'll soon be totally lost.

[terryg11]

11. taped it

gonna watch it this weekend

am intrigued by the original everyone here is talking about. is it available on dvd or video? or does some cable channel carry it once in a while?

[Khephra]

12. It's on Encore every so often

Kingdom 1 and 2 were both on VHS at one time. That's how I finally saw it.

Now, there's a bit of a problem you should know going in.

There's no ending.

There was supposed to be a Kingdom 3, but one of the major lead actors died and Lars felt that he couldn't go on without him.

It's still worth watching though.

[terryg11]

13. was The Kingdom a movie or short series?

nt

[Khephra]

14. It was originally a Danish (I think) tv series, just like the

US version. Kingdom 1 and 2 are both collections of 6 or 7 episodes.

Subtitled, of course.

Check the foreign section of your video store. You might be able to find it there.

The cover looks like this:

[terryg11]

15. werd

thanks, another useless tv program to keep me preoccupied and waste my time with.

If only I could get bedridden and somehow stll get paid.

[chascarrillo]

17. Excellent translation - don't miss an episode!

Oh, this will be good. Mark my words; the payoff, when it comes, will be well worth the time invested.

The series sticks really close to the original with an added thread that seems to jibe with the rest of the proceedings. This, I think, is recommendation enough. It will be a wonderful treat for American audiences who didn't get the chance to see the original. Kingdom Hospital, like the original, does start off slow - very slow - but that's what will make the series so great. Everything inexorably builds up to a finale that will just blow your socks off.

As far as it being "The Kingdom for Dummies" - eh, I don't care that much. I think the show has kept the original's spirit quite intact, and the more people that can see the story the better. I didn't perceive it as being particularly "Hollywoodized", and I think that any "straight" moments set the viewer up for the fall that will inevitably come some weeks hence.