Dr.
Silas Lamb certainly understands the pluses and minuses of corporal punishment and
anesthetizing drugs as treatment for lunacy. He is after all based on the
superintendent of Poe’s short story “The System of Dr. Tarr and Prof. Fether.”
He will indeed reveal a revolutionary and irreversible new treatment to his naïve
young colleague. Yes, there has been the proverbial reversal of positions in
the remote mental hospital, but the standard of care has arguably increased in
Brad Anderson’s Stonehearst Asylum (trailer here), which releases on
DVD and BluRay today, from Millennium Entertainment.
Idealistic
Dr. Edward Newgate has arrived at Stonehearst determined to talk his way into a
job. He has a passion for psychiatric medicine that duly impresses Dr. Lamb,
even though he was not expecting a prospective assistant. Although he talks a
progressive game, Newgate is rather shocked by Lamb’s indulgent methods. Several
of the patients even perform nursing duties and dine with the staff at night.
However, he is even more preoccupied with Eliza Graves, the abused wife of a rich
and powerful society scion. For her own protection, Lamb promises to keep her
safely committed. Of course, Newgate has his own ideas regarding Ms. Graves
that become ever more confused when he discovers the real staff chained up in
the dungeon.
It
goes without saying, but Stonehearst would
have been so much more awesome if it had been made by Roger Corman. Anderson
and the design team get the trappings right, but they never properly convey an
atmosphere of gothic dread nor a flair for cheeky camp. It is sort of like a
middling BBC historical drama set in a nut house.
Still,
Sir Ben Kingsley gets a spirit of things rather admirably. He certainly is not
bashful when it comes to chewing on scenery and freaks out quite convincingly
when he has to. Unfortunately, Jim Sturgess and Kate Beckinsale make pretty
vanilla Victorians as Newgate and Graves, respectively. Michael Caine and
Brendan Gleeson have their moments as more conventionally problematic
alienists, but there is only so much they can do. Even David Thewliss seems to
be forcing matters as the malevolent groundskeeper known as “Mickey Finn.”
