"This is Kingdom Hospital. Which stands on uneasy ground. Here, the cold and damp have returned. And as the gate swings open, The Dead may also return."
In the late 1800s, a mill which employed mostly slaves and such burned to the ground, but not before killing a bunch of kids who were trapped mysteriously inside. Kingdom Hospital was built on the land where the mill once stood. Ghosts might be haunting the hospital, employing a staff with their fair share of quirks.
As with any series brought to the screen by Stephen King, there are alternating story lines featuring a big cast. You have a famous painter, Peter Rickman (Jack Coleman) suffering a serious accident(damaged spine and brain, broken and fractured bones) when he's hit by a motorist in a van whose attention was diverted by his mutt fooling with the driver's food. A hypochondriac, Sally Druse (Diane Ladd) habitually returns time and again to Kingdom Hospital with new ailments much to the chagrin of her son who works there. The new chief of neurosurgeons, Dr. Stegman (Bruce Davison) is a grumpy, grouchy jerk that the staff loathes (and a group of hecklers harass). The maintenance man is supposedly out while his replacement isn't particularly concerned with fulfilling the tasks required of the job. The head of the hospital, Dr. Jesse James (Ed Begley Jr.; who is a hoot) is more concerned with how much his hospital can profit through whatever means necessary, as well as, stick his thumb in his mouth, blowing, stretching forward his index finger as if inflating a balloon. The switchboard operator and security guard, Otto (Julian Richings) who watches the monitors (..when he isn't dozing or his mind is focused on other matters *besides* the cameras) has these strange glasses for his far-sightedness that enlarge his eyes to enhance his weirdness. Eccentric surgeon, Dr. Hook (Andrew McCarthy), has a way with words when on the job, especially when opening the skull of a patient during delicate head surgery—despite his skills, Hook is not necessarily a stickler for rules and policy, as evident when he okays a MRI, knowing that only the chief of neurosurgeons has such a right.
You have a collection of characters, given little developments as an appetizer for the series to come. The Kingdom Hospital itself is quite a character as well. A particular elevator stops every once in a while, not an explanation can be offered for such mechanical behavior. The area where Kingdom Hospital stands suffers from periodical tremors. A ghost girl can be spotted from time to time by certain characters that are susceptible to her presence. An anteater, drawn on canvas by Peter, visits the painter from time to time, like at the scene of the accident that nearly kills him or at the hospital as he lies stabilized in a bed, his neck in a device to keep him from further damage to his spine. Hook has a hobby during break time as he likes to drive a cart in an abandoned hall towards the bottom of the hospital. Sally, considered a burden by members of the hospital staff, thinks the hospital is haunted and wants to perform a séance, in the elevator during an instance where it stops, sensing a presence near. Other characters, such as Dr. Elmer Traff (Jamie Harrold), seemingly on the staff thanks to his father who also works at the hospital (I'm really not sure what his role on the staff is since he seems reluctant to help Hook during surgery and is not exactly a hands-on type of employee, getting easily distracted and often oblivious to important matters needing his attention) and Dave Hooman (Ryan Robbins) as the pill-popping wreck who hit Peter with his van and fled the scene, feeling someone is in his house during a later moment in this inaugural movie setting up the rest of the series. I'm just anxious to see where all these story threads lead to as Peter awakens from quite a doozy of a coma, able to move some of his extremities and at least address people in his room. Director Craig R Baxley (who directed other Stephen King miniseries like "Rose Red" and "Storm of the Century") has quite an impressive cinematic style(I love how he maintains a sense of foreboding and danger in the hospital, while implementing odd camera angles and close-ups of the many interesting faces in his cast at important times) and the editing keeps the show humming along, but it is ultimately the strange goings-on that will compel me to continue to watch. Peter's hallucinations are bizarre (the talking anteater and raven, not to mention this dark corridor he travels down encountering odd visions) and I thought this movie's best, most macabre moment came when a paralyzed Peter is at the mercy of a raven peering down at him from a tree branch, eventually landing on his chest (Peter's eyes telling as much as his horrified thoughts). Peter's condition is eerily similar to an incident that nearly killed Stephen King himself, giving the accident extra potency.
In the late 1800s, a mill which employed mostly slaves and such burned to the ground, but not before killing a bunch of kids who were trapped mysteriously inside. Kingdom Hospital was built on the land where the mill once stood. Ghosts might be haunting the hospital, employing a staff with their fair share of quirks.
As with any series brought to the screen by Stephen King, there are alternating story lines featuring a big cast. You have a famous painter, Peter Rickman (Jack Coleman) suffering a serious accident(damaged spine and brain, broken and fractured bones) when he's hit by a motorist in a van whose attention was diverted by his mutt fooling with the driver's food. A hypochondriac, Sally Druse (Diane Ladd) habitually returns time and again to Kingdom Hospital with new ailments much to the chagrin of her son who works there. The new chief of neurosurgeons, Dr. Stegman (Bruce Davison) is a grumpy, grouchy jerk that the staff loathes (and a group of hecklers harass). The maintenance man is supposedly out while his replacement isn't particularly concerned with fulfilling the tasks required of the job. The head of the hospital, Dr. Jesse James (Ed Begley Jr.; who is a hoot) is more concerned with how much his hospital can profit through whatever means necessary, as well as, stick his thumb in his mouth, blowing, stretching forward his index finger as if inflating a balloon. The switchboard operator and security guard, Otto (Julian Richings) who watches the monitors (..when he isn't dozing or his mind is focused on other matters *besides* the cameras) has these strange glasses for his far-sightedness that enlarge his eyes to enhance his weirdness. Eccentric surgeon, Dr. Hook (Andrew McCarthy), has a way with words when on the job, especially when opening the skull of a patient during delicate head surgery—despite his skills, Hook is not necessarily a stickler for rules and policy, as evident when he okays a MRI, knowing that only the chief of neurosurgeons has such a right.
You have a collection of characters, given little developments as an appetizer for the series to come. The Kingdom Hospital itself is quite a character as well. A particular elevator stops every once in a while, not an explanation can be offered for such mechanical behavior. The area where Kingdom Hospital stands suffers from periodical tremors. A ghost girl can be spotted from time to time by certain characters that are susceptible to her presence. An anteater, drawn on canvas by Peter, visits the painter from time to time, like at the scene of the accident that nearly kills him or at the hospital as he lies stabilized in a bed, his neck in a device to keep him from further damage to his spine. Hook has a hobby during break time as he likes to drive a cart in an abandoned hall towards the bottom of the hospital. Sally, considered a burden by members of the hospital staff, thinks the hospital is haunted and wants to perform a séance, in the elevator during an instance where it stops, sensing a presence near. Other characters, such as Dr. Elmer Traff (Jamie Harrold), seemingly on the staff thanks to his father who also works at the hospital (I'm really not sure what his role on the staff is since he seems reluctant to help Hook during surgery and is not exactly a hands-on type of employee, getting easily distracted and often oblivious to important matters needing his attention) and Dave Hooman (Ryan Robbins) as the pill-popping wreck who hit Peter with his van and fled the scene, feeling someone is in his house during a later moment in this inaugural movie setting up the rest of the series. I'm just anxious to see where all these story threads lead to as Peter awakens from quite a doozy of a coma, able to move some of his extremities and at least address people in his room. Director Craig R Baxley (who directed other Stephen King miniseries like "Rose Red" and "Storm of the Century") has quite an impressive cinematic style(I love how he maintains a sense of foreboding and danger in the hospital, while implementing odd camera angles and close-ups of the many interesting faces in his cast at important times) and the editing keeps the show humming along, but it is ultimately the strange goings-on that will compel me to continue to watch. Peter's hallucinations are bizarre (the talking anteater and raven, not to mention this dark corridor he travels down encountering odd visions) and I thought this movie's best, most macabre moment came when a paralyzed Peter is at the mercy of a raven peering down at him from a tree branch, eventually landing on his chest (Peter's eyes telling as much as his horrified thoughts). Peter's condition is eerily similar to an incident that nearly killed Stephen King himself, giving the accident extra potency.
