Stonehearst Asylum, directed by Brad Anderson and written by Joe Gangemi, is adapted from Edgar Allen Poe’s short story, “The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether” about patients in an insane asylum who overthrow and imprison the hospital staff. Most impressive is the film’s cast, touting some of England’s best talent. Jim Sturgess stars as bright-eyed Oxford graduate, Dr. Edward Newgate, who has come to Stonehearst Lunatic Asylum to gain clinical experience. He arrives on Christmas Eve of 1899 and is given a tour by ice cold superintendent Silas Lamb (Ben Kingsley); there he meets the beautiful Eliza Graves (Kate Beckinsale) as well as the rest of a motley crew of nutty live-in patients who run freely about the hospital in a rather unorthodox method of treatment.
It is soon revealed that the real superintendent is not Silas Lamb but rather Dr. Salt (played by Michael Caine), who is locked down below with the rest of the doctors, doomed to grovel for rations until death and disease set in. By the time Newgate discovers them, it’s too late. He has fallen too deeply in love with Ms. Graves to leave, and must find a way to rescue the entire asylum from impending disaster.
Anderson is a genre aficionado by now, with edgy thrillers under his belt such as Transsiberian and The Machinist. So it comes as a surprise that Stonehearst takes a more straightforward approach, straddling the line between thriller and romance; neither of which are so deeply felt to merit one label over the other. In love, Sturgess and Beckinsale both carry their roles with sympathy and humanity, while guarding dark secrets just beneath their evening dress. In horror, these gritty underpinnings are a little too well hidden to achieve the limits that Stonehearst could have explored. To see Sturgess and Beckinsale dip more frequently into their demons might have added dimension to both genre elements of the film.
But the plot carries the film well, despite its slight aimlessness, as can be expected from any Poe adaptation. There are shocks and twists, accompanied by beautiful asylum visuals that never cease to please. The main delight of the film, however, is Ben Kingsley’s performance as the deranged, self-appointed head of Stonehearst. He is calm and fearsome, wild-eyed and sympathetic; he is exceptionally theatrical in the best possible way.
Overall, Stonehearst Asylum is an excellent addition to a horror watch list. Don’t expect it to be like any Anderson film you’ve seen yet, but don’t let that discourage you. It is a good-time foray into lies, petticoats, and electroshock therapy with solid performances and a twist ending that only the likes of Poe could devise.
