Surprisingly incoherent and boring

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Stonehearst Asylum is an uneven gothic thriller relying on several well timed twists. I did think it descended into silliness a bit too often but I guess the final twist maybe explained that off.The film takes apart the treatment of the insane in late 19th century Britain. The opening scenes take place in Bethlem hospital which led to the derivation of the word bedlam. Eliza Graves (Kate Beckinsale) is a mental health patient prodded and probed rather unmercilessly by the doctor who supposedly cares for her.Later on a young enthusiastic medic, Doctor Edward Newgate (Jim Sturgess) arrives at the remote misty Stonehearst Asylum. He is to work with Dr Silas Lamb (Ben Kingsley) who has for the time an odd and kindly approach to the treatment of the insane. However Newgate finds that some of the staff are behaving strangely and later discovers that the lunatics are running the asylum. Somewhere among the ongoing madness Newgate takes an interest with the beautiful Eliza Graves but he needs to escape for his own safety.The film is based on an Edgar Allen Poe short story but it is a bit too flabby, relies too much on the cruel treatment of the insane and then settles on stereotype behaviour from the inmates. There is enough of a story though to give it a pay off and makes you see why that it attracted a cast that also includes Michael Caine and Brendan Gleeson.

This film seemingly passed me by, so I was so glad to accidentally stumble across it, I'll say categorically that this is a superb movie. It boasts a tremendous cast, with phenomenal performances in particular from Ben Kingsley and Kate Beckinsale. It boasts fantastic scenery and production values, 1889 is truly brought to life with fabulous costumes and macabre devices. It's a fantastic story, full of suspense and mystery, you feel a sense of unease from the very beginning.Wonderfully dark and sinister, it starts of at a fairly casual pace, but as it develops it becomes more intriguing. Very dark matter, but remains engaging without becoming maudlin. You will keep on asking who the bad guys actually are.If you've ever wondered what happens when the patients take over an asylum this film is for you. 9/10

From a master of mystery & suspense, comes a journey into the dark depths of the mind......well not exactly.This is based on a short story by Edgar Allan Poe, "The System Of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether." The term here is "based". Because they've tagged on Poe's name they've made it into the horror genre without making a horror film. In fact. there's not much mystery or suspense in this movie either.Don't get me wrong this is a solid story with a great cast of British actors, including good performances from Kate Beckinsale as Eliza Graves, Ben Kingsley as Silas Lamb, David Thewlis as Mickey Finn, Jason Flemyng as Swanwick, and Jim Sturgess as Edward Newgate. Brad Anderson also does a good job of bringing out the performances of the cast and setting a decent atmosphere within the confines of the asylum, not as unsettling and mysterious as it should have been, though.There was plenty of settings and scenes where Anderson could have created tension and suspense, which could have added an oppressive atmosphere to the asylum, making the film stronger and a little darker. For me, this film was too light and required more sense of mystery, given the synopsis of the story - there could have been twist on twist. However, the main storyline was the blossoming love story. This annoyed me as the stronger elements were pushed to the side and even ignored - with all that is lacking in this film, I believe it's more drama than anything else.That said the story was okay but it was the good acting, direction, and location. which kept my attention and my finger from hitting the stop button.A good film but could have been so much more.Worth a watch while cuddled up with your loved one on the sofa. A watch once movie.

This is a decent film with some good performances. It isn't earth shattering but it does have good points.There's no loud intrusive noise, otherwise known as 'music'. Ben Kingsley is suitably menacing and clearly the star of the film while David Thewlis is a suitably menacing supporter if only seen a couple of times. Kate Beckinsale does well as the wrongly (?) committed love interest though strangely none of the villains, nor anyone else, seems to notice her connection with the good 'Doctor' Newgate or that she seems to be totally sane. Jim Sturgess does what Jim Sturgess does and that doesn't need much acting.But the film takes a long time to get going, at least the first 60 minutes are rather slow. From then it becomes more interesting though it does still seem to be a little episodic.The film claims to be based on a short story by one of the great short story writers, Edgar Allan Poe, but adapting a story of a few pages to the 'Big Screen' is always fraught with difficulty. This one goes down as a reasonable, though somewhat uninspiring, attempt, although the ending is unexpected and well done.My vote is lifted to 6 only by the villainous performance of Ben Kingsley as the whole film eventually becomes rather too ridiculous. Kate Beckinsale, supposedly a gentile lady of the first half of the 19th century, head-butting an aggressor really doesn't work.It is watchable and not a bad film. However, it is far from a great one.