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| Dr. Lamb (Ben Kingsley) “treats” Dr. Newgate (Jim Sturgess) in “Stoneheart Asylum.” (Millennium Entertainment) |
With a title like Stonehearst Asylum and the spooky-looking poster promoting it, you might be inclined to
think that this movie would be another horror film out just in time for
Halloween, but you would be wrong. You won’t find any creepy dead girls
climbing out of wells to steal your soul or people who can walk through metal
bars. Mostly. Stonehearst is actually
a thriller or adventure story with some uncomfortable undertones.
The movie is loosely based on the short story “The System of
Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether” by Edgar Allen Poe, which is considered a
dark comedy. While this version is not a comedy, it isn’t a horror film either,
but is fitting for the season.
The story opens on Christmas Eve in 1899. Dr. Edward Newgate
(Jim Sturgess) has just arrived at Stonehearst Mental Asylum to begin an
apprenticeship with Dr. Lamb (Ben Kingsley). Edward is lead around the facility
and meets different staff members and some of the patients including Eliza
Graves (Kate Beckinsale), a beautiful woman who has an aversion to intimacy. We’re
not talking about someone who becomes uncomfortable when someone invades her
personal space. No, she becomes almost violent whenever someone touches her.
