Stonehearst Asylum

Stonehearst Asylum pairs good acting with mediocre writing. The result is a film with a few interesting ideas, but no suspense or surprise. As a critique of Victorian style healthcare, the film has merit; as an entertaining movie, less so.

First off, I should point out that I didn't like the way this movie trivializes mental illness. This apart, even though I had guessed every (heavy handed) plot twist after 20 minutes, I enjoyed the ride through the slow burn and the reveals. Stonehearst Asylum is beautifully done, quite charming, with a cast of actors who play their part right. Enjoyable.

Stonehearst Asylum doesn't have a lot going on beneath its skin, but it'll be able to get under yours thanks to its wonderful cast, Gothic aesthetic, and occasionally creepy atmosphere. Will it terrify you? Probably not, but it has a few moments of horror and it generates a constant stream of suspense. It has a couple of surprising revelations, good performances, and, hey -- at least it isn't another movie about a serial killer murdering teenagers.

Hm.. maybe I wasn't quite in the mood for this kind of film, but despite a great cast, it was a little boring and couldn't create quite the right atmosphere.

don't remember it

Brings to mind a flashy 80s pot-boilers where you spend most of the time staring at the screen quietly amazed by the pedigree of the cast who are all basically slumming. Not an egregiously bad effort, and even has some flashes of brilliance in its design and a few spooky set pieces, but (mild spoiler) if you’ve seen SHUTTER ISLAND, you’ve seen similar material done with greater style and ambition, and in this case some of the casting choices come close to giving away some of the story twists.

Tremendous cast keeps this adaptation of the Edgar Allen Poe story enjoyable. With a tighter script this could have been a classic.

Nice sets, dirt and environments. The story went very out of the line.

Hurrah for Ben Kingsley and David Thewlis! Otherwise, a real curate's egg.

Based on the short story 'The System of Dr. Tarr and Professor Fether' by Edgar Allan Poe, Stonehearst Asylum somehow misses the mark despite having a more complex plot. Recommended for background mood at your next Victorian themed shindig.

2016/09/02

Wanted to enjoy this but the rad-mental-health gothic lost out to Hollywood-ness

Actually quite good for it's premise. The suspense never peaks, but like many other mysteries, you of course want to find out what really happened. Although I did find the cast of Caine and especially Kingsley as easy and ordinarily boring. I was entertained. - Okay

good visuals, fine actors, terrible terrible script that ruins everything... so sad...

7/7

So many mind games.

Stonehearst Asylum is overall a well made film, albeit the script a bit clunky at times. What I liked most about this film is the ambiguity of a few scenes, where it's not certain who are the 'good guys' and who are the 'bad'. More Edgar Alan Poe stories/films wanted!

akıl hastanesi, ilk görevine baslayan doktor, klinik tecrübe, doktor-hasta iliskisi, histeri, (genç doktor yeni görev yaptigi hastaneye gider fakat isler karisiktir. Kendini doktor olarak tanitan Lamb aslinda bir hastadir ve hastalar hastaneyi ele geçirmis ve personeli kazan dairesine kilitlemistir. Genç doktor Edward olayları çözmeye calisir. Bu arada Histeri hastasi Eliza'ya karsi ilgisi gün geçtikçe artmaktadir.)

One of Anderson's more entertaining efforts, not trying for horror but more a kind of playful, anachronistic portrayal of mental illness, and not merely anachronistic in the way the film highlights - doctors talking about 'hysteria' and such - but in the way the film actually does portray the near-freak-show of the ill or at least committed. Who early on are quite emphatically referred to as all from high society or at least wealth, but don't, mostly, actually seem to be. So far as I can tell.

Having never heard of this movie until the night I watched it, I was surprised to be pretty entertained. The acting is good and the idea is fun, but the full plot isn’t fantastic.

Dissapointing.

A clever kooky idea about an asylum where the inmates are in charge. Many excellent notable actors and impressive performances. Kate Beckinsale is as marvelous as she has ever been. David Thewlis stunk it up. The plot is genius and the dialogs are smart. The action starts early and it easily held my attention and interest. Worthwhile.

The story is extremely predictable but you can forgive that and enjoy the excellent cast and atmosphere

Kind of boring, even with the plot twists.

While I'm highlighting what I felt to be the low points of this one, I did think that it had its fair share of positives as well. The main failings for me were the laughably bad fight scene, the fact that a seizure (& then psychosis) was averted simply by love &, speaking of love, the shoehorned romantic subplot between 2 people with no on-screen chemistry...a romantic subplot that was seemingly only there to drive plot progression. The movie starts well, but sadly gets worse the longer it goes

Dr. Newgate to woman in prison: 'Now listen. You must rest if you can.' O_o

The longer this went on the lower the score I was willing to give it, unfortunately it just keeps of running and running

1304: good job!

An old fashioned Edgar Allen Poe story http://opinion-as-a-moviefreak.blogspot.be/2014/11/stonhearst-asylum-2014.html

Didn't see that ending coming