Featuring all 13 episodes of the short-lived ABC series that Stephen King constructed from Lars von Trier's Danish miniseries Riget (released on VHS as The Kingdom in 1996) in a four-disc boxed set, the ambitious Kingdom Hospital revolves around the titular medical facility, which houses some odd staff members and patients, and suffers ghostly visitations thanks to its construction on the site of an old mill where a tragic fire occurred. Although the premiere drew a decent audience, viewership declined precipitously as the series continued, and after the program's demise King used one of his periodic columns in Entertainment Weekly to analyze its failure. Looked at in toto, it's not hard to see why Kingdom Hospital didn't work: it suffers from the Twin Peaks syndrome, prizing oddity over coherence, and promising more than it ever delivers. Still, it's not without interest (King inserted autobiographical material based on his own long hospitalization into the script), and the handsomely-produced show boasted a solid cast that included Andrew McCarthy, Bruce Davison, Diane Ladd, and Ed Begley, Jr. DVD extras include a running commentary by King and some of the crew, as well as four featurettes (a “making of” short, a cast profile, and segments on the set design and the special effects). Ultimately, this will appeal almost exclusively to King completists, and is therefore an optional purchase. (F. Swietek)
Stephen King Presents Kingdom Hospital: The Entire Series
Columbia TriStar, 4 discs, 608 min., not rated, DVD: $49.95 Volume 20, Issue 1
Stephen King Presents Kingdom Hospital: The Entire Series
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