A recent medical school grad who takes a position at a mental institution soon finds himself taken with one of his colleagues -- though he has no initial idea of a recent, horrifying staffing change.
A spirited gothic tale, played with welcome black humour.
This is not, we’d wager, the film its director intended. Yet it’s worth watching, if only to see Caine and Kingsley together for the first time in 25 years.
The tone is uneven and the plot twists aren’t as effective as they need to be, resulting in an underwhelming experience that doesn’t live up to its promise.
Anderson has missed a trick with this Victorian-set horror film.
This well-done riff on an Edgar Allan Poe story about blurring lines between doctors and patients puts the eccentric characters to the fore and keeps Poe’s subtleties intact.
Verdict: Accidentally hilarious.
The plot never builds much tension and is more intriguing on changing attitudes to mental illness than as a twisted slice of grand guignol.
A ridiculously overqualified cast gives this glossy gothic horror film a credibility it doesn’t really deserve.
A doctor falls for a patient in a sanatorium in this overdone Poe-inspired chiller with Michael Caine and Kate Beckinsale.
General release. Check local listings for show times.
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