What do you get when you cross big-name actors like Kate Beckinsale and Michael Caine with award-winning horror director Brad Anderson and a screenplay adapted from an Edgar Allan Poe story? Oddly, a lot to be desired.
Jim Sturgess stars in the 2014 film as Dr. Edward Newgate, a recent Oxford graduate looking to complete his psychiatry training at Stonehearst Asylum in 1899. However, he soon learns that days before his arrival, the psychotic patients of the asylum had overthrown their cruel doctors and locked them all into the boiler room downstairs. Now, the new doctor must find a way to free the captives while also convincing the patients that he is on their side.
The film’s true intrigue is found in its constant plot twists that continue even until the last few moments of the film. However, even through all of the reveals and changes, the story has a tendency to be predictable. The acting comes across as over-the-top, and I doubt any aspect of this film would truly be able to thrill modern audiences. Overall, Edgar Allan Poe’s short story “The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether” comes to life in this film only to fall as flat as the pages it was originally written on.
