The Kingdom

This isn't the Stephen King remake I'm talking about here; it's the original Danish TV series that Stephen King thought was so cool he'd try to remake it. I didn't give the Stephen King version more than a passing glance, largely because I remember being particularly busy at the time, and then what little I'd seen just seemed... wrong. The characters seemed more like caricatures than people to me. It was weird, and I don't mean fun weird; I mean just bad weird, almost as though the people making it were trying too hard.

On the other hand, the original is Twin Peaks style weird, which is a very good weird indeed. It's closer in flavor to Twin Peaks than most of David Lynch's film work. I just love it when someone can make TV (or movies) that have horror and comedy right on top of each other and both of them retain their full power, even gaining effectiveness from the juxtaposition. And the original version of "The Kingdom" does just that.

If you happen to rent the DVD, hang in there during the first episode, because honestly it's not especially good, but they needed it to set everything up for later. If you still don't like the second episode, then hang it up, because that's pretty much what the rest will be like, except the weirdness quotient just keeps ratcheting up. I seriously doubt we'll see anything similar to some of the scenes in "The Kingdom" on commercial American television anytime soon.

Unfortunately, there were only eight episodes made, and they never brought it to a conclusion. Further episodes were written, but several of the cast members have passed away, so it appears that the rest will never be made. A pity, really. Highly recommended for those with a taste for the strange and a tolerance for a slightly slow pace by American standards.