Doctor Sleep is a terrible name for a movie, especially for a sequel to The Shining, and it wasn't a great title for the novel either. In fact, the way it's plugged in the film made me wince. That said, I have little else bad to say about the film. The golden '70s aesthetic director Mike Flanagan developed for Ouija: Origin of Evil is well-used here, and the picture looks gorgeous across the board. Flanagan pleasantly melds elements of the movie AND book versions of The Shining in his tribute to Kubrick and King, trading (as the book does) horror for supernatural thrills. The difference, for me, is that in one the protagonists are under threat and you're scared with them, while in the other, it's the monsters who are scared of the protagonists hunting them. Honestly, I didn't think it would work. Doctor Sleep seemed to me King's cruel trolling of fans begging for a sequel to his first hardback bestseller - you wanna know what happens to Danny? Well, he's an itinerant drunk and there are vampires who drink the Shining and Professor X should start his School for Gifted Youngsters before all the kids with super-powers get eaten. Hrm. But it works. The movie is on the long side at 2½ hours, but there's a lot to get through, setting up the villains, contemporary Danny, and the super-Shiny Abra he must help. There's just enough of the Overlook in my opinion, no actor gives a bad performance (though the necessary re-casting of Shelley Duvall and Jack Nicholson is perhaps distracting), the vampires getting their asses kicked is quite satisfying, and the theme of addiction is well used to give Danny an effective throughline. I liked it a lot more than I thought I would, which probably means Stephen King fans are gonna hate it ;-).
I gave this a shot on Amazon Prime. Yes, daft time but it's the novel's title.
I gave it a chance based on the consistent 7.5 ratings
The beginning recaps the original a bit.
Perhaps the first film(?) to have actual footage in the sequel?
Lovely storytelling, mode, scope and pace. It FEELS like a Stephen King film, even more so than The Shining (I can foresee a downvote).
It/s the colour palette I like in partial for this film.
6.5/10
I didn't like the ...supernatural-esqueness though
Wife loved it (she's read many of the books and hasn't see The Shining - despite owning it)
It's a long film, feels long. 1900 is five hours but that flew by
7/10
Saw cinematic version on 2 h 30 min. Exciting all the time. Swedish Ferguson does a great job as the main antagonist. McGregor also good, as well as the little mulatto girl. They also managed well with the end, I think, at the Overlook Hotel (they built up the interior completely in a quick six weeks) as I hoped, which can certainly be tricky to what many hope to come up as a worthy sequel 29 years later than the masterful first film of Kubrick. The music is taken from the original, which is great when it was masterful. Neat photo. Many flirts with the original film.
Well here in lies a conundrum in whether this movie is worth watching. There are six chapters. The first five were pretty crap. It had shoddy production which made it feel like a made for TV movie. Chapter six however was pretty good. If you watch it you can decide if I am right or not.
Just to let you know, I watched the 3 hour director's cut.
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Siskoid
Doctor Sleep is a terrible name for a movie, especially for a sequel to The Shining, and it wasn't a great title for the novel either. In fact, the way it's plugged in the film made me wince. That said, I have little else bad to say about the film. The golden '70s aesthetic director Mike Flanagan developed for Ouija: Origin of Evil is well-used here, and the picture looks gorgeous across the board. Flanagan pleasantly melds elements of the movie AND book versions of The Shining in his tribute to Kubrick and King, trading (as the book does) horror for supernatural thrills. The difference, for me, is that in one the protagonists are under threat and you're scared with them, while in the other, it's the monsters who are scared of the protagonists hunting them. Honestly, I didn't think it would work. Doctor Sleep seemed to me King's cruel trolling of fans begging for a sequel to his first hardback bestseller - you wanna know what happens to Danny? Well, he's an itinerant drunk and there are vampires who drink the Shining and Professor X should start his School for Gifted Youngsters before all the kids with super-powers get eaten. Hrm. But it works. The movie is on the long side at 2½ hours, but there's a lot to get through, setting up the villains, contemporary Danny, and the super-Shiny Abra he must help. There's just enough of the Overlook in my opinion, no actor gives a bad performance (though the necessary re-casting of Shelley Duvall and Jack Nicholson is perhaps distracting), the vampires getting their asses kicked is quite satisfying, and the theme of addiction is well used to give Danny an effective throughline. I liked it a lot more than I thought I would, which probably means Stephen King fans are gonna hate it ;-).Ezergill
Awesome movie. In my opinion, a great tribute both to King's novels and Kubrick's movieMarasmusine
I was interested in this depiction of psychic warfare, which we don't see too often.boulderman
I gave this a shot on Amazon Prime. Yes, daft time but it's the novel's title.I gave it a chance based on the consistent 7.5 ratings
The beginning recaps the original a bit.
Perhaps the first film(?) to have actual footage in the sequel?
Lovely storytelling, mode, scope and pace. It FEELS like a Stephen King film, even more so than The Shining (I can foresee a downvote).
It/s the colour palette I like in partial for this film.
6.5/10
I didn't like the ...supernatural-esqueness though
Wife loved it (she's read many of the books and hasn't see The Shining - despite owning it)
It's a long film, feels long. 1900 is five hours but that flew by
The Raven's hat and attitude riled me though
Ebbywebby
Kinda threw away that subplot about the death cat, didn't it?onuryz
why this one is not in any list?peterskb45
Turned the old lady in the tub- the scariest part of The Shining -into a punchline.Emiam
7/10Saw cinematic version on 2 h 30 min. Exciting all the time. Swedish Ferguson does a great job as the main antagonist. McGregor also good, as well as the little mulatto girl. They also managed well with the end, I think, at the Overlook Hotel (they built up the interior completely in a quick six weeks) as I hoped, which can certainly be tricky to what many hope to come up as a worthy sequel 29 years later than the masterful first film of Kubrick. The music is taken from the original, which is great when it was masterful. Neat photo. Many flirts with the original film.
celticbhoy
Well here in lies a conundrum in whether this movie is worth watching. There are six chapters. The first five were pretty crap. It had shoddy production which made it feel like a made for TV movie. Chapter six however was pretty good. If you watch it you can decide if I am right or not.Just to let you know, I watched the 3 hour director's cut.
neiba
Kubrick must be spinning in his gravekurisu1974
Yeah, no.Limbesdautomne
Stephen King's kiss of deathRead more in French on La Saveur des goûts amers.