Doctor Sueño

This is easily one of the better film adaptations of a Stephen King novel, and also one of the better films I've seen this year. Yet again, professional film critics have proven they mostly have no idea about the cinema of the fantastic (fantasy, SF, and horror). If you're a fan of the genre, you'll love this film - ignore the critics.

Great job Mike Flanagan.

I don't know what's going on with movies lately, I have high expectations and films suck, or in this case, my expectations were fairly low, and I was blown away.

What a truly worthy follow up to The Shining this was. Almost forty years on, it captures the tone, spirit and vibe of that great film.

You'd think at over two and a half hours it would be overlong, it isn't,that running time allows the complex story to be told, and for the characters to be fully developed.

Young Kyleigh Curran is remarkably good, and in great company with Ewan McGregor and Rebecca Ferguson, very well acted.

A great start, with that amazing music, and those glorious panoramic shots. It takes time before you arrive at that destination, the one we all waited for. The recreation is remarkable.

All those involved, take a bow, this was outstanding, 9/10.

I seriously enjoyed this from start to finish.

But here's the thing... this movie might be too creepy.

I watch 'The Shining' maybe a couple times a year.

There's something sublime about the experience - even though the story is madness.

It's all just fiction.

Doctor Sleep, on the other hand, comes off as an Illuminati 'passive aggressive confessional', mixed with a story that ties it into 'The Shining'.

I don't know if anyone else got that weird vibe from it - but I've never watched it a 2nd time.

On its own right - this movie is far more creepy than 'The Shining' aspects.

I appreciate them trying to make the first make sense - but part of its charm was the fact it didn't. Lol This movie... ugh. I just don't know.

Finally got to see my most anticipated film of the year and I'm happy to tell you it's everything I wished for and more. Flanagan has done an amazing job adapting the book from Stephen King and giving lovers of the Kubrick film adaptation of "The Shining" (1980) a cinematic sequel. Now i read the book and while I enjoyed it for the most part, I found parts of it underwhelming. I feel in this film adaptation, Flanagan takes elements from the novel and manages to make them more darker and serious which in turn really helped address some issues I had with the book. He does make some serious changes though and while I embraced them I'm not sure how others who read the book will feel about them. "The Shining" (1980) to me and I'm sure a lot of you, is a masterpiece in filmmaking. I for one prefer it over the novel and with this film, it most certainly feels like a sequel to Stanley Kubrick's version and a love letter to that film. The last 30 mins or so are absolutely amazing and kudos to Flanagan for pulling it off. Ewan McGregor does a great job as an adult Danny Torrance and Rebecca Ferguson captivates as Rose the Hat. The film sets a great tone with some stunning visuals and the score completely grabs you. How much you enjoy this film really depends on what you want out of it. There's practically no gore here and no cheap jump scares. What you'll get though is expert filmmaking from someone who you can tell really loves the source material he's pulling it all in from. Everything struck a balance for me that I was tremendously pleased with, top horror film of the year.

What a surprise... That wasn't so bad actually! Now, hear me out. When I first saw the previews for this I felt disappointed by the visual look of the film, as it was all too green-tinted and lacked the Kubrick-esque framing I want from a film like this (it being a sequel to "The Shining" after all). Remember, I care too much about the visual aesthetics of these things sometimes. Especially when it was clearly supposed to connect right to the iconic classic. The green tint stays throughout the film, much to my displeasure. Worked great in "Joker" though. But once I got what the story was and paid attention I realized I was getting invested. This is a different type of film while still remembering to pay huge amounts of respect to the legacy of the original. Once you do get to the elements that carry over from Kubrick's film it felt well earned. Interestingly enough they kind of blend well together too eventually. We delve into the supernatural aspects of what Stephen King was going after in his book, and that's completely fine. I don't mind a chilling spookie once in a while. Recently I've felt done with most of the modern day horror film tropes, so it's such a shock for me to say that I had a good time with "Doctor Sleep".

The progression of where Danny Torrance's character goes to is a natural right step. They go for the 'father like son' kind of thing, and I was completely onboard with it. The ghost of Jack Nicholson's presence looms strongly over the story too, with Danny fearing not to follow his father's footsteps. The new story elements were able to grab my attention as well. Again, as soon as it clicked what type of plot/movie this was, then it worked. It's its own thing, and that's great. No "Shining" remake - except for some re-created imagery (handled with nice respect) - But most importantly: The story and characters moved forwards. Loved what they did with the character Rose the Hat. What a sinister yet oddly charming antagonist portrayed hypnotically by Rebecca Ferguson. Hope she gets the deserved credit. Ewan McGregor will always be Obi-Wan to me, but he was a fantastic choice to play Danny. He can convincingly make me believe that he's got the 'shine'. It surprises me how positive I feel about the movie! It's a neat little companion piece to the classic. Again, big props for them to go for their own thing. This is no "Force Awakens", if you know what I mean. You'll walk though memory lane here for sure. The difference is that it doesn't rely on the nostalgia to tell their story. It actually stands on its own. I'll say that if you're a big fan of the original, then it's worth taking a looksie