We didn’t really need another chapter to The Shining but we got one anyway so of course I’m going to see it. I’ve read the book and for those of you worried this will be another review where I criticise every detail and go on one of my rants about how the book is so much better, rest assured that’s not the case this time. Not only is Doctor Sleep a faithful adaptation but it’s entertaining and has more than enough creepy scenes to send a chill down your spine.
Danny Torrance (Ewan McGregor) is all grown up and not exactly living his best life. On route to sort his life out he meets Abra, a young girl with a powerful shine. Danny must push aside his demons to protect Abra from a merciless cult, the True Knot who feed on children with the shining. Doctor Sleep keeps the dark tone of the book and I absolutely loved the casting choice of Rebecca Ferguson as Rose the Hat. She is the cold-hearted bitch brought to life. It didn’t go overboard with the cheap jump scares, rather leaning into scenes that genuinely disturb you, all while maintaining the sinister atmosphere. Although I was enjoying the scenes recreated from The Shining it plays on your love of the original perhaps a little too much. I felt the time spent paying homage to The Shining was overdone. I liked the new direction Doctor Sleep was taking us so every time another recreation of The Shining cropped up it started to take me out of the film. This isn’t your typical horror, it’s scary in a whole other way. Setting out to frighten you not just by going real quiet only to have something jump at you from the dark while the music gets suddenly loud. The tension builds and you get more time for some character development. Director Mike Flanagan really did a good job with Doctor Sleep, I had my doubts after the trailer but as with many movie trailers these days, they don’t do the film any justice.
It’s no secret that Stephen King hated what Stanley Kubrick did with The Shining though I have to say I have a love for both the book and the film but I can understand why King didn’t like it at all. It wasn’t just a case of the book being better than the film, but they were both completely different to each other. I’m not even sure if Kubrick read all of The Shining, rather he took the general idea and put his own stamp on it. It feels like a Stanley Kubrick film, not a Stephen King film. Doctor Sleep is a completely different story, it stays true to its source material and is a much more faithful book to film adaptation. It feels like Stephen King and admittedly there’s been a few awful adaptations but when a Stephen King adaptation is done right it really is worth the ticket price. Recommended for all you horror fans.
★★★☆☆
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