HallowScream - Doctor Sleep (2019)

        Hey guys, Chuck here, and it's Stephen King time once again, as we're diving into one of my favorite recent films based on a Stephen King book for HallowScream. In this instance, we're looking at director Mike Flanagan's 2019 film adaptation of Stephen King's Doctor Sleep, starring Ewan McGregor, Rebecca Ferguson, Cliff Curtis, Kyleigh Curran, Zahn McClarnon, Emily Alyn Lind, Carl Lumbly, and Henry Thomas. 

        Now, much like King's original novel, Doctor Sleep serves as a sequel to the Stanley Kubrick classic The Shining, while also adapting the Stephen King novel of Doctor Sleep as well. And, to that end, I give major props to director Mike Flanagan for taking on this massive juggling act of having to both adapt a Stephen King novel and return to a world designed by Stanley Kubrick. It wasn't an easy job, but he did it extraordinarily well. 

        So, the story of Doctor Sleep follows Dan Torrance, now an adult and still haunted by what happened in the Overlook Hotel when he was a child. Guided by the spirit of Dick Hallorann, Dan has found a use for his ability, known as "the shining," and that is to ease the worries of those at death's door. Also, we see Dan almost succumb to alcoholism the way his father Jack did, but he gets sober and maintains that sobriety throughout the rest of the movie. 

        It's here where we meet Abra Stone, a young girl with the power of "the shining" who reaches out to Dan for help, as there's a dangerous group called the True Knot, led by a woman named Rose the Hat, who are hunting children with "the shining" in order to consume a potent gaseous substance called "steam," which can prolong the life of one with "the shining" if consumed. However, "steam" loses its potency when a person with "the shining" grows older, which is why the True Knot are targeting children with "the shining." Now, I will admit that this is the one plot element of the film, and the book it was based on, that will probably be the least comfortable element of the story. But, King wrote it in the book, so it is what it is. And, admittedly, I wasn't keen on the concept myself when I first watched this movie. 

       Anyway, Dan ultimately meets Abra, and works with her parents, as well as his friend and AA sponsor Billy, to fend off the True Knot, taking out all of them but Rose herself. Knowing that there's a place that is dangerous for these with "the shining," Dan sets the final showdown between himself and Rose in the decayed remains of the Overlook Hotel in Colorado. And, it's here where we see one ghost still residing in the Overlook: Lloyd the Bartender, who has since taken on the appearance of Jack Torrance. Lloyd offers Dan a drink of bourbon, and goes into a long spiel about how booze can help a man deal with the stresses of daily life, like a sort of medicine. But Dan smartly refuses the drink, and proves his will stronger than that of his father, who did fall to the Overlook's temptations. 

      But, ultimately, Rose arrives, and she and Dan have their confrontation, where she remarks that they should have met years before. Rose offers Dan a chance to join her, and of course he refuses, and the two duke it out, with Rose consuming some of the "steam" from Dan. Digging into his mind, Rose spots a series of locked boxes, and asks if something special is in them, to which Dan replies "They're not special. They're starving!" The boxes open, and the resident ghosts of the Overlook Hotel, including Delbert Grady, the Grady Twins, the woman from Room 237, and so forth, are unleashed back into the hotel, and they instantly attack Rose, destroying her. The ghosts turn their attention to Dan, possessing him and sending him after Abra, who points out something the hotel doesn't realize: Dan overloaded the boiler when he activated it. 

      Abra escapes from the hotel, while Dan heads to the boiler room, staying to watch it the Overlook burn to the ground, and finally die. Some time later, and Abra is shown to be more capable with her power of "the shining," to even being better able to defeat the woman from Room 237, knowing that Dan will always be watching over her. 

          As I said, Doctor Sleep had to juggle adapting Stephen King's book, and act as a sequel to Stanley Kubrick's film The Shining. And, this extended into some of the casting of holdover characters from the first movie, as Mike Flanagan chose actors who bore a striking resemblance to their counterparts from the Kubrick film. For instance, Henry Thomas looks spot on for Jack Nicholson, Carl Lumbly looks spot on for Scatman Crothers, Alex Essoe looks spot on for Shelly Duvall, and the list goes on. One thing that I appreciate, as do a lot of folks, is that Flanagan didn't use CGI to digitally overlay the likenesses of the cast of The Shining onto the actors taking on the roles in this movie, as it would have been a cheap effect, and would have taken away from some really brilliant acting, especially from Henry Thomas as Jack Torrance. Now, as for the rest of the cast, such as Ewan McGregor as Dan, Rebecca Ferguson as Rose the Hat, Kyleigh Curran as Abra, Cliff Curtis as Billy, Emily Alyn Lind as Snakebite Andi, Zahn McClarnon as Crow Daddy, and so forth. I gotta say that all of them really did a good job portraying their characters, and feel like they belong in this world that Stanley Kubrick established thirty-nine years prior. 

         But, for me, it's the visual design for the movie that makes Doctor Sleep work for me. Especially by the time the movie arrives at the Overlook Hotel. Remember, this was a decayed recreation of the Overlook Hotel as seen in the Stanley Kubrick version of The Shining, and seeing the set design team faithfully recreate that particular version of the Overlook, but more decayed after years of being abandoned after the events of The Shining, was a lot of fun, and absolutely fantastic. Also, to finally see the Overlook Hotel burning to the ground, as it did in Stephen King's original novel of The Shining, was a great way for Mike Flanagan to finally reconcile Stephen King with the Kubrick film. 

        All in all, is Doctor Sleep the horror classic that Kubrick's The Shining is? I don't think so. But, is it definitely a worthy follow-up to the Kubrick classic? I think so. I'm giving Doctor Sleep a rating of 4/5. 

        Alright guys, this is Chuck signing off, and HallowScream will be back next time with the popular Donald Duck cartoon Trick or Treat.