Doctor Sleep

Personally I thought this was a much better film than the shiningLoved the way the shining was in twined so successfully

Some nice nods to the original. Nothing amazing but worth a watch

I was hesitant about watching a sequel especially with Ewan McGregor but it was actually pretty good. If you’re a die hard fan of The Shining you will probably hate it because that is a classic.

Very enjoyable

MILD SPOILERS I avoided this film for a while. How good could it be? I wasn't a huge fan of The Shining although I remember being terrified by it as a boy. Well, I was wrong. This film is very, very good as a sequel. I would say it is probably as good a sequel to The Shining as Bladerunner 2049 is to Bladerunner. Make of that what you will.Yes, it plods somewhat. At times it feels like a seventies movie which will bore many people. But - guess what - The Shining was practically a seventies movie (made in 1980) and this film manages to evoke that feel and yet feel timeless at the same time. For the MTV and beyond generation who make goldfish laugh of them because of their short attention span - you are going to struggle with this. But if you can force yourself to settle down you'll find deep, decent character development and scenery that looks like art.The bad guys - the True Knot - don't start out that creepy - in fact they just look like a bunch of travelling misfits - but that soon changes. I couldn't watch what they did to one of their victims - as a parent it was very distressing - but by the time things heat up you really feel in your core that they deserve what might be coming to them.By the time the film was in it's third act it suddenly heated up - and the twists came thick and fast. I found myself very excited to see what happened next and despite what others say I thought the ending was very appropriate. I shall read the book next, I think.The little girl was exceptional - I look forward to seeing her in other films. I haven't seen the theatre cut but the directors cut felt complete so I shudder to think what was cut out. This is one to buy.

Doctor Sleep Director’s Cut (2019) was directed by Mike Flanagan who also adapted the Stephen King book for the big screen. The book and this movie are sequels to The Shining and this movie leans towards Kubrick’s brilliant adaptation for tone, colours and visual style. Flanagan also wrote the adaptation for King’s horror novel Gerald’s Game. I don’t know what the differences are between the theatrical version and the director’s cut we watched, but suffice to say that it is a long film which would appeal to fans of the original film who don’t mind some Lost Boys style nostalgia.Ewan McGregor plays special kid and plucky survivor of the horror of Overlook Hotel, Danny Torrance. Just like the It Chapter 2 kids, he’s all grown up but he’s no Obi Wan. He’s ditched his tricycle in favour of being an alcoholic bum. A rock-bottom episode, a new job and a string of AA meetings later and he is ready to help Abra Stone (Kyliegh Curran) a young girl whose midi-chlorian count is off the scale (reminiscent of Firestarter). A bunch of no-good child-killing vampire-like mobile home driving shine-suckers called the True Knot, led by Rose the Hat (Rebecca Ferguson) want Abra for breakfast, lunch, dinner and all the Hobbit-meals in between.Perhaps because I had read the book, I found the ending to be a bit lame, but we’re used to that by now with Stephen King aren’t we folks? Thanks to Flanagan’s efforts I found the True Knot rather more menacing than in the book. And it was great to revisit the Overlook Hotel which is becoming increasingly iconic as a fictional location for a nostalgic fanboys (thanks also to Ready Player One).

I’ve watched both versions and nothing significant was added to the Director’s cut. The movie itself is very good. Entertaining to watch. 9 out of 10 stars.

It’s a film Ive watched over and over