Doctor Sleep

Stanley Kubrick's take on Stephen King's The Shining is regarded as a classic horror film. It's also best remembered for King's dislike of it. But he's reportedly pleased with Doctor Sleep, the film version of his 2013 sequel novel of The Shining, which follows the original film instead of the novel. Why the name Doctor Sleep? Let's see.

Danny Torrance and his mother, Wendy, escaped with their lives from the demonic Overlook Hotel. But the Hotel's ghostly guests followed him to civilization. The ghosts sought his psychic abilities, the titular Shining, for sustenance. Fortunately, the ghost of Overlook cook Dick Hallorann (Carl Lumbly) taught Danny how to seal the ghosts away in mental boxes. Years later, "Dan" (Ewan McGregor) is a driftless alcoholic who finds purpose as a small town hospice orderly. The patients name him Doctor Sleep for his uncanny ability to soothe folks in their very last moments.

Meanwhile, an evil coven of soul-sucking vampires, The True Knot, murder Shiners and feed off their "steam." Their leader, Rose the Hat (Rebecca Ferguson), notices, and is noticed by, a particularly powerful teenage Shiner, Abra Stone (Kyliegh Curran), and wants her dead. Abra, meanwhile, notices Dan, and the two become friends. Dan tries to teach Abra to subdue her Shining. But it's too late; The True Knots are coming to get her. They'll have to put up a fight. It all leads them back to the Overlook.

The film is written, directed and edited by Mike Flanagan, who also adapted King's Gerald's Game for Netflix. Its biggest hurdle is its 151 minute runtime. It takes about fifteen minutes before Dan appears as an adult, and a little longer for the main plot to get going. There's still a few memorable moments along the way. One scene, in particular, is excessively long and shocking: the True Knots' utterly brutal torture of a Shining Little-leaguer - and Abra's understandable psychic panic attack as she witnesses it. It's unbearable with an overloud sound system. It's still satisfying when the villains meet their ends. The climax even borrows from The Shining's explosive literary finale.

There's a pretty good cast here. Curran makes a strong debut as Abra, who proves a surprisingly capable psychic warrior. McGregor is decent as an emotionally subdued man. And Ferguson is equally vile and hammy as Rose the Hat. The True Knots, whose oddly-named members include Barry the Chunk and Crow Daddy, take a while to become distinctive characters. One of the most distinct is Snakebite Andi (Emily Alyn Lind), a con-artist who gets inducted early in the film. The casting department deserves medals for its dead-ringers for the original film's characters. None of that is visual effects.

The actual visual effects conjure up some stunning results. A few memorable feats include Rose flying above a city, some rotating rooms, and the True Knots' dissolving to steam as they die. It's incredible for a film at least $45 million. Flanagan's best editing feats involve flashbacks to The Shining. Some of it is stock footage, while other bits look like it. Production Designer Maher Amid's recreation of the Overlook is just that good. The Newton Brothers create a score as foreboding as Wendy Carlos's work from the first film. Some of that iconic score is reprised here.

Doctor Sleep is ready to see you now. Are you ready to see it? It won't punish you that badly if you never heard of The Shining. Be warned that it is quite long and occasionally disturbing. But it ended pretty well ... depending on one's interpretation. Overall, this sequel is better late than never. Though I can't imagine how they could do part three. See it, read it, and you'll get it.