Doctor Sleep Reviews

THR

Mostly fresh

This is the only thread I came across with search and only 2 replies? Just saw this last night and thought it was one of the better Stephen King adaptations.

THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE was an unscary, psychobabble family therapy session with random ghost appearances.

It has nothing to do with the original novel or horror classic THE HAUNTING. It was an unwatchable, overwrought soap opera that had me rooting for their addictions.

My expectations for DR. SLEEP are extremely low now.

Doctor Shleep

Alex Essoe does an uncanny Shelly Duval impersonation. There was one specific flashback where I forgot that they recreated the footage from The Shining. Carl Lumbly plays Dick Halloran and is a dead ringer for Scatman Crothers. The movie replaces the entire third act from the book. Henry Thomas once again makes an appearance in another Flanagan movie, but it's a minor spoiler to say which role he played. Carol Struckyen who was in Flanagan's Gerald's Game and is perhaps best known as the Giant in Twin Peaks and Lurch in The Addams Family plays a creeply Grandpa Flick.

The Haunting of Hill House - one of the most boring horror films ever. The characters just can't seem to stop gabbing!

Bruce Greenwood was also in Gerald's Game.

I enjoyed it. Did Dan live at the end of the novel?

[quote] Henry Thomas once again makes an appearance in another Flanagan movie,

You have a good eye. My friend told me it was him and I was sure he was wrong.

I LOVE Flanagan's work, but change up your casting dude.

It’s huge, huge, huge flop, opening well below is 20+ million tracking. However, it has a B+ Cinemascore which is very high for a horror movie.

Main takeaway: Ewan McGregor is not a movie star. Never has been. This shouldn’t have been made for cinemas unless they got someone very big like... I can’t even think of a name. Brad Pitt maybe. There are no movie stars anymore.

Also, lengthy, challenging material belongs in streaming, not in cinemas. Warner Bros was also responsible for trying to turn the massive The Goldfinch into a movie which was a disaster.

R11 I suspected something was wrong when this thread gained such little traction. Meanwhile Midway, which wasn't advertised at all, has 65 replies so far in that thread. Box Office prognostications is confusing as hell. Joker, a dark, dreary, and long film, with very little action makes over a billion dollars, yet a Stephen King adaptation, and a sequel to one of the most important films ever made, doesn't do well? It's all so confusing.

[quote] Ewan McGregor is not a movie star. Never has been. This shouldn’t have been made for cinemas unless they got someone very big like... I can’t even think of a name. Brad Pitt maybe. There are no movie stars anymore.

Then why should it matter who you cast then?

[quote] It’s huge, huge, huge flop, opening well below is 20+ million tracking. However, it has a B+ Cinemascore which is very high for a horror movie.

Terminator Dark Fate also has a B+ Cinemascore. By all accounts, those who went to see it enjoyed it. But at least that film was targeted for its so called political agenda, Doctor Sleep is not divisive at all.

R11, to be fair the Doctor Sleep novel is nowhere near The Shining. I listened to it as an audiobook when it came out and I have a hard time remembering what even happened in it. That's the reason I haven't watched the film yet. The story is a much smaller one and following too many characters I didn't give a shit about.

The book probably sold quite well, like King tends to do, but was there any buzz around it? I think it's been the same way with the film and people just haven't found it that interesting. Especially since it's like 2.5 hours long. The budget was only around $50M and it will easily make some profit.

[quote]and a sequel to one of the most important films ever mad

That’s part of the problem. No one was clamoring for a sequel to The Shining, probably because the film itself is so iconic and tells a complete story. The trailer was pretty dreadful too.

I didn't read Doctor Sleep. I waited until seeing the movie to read the summary of the novel. The film changed many aspects from the novel for the better, including parsing down of characters.

I didn't see this coming.

It will lose the studio at least $20 million

R4 is the best summary I've seen of that steaming pile of crap The Haunting of Hill House (Flanagan's not the phenomenal Ms. Shirley Jackson's ) I have read. Why the fuck would the creators call the series Shirley Jackson's Hill House when there was no connection except the characters names?Jackson was a great writer and Hill House deserved a better remake than this mopey garbage.

I liked it - suspenseful throughout. I'd give it a solid 7, maybe an 8. It wasn't the kind of film that would have you scream and dive under your coat - but it was engrossing throughout. It as almost analytical in the way that it explained the paranormal Shining abilities and how they attracted bad elements, and maybe that was a turnoff for some, but I welcomed it.

There was already a Doctor Sleep thread, which may be why this one didn't get many responses.

I just saw the movie and it’s awesome.

Overall I liked it but wouldn't give it a rave review. The first half is very slow and honestly - boring. The second half is much better, Rebecca Ferguson's performance is amazing, but aside from her there are no real characters. I felt the flashback stuff was a mistake. Why do flashbacks with lookalikes? It took me out of it completely. Either use the actual footage or don't do the flashback.

It wasn't scary, but there were some scenes that were very intense, especially because the main villains in it are child killers who torture the children as much as possible (it's explained why, but it's still very disturbing) before they kill them. I also think I physically gasped when one of the evil characters does something just as they are dying that I wasn't expecting at all, it was deliciously twisted.

I was worried I'd find the girl (who is one of the main characters) in it annoying, but I thought she was pretty good. Ewan McGregor could have been anyone, tbh. It's really Rebecca Ferguson's film.

I was transfixed from start to finish. I'm a huge fan of The Shining, though (in my top 20).

The last leg of the film returns to the Overlook Hotel. Yeah, it's kinda hokey. But fans will get misty.

Of course it was going to tank. It was trying to combine a Stephen King sequel novel with Kubrick’s film, which only kept the basic story outline and nothing else. There’s a massive writing and genre disconnect that doomed it from the start. Not to mention there’s a reason that none of Kubrick’s movies have ever had a sequel. You can’t imitate as unique a filmmaker as he was.

This film was great!

Well, I liked it!

It's a true story,no?

Energy vampires who steal your shine and torture others to sustain themselves.

^ Yes, the main villain is based on my Aunt Susan.

The female lead made the film