Tag: Horror Movies

Baseball Boy: Are you going to hurt me?

Rose the Hat: Yeah.

Since the 1976 film Carrie, Hollywood has turned several of Stephen King’s works into movies. King is a prolific writer whose vault of horror has enticed screenwriters, directors, and producers for the past four decades.

From 1976 to 1999, King’s works inspired twenty-seven films. Since 1999, countless television films, television series, and films followed, but the best ones, in my opinion, were made during the first twenty-three years. These include Carrie, The Shining, The Dead Zone, Cujo, Misery, Pet Sematary, Creepshow, The Running Man, Stand by Me, The Dark Half, and The Green Mile.

I’ve been a fan of Stephen King since I was nine years old (an appropriate age to start reading horror). One afternoon in Texas, I quietly pulled a copy of Cujo from my grandmother’s shelf and read for a few hours. I threw the book aside when my mother noticed I was reading a horror novel.

Although I was too young to understand why a character in Cujo was pleasuring himself over a bedspread, the terrifying and depressing story drew me in.  

I continue to enjoy King’s novels, and unlike some of his die-hard fans, I like many of the movies based on his work. Most of his work is challenging to translate into films.

King admits that he suffers from “diarrhea of the word processor”. He includes a vast amount of details and characters in his novels, and sometimes they’re too numerous to include in a screenplay.

Controversy often accompanies the opening of a Stephen King film, and Doctor Sleep is no different. Some critics complained that a scene involving the torture of a young boy was too brutal. It’s a harsh scene, but it’s based on a violent novel. Critics also slammed It for displaying acts of violence towards children.

Children always play a significant role in King’s novels. They are the heroes and often the victims. If you consider how dark and violent the stories It and Doctor Sleep are, you can’t complain about the brutality of the films.

It involves a demonic clown that terrorizes and kills the children of a small town every 27 years. Doctor Sleep centers on a traveling clan of magical killers. They roam around the country, torturing and killing children who possess the shining.

Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining did not please Stephen King. Kubrick’s version wasn’t faithful to the book, and to this day, the great Horror King of New England cannot understand why people consider The Shining as one of the greatest and scariest horror movies.

I understand why. Stanley Kubrick wasn’t concerned with making an utterly faithful adaption of King’s work; he wanted to make a horror film his way. The film’s rhythm is what makes The Shining so scary.

It’s not the type of horror film that makes you jump; it’s the type that causes the hairs on your arm to rise. I read The Shining and watched the movie, and I like both. King’s novel is scarier than Kubrick’s film, but I treat them as separate entities.

Reading horror gives me a different feeling than watching a horror film. I don’t get upset when everything I visualized from a novel isn’t displayed the same way in the movie.

I mention the Kubrick version of The Shining because Doctor Sleep desperately tries to replicate its mood, characters, and music. The opening notes of Doctor Sleep repeat the roaring Wendy Carlos soundtrack of The Shining. I like hearing Wendy Carlos again, and it’s one of the few “Kubrick tributes” that doesn’t irritate me.

Too Much Heartbeat

Mike Flanagan wrote and directed Doctor Sleep, and for the most part, he did a decent job. There’s solid acting, stylish visual effects, and plenty of frightening moments. However, Flanagan went overboard when his Kubrick man-crush affected his better judgment.

The slow, repetitive, heartbeat sound effect from The Shining established suspense in the first film, but Flannigan uses the beat so much that it becomes a common feature of the soundtrack. It doesn’t add to or increase the tension in the scenes but becomes a constant thump in the background.

Another aspect of the Kubrick love fest that doesn’t work is the use of different actors to portray Jack Nicholson, Scatman Crothers, and Shelley Duvall’s characters from The Shining. I understand that it’s practical to use new actors when you’re producing a sequel forty years after the original.

Scatman Crothers is no longer with us, and any digital representations of the original actors would’ve inflated the budget by several million. Henry Thomas (Elliot from E.T.) plays Lloyd the bartender/Jack Torrance, Carl Lumbly plays Dick Halloran, Roger Dale Floyd plays young Danny Torrance, and Alexandra Essoe plays Wendy Torrance.

The acting by this new group isn’t horrible, but as hard as they try to look and act like the originals, they can’t pull it off. It gives you a weird feeling when Danny Torrance doesn’t have the correct hairstyle in Doctor Sleep.

Danny Lloyd, the actor who played Danny Torrance in The Shining, had a hall of fame “bowl cut.” I’m an expert in the field of bowl cutting because I had the same haircut until 1983.

Roger Dale Floyd’s cut is puny and misshapen. It doesn’t hold a candle to Danny Lloyd’s massive bowl. The stylist from Doctor Sleep didn’t use the correct eight-quart mixing bowl to cut Floyd’s hair.

If you look fast, you’ll see Danny Lloyd, the true lord of follicles, in a cameo during the magic show.

Ewan McGregor plays a subdued Dan Torrance, and he’s right for the role. McGregor, like many talented actors from the UK, plays an American more convincingly than most American actors playing British roles.

Have you watched Keanu Reeves or Winona Ryder attempt a British accent in Bram Stoker’s Dracula? If you haven’t, it would be better if you only imagine it.

Dan Torrance is a recovering alcoholic, burdened with guilt, who can’t find his purpose in life. He moves to a small town in New Hampshire to live simply and forget the horrors of his past.

While working as a custodian in a hospice, he sees a cat scurry into a patient’s room. Azzie, the cat, knows when someone is close to death. When Azzie lays down on a patient’s bed, they pass away that night.

Dan uses the shining to speak to the dying men telepathically. He reassures them that there is life after death, and he describes death as a long sleep. One man nicknames him Doctor Sleep.

Dan finally finds a use for the shining that doesn’t involve the ghosts from his past. He’s content with the calm of his new life until Abra contacts him.

Kyliegh Curran & Rebecca Ferguson

Abra, played by newcomer Kyliegh Curran, is a teenager with powerful psychic abilities. She has the shining, like Dan, but her powers are more focused and refined.

She can locate people who are hundreds of miles away, with her mind. She reads people’s thoughts and tears into their brains to find hidden memories. Dan finds a message on a blackboard in his room sent telepathically by Abra, and he corresponds with her in the same way for eight years.

When Abra’s shine allows her to witness the killing of a young boy, she cries out in terror. The cry knocks Dan to the ground, and it forces Rose the Hat to pause her murderous act.

Rose the Hat, played by Rebecca Ferguson, is the wicked leader of the True Knot. Her clan travels in a caravan to find and feed on gifted children. The kids release “steam” when they’re tortured, and the group inhales it to extend their lifespan.

The clan’s eyes glow blue when they take steam. Their wounds heal, their grey hair turns brown, and their abilities increase in power. They cuddle each other after killing a young boy. The True Knot are sick puppies.

After Rose becomes aware of Abra and how powerful she is, she decides her group needs the girl. Slowly Killing Abra would give the group a jackpot of steam. Rose, using her mind powers, pursues Abra but realizes the little girl is stronger.

I like the interactions between Rose and Abra. The teenager, brimming with psychic energy, taunts the experienced killer and injures her. Most horror movies feature a villain who terrorizes his victims, but in Doctor Sleep, the victim torments the villain.

The mind battles between Abra and Rose are incredibly entertaining. Special effects play a significant role in the action, and the way they represent telepathic travel between the heroes and the killers is unique.

However, the attractive visuals would mean nothing if the acting reeked. Have you watched Kevin Bacon in Friday the 13th? He’s so bad, you’re relieved when he’s skewered.

Horror movies are notorious for bad acting, but Doctor Sleep is different. Ferguson’s performance is a standout. Her ghoulish killer is charming, cruel, and attractive. She’s evil but somehow likable.

Another high point of the film is Curran’s role. She’s new to the acting world, but she’s a talented performer. She brings humor and humility to her compelling character.

Doctor Sleep is a worthy sequel to The Shining and more enjoyable than most horror produced today.

Its excellent acting and nifty effects boost the morbid tale, but the numerous Kubrick love notes interfere with the storytelling. I ‘m sorry, Stephen King, but Stanley Kubrick (God rest his Soul) managed to infect your vision once again.