Doctor Sleep (2019) - Okay, I'm a Sucker for Fan Service

Okay, so I finished the theatrical cut of “Doctor Sleep” (2019) among a host of films I haven’t even mentioned on the blog for the last two days (“Terminator: Dark Fate” (2019) and “Zombieland: Double Tap” (2019) were both checked off the 2019 viewing list), and I will cop to understanding why many felt the final chapter set at Overlook was total fan service. But, I’ll be honest: I ate it up. Yes, it was ice cream. But the thing is: I LOVED the film before the Overlook chapter. So I had what I felt was a nice meal and ice cream. And Rebecca Ferguson is a fucking dynamo in this film. God, I hated her so much by the end that I had to give mad props to her for really poking my emotions enough to want her bitch, Rose the Hat fucking dead by the end. I really plan to own this one very soon, and it will make a great addition to my DVD/BLU library. I have only watched the Theatrical version, though, as I rented it for tonight. I wanted to wait before buying it to see if it was really something I figured I might watch again. It most definitely is. In fact, this was a film I could see myself watching a few times. But even the theatrical version is long for many viewing audiences of today. I can understand why it wasn’t a hit. But I still felt this was a film that could build an audience in the foreseeable future. And I could also see it fitting nicely alongside “The Shining” (1980) in future Octobers for horror fans. I commend the director, Flannagan, for how he was able to sort of arrange both King’s and Kubrick’s visions of the story and its sequel without doing either of the original works an injustice. I can’t even imagine how difficult that process of getting the film to screen must have been. The hours spent, the braintrust in place hoping to not mar either of the works that fans of King’s books and Kubrick’s film, and the efforts of everyone involved to combine their collective talents together to bring us “Doctor Sleep”. I felt really guilty not supporting this film in theaters but I was so upset at the release date of this after October…I would have LOVED seeing this in October. And I would have left exhilarated at the final product on screen had they even decided to release it the first week of October. I will never understand why the decision was to release it in November, after the Halloween season…I mean, WTF?! I know after its poor performance many questioned whether or not there was still a viable demographic earlier than my age and older (35+) for “The Shining” and I still believe there is. I will always wonder if this film would have done better in October. Just the same, the Overlook scenes are quite the fan service, and the distribution and marketing aimed to target those of us who grew up with it or saw it back when it was first in theaters. I can’t be the only one, I hope, that thought “Doctor Sleep” was worthwhile. I was expecting a particularly underwhelming product on screen but I was captivated the entire film. So consider me a fan, at least. But I have read and even watched a few YouTube reviews on the film and the fan service does seem to be a major sticking point many found critically ill-advised. I didn’t think so, personally, and I even liked how Flannagan incorporated some of the “after the events at the Overlook” back story of Danny, still chatting with Hallorann, dealing with the “old ghosts” he is taught (by Hallorann) to “box away”, and contending with the trauma of the past (his father’s breakdown and how the Overlook sent him into a downward spiral resulting in trying to kill him and his mother). I want to get into specifics more tomorrow because the film is so much more than just Danny returning to the Overlook, remembering the past, and conquering his own demons. Rose, the Hat, her posse of “shine-sucking” ghouls with glowing eyes (willing to kill kids to “feed their hunger”), and how this “shine wunderkind” named Abra is the key to helping Danny stop them deserves so much more attention on the blog…