This was a movie which I had no idea whatsoever about the premise but to my surprise it had an advance ticket sale event since last week. After I read a bit detail, I found out that it was a sequel to one of the most critically acclaimed horror movie from 1980 titled The Shining which was adapted from Stephen King's novel. My wife who could not accompany me as she was having another holiday trip, bought the ticket for last night's show. So how was the movie? Let us get into it below.
Brief Story Line
Set decades after the first movie, a now adult Dan Torrance (Ewan McGregor - Christopher Robin, Moulin Rouge! etc) had moved to a small town and worked at a nursing home. He had tried to supress his "shining" ability and only used it to help the people in that place, which earned him the nickname Doctor Sleep. At another city far away from Dan's place, a young girl named Abra Stone (Kyliegh Curran) was starting to develop her own shining ability which was even greater than what Dan had.
Meanwhile a group of mysterious people led by Rose the Hat (Rebecca Ferguson - Men In Black: International, The Greatest Showman etc) and her right hand man Crow Daddy (Zahn McClarnon) were looking for people with shining ability. Soon everyone's path would intertwine and led to a terrifying conclusion.
End of Brief Story Line
To be honest, before I noticed about this movie, I never urge myself to watch The Shining which was very popular and probably a classic, since some scenes of the movie were referenced (and parodied) in other horror or comedy movies/series. Lucky for me few days ago it was shown on 1 of the cable TV channel so I did not hesitate and watch it, even though the commercial breaks every now and then did reduce the suspense feeling. Anyway, because it was still really fresh on my mind, I was able to enjoy this movie better than probably most of the audience (some seemed to be a bit bored as evidenced by the many people playing their mobile phones).
For me personally, this movie was quite horrifying in the early part, especially due to few horrific images. As the story progressed though, the movie was moving at a rather slow pace and unexpectedly a different story direction. While the 1980 movie was focusing a lot on the characterization of Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) plus the unique ability of young Danny with some strange (& scary) occurrences at the Overlook hotel, this one was focusing on other areas. It made the sequel having a more complex story line with lots of characters who seemed to be not having any relations at all until at one point of time we see the connections.
Since I already know this would be that kind of movie, I have no problem waiting patiently on the story to develop and also I had a fairly good understanding and appreciation on the references to the first movie such as that infamous room, or the hotel, or Dick Halloran character (now played by Carl Lumbly). Btw, there were few scenes showing young Danny and his mother who were portrayed by different people, so the movie did not use a de-aging special effects for the characters. With a duration of 151 minutes, it really took its time to reach to the good stuff (at least for me). It was a lot more exciting when the connections of all the main characters were shown and the pace also picked up fast.
My favorite parts of this movie would be the final third which was thrilling, suspenseful and having some fine twists as well, especially that surprising finale. There was even few brief humorous scene as opposed to the first half which was dark, gloomy and serious. There was also very brief scene which our censorship body had done a wise decision to only cover certain part rather than cutting the whole scene. Although it seemed there might be few parts completely cut from the movie (original duration was 152 minutes according to various movie websites). Due to some horrifying images too, this movie was categorized for adults. I also really love sound effect and the background music. Those violin sounds truly gave the eerie and horror feeling throughout the movie (just like in the original).
The main leads of this movie were mostly great in their roles. I love Ewan McGregor's portrayal of the adult Dan Torrance and Rebecca Ferguson's as Rose the Hat. But the one who surprised me the most was the appearance of Kyliegh Curran in her debut performance as Abra Stone. I thought she was brilliant, especially during that scene in the car. There were also many quite well know names as supporting roles such as Cliff Curtis, Bruce Greenwood, Emily Alyn Lind even Jacob Tremblay. The movie was directed by Mike Flanagan who had directed many horror movies and series such as Before I wake, Ouija: Origin of Evil, The Haunting of Hill House series etc. Btw, there was no mid or post end credit scene in here.
Overall I thought this was quite an interesting horror movie. It was unlike the mainstream supernatural horror movies with many jump scare scenes, but it focused more on the mystery and suspense aspects. I am not sure how Stephen King's fans would react to this movie as they tend to be very critical of any adaptation, but I think this one is worth to see as I understood it was quite loyal to the novel. Should you decide to give this movie a try, my recommendation would be to find The Shining and watch it first before seeing this to give you better pleasure and understanding of the story. But if you expect to see similar stuff like the first film, then you might not find what you are looking for, especially with different approach at the story telling. Fans of supernatural horror film might find this to be overly long and less exciting without the constant terrifying images to scare as it had more thrill and suspense rather than scary part. The choice is yours.
Mike's movie moments rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
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