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10 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 1 DECEMBER 2019 FILM FILM PUBLISHED in 2013, Ste- phen King's novel Doctor Sleep presented itself as a late-in-the-game sequel to his 1977 novel The Shining, which left a far wider cultur- al stamp thanks to the 1980 film adaptation by Stanley Kubrick. And while King is certainly no stranger to ad- aptation – he is experienc- ing something of a multi- platform renaissance in that regard, of late – The Shining is so far the only book of his to be transferred to the big screen by an undeniable ti- tan of cinema, Kubrick's standing in the cinematic hall of fame being long as- sured by now. However, King sees it in far less flattering terms, having infamously gone on record with his active dislike of Kubrick's typi- cally icy take his otherwise emotionally wrought and paranormally-specific tale of alcoholic writer Jack Tor- rance, who is given a job as a caretaker of the secluded Overlook Hotel during off- season, stringing his young wife Wendy and son Danny along for what becomes a fight for survival after he succumbs to the demonic calls of the Overlook's many ghosts and turns murderous psychopath. Fast-forward a few years later, and Danny (Ewan McGregor) is an adult still struggling to shake off his father's toxic legacy. He does appear to have dealt with the pesky and endur- ing presence of the Over- look's ghosts, with the celestial help of the posthu- mous presence of its chef, Dick Hallorann (Carl Lum- bly, masterfully mimicking Scatman Crothers's per- formance and mannerisms from the Kubrick original). But the very real spectre of alcoholism lingers on, and finally drives Danny away to a small town in New Hamp- shire, where he begins to attend Alcoholics Anony- mous meetings and look for odd jobs, one of them being that of an orderly in an old people's home, where his paranormal ability to 'shine' helps dying patience shuffle restfully off the mortal coil – an ability that gains him the titular monicker 'Doc- tor Sleep'. But his abilities also alert him to the presence of an- other of his kind, a young girl named Abra Stone (Ky- liegh Curran), who is in turn being made to witness child- snatching atrocities by the 'True Knot', a band of 'psy- chic vampires' led by Rose the Hat (Rebecca Fergu- son) and her team of near- immortals on a warpath to capture, kill and drain all the kids who 'shine'. It now falls to Abra and Danny to stop them, though the latter appears to be more keen to keep his head down lest old demons resurface to devour him. Moving at a steady-enough clip despite its various time- jumps forward, Mike Flana- gan's adaptation does one better on the misjudged IT: Chapter II – the previous large-scale King adaptation of the year – by leaning into the adventure side of things in favour of contriving gro- tesquerie and jump scares at every available opportunity. With their nomadic lifestyle and 'evil gypsy' trappings, the members of the True Knot are more Ray Brad- bury than Stephen King, and their presence lends a refreshing aura of dark fan- tasy to the experience, mak- ing a bona fide quest narra- tive out of Danny and Abra's reluctant partnership. It's an approach that will only further alienate a cer- tain section of horror fan- dom who scoff at '15-rated horror', which keeps the blood and body count rela- tively low and does not succumb to total nihil- The Haunting of Hill House's Mike Flanagan gets his slice of the Stephen King cinematic renaissance pie with a fun any pacy slice of horror with a late-hour sequel that draws on both the source material and the King-hated Kubrick classic, The Shining Teodor Reljic Oh Danny boy, the ghosts, the ghosts are calling