This one came and went so quickly in theaters that I didn’t even get the chance to go see it. It’s a damn shame that it didn’t perform better financially than it did. Not because its getting a sequel is dependent on its box office success, the way it works with most movies. The only way this one would ever get a sequel—not that it needs one; it doesn’t—would be if Stephen King decided to write one. (If they tried to do one without King we’d end up with another PET SEMATARY 2, and nobody needs that.) No, it’s just a shame that more people didn’t see it because it’s so damn good. In fact it’s fan-freakin’-tastic.
DOCTOR SLEEP is the sequel to THE SHINING that we all wanted. It is worthy. And not only does it serve as a proper follow-up to Stanley Kubrick’s movie, it bridges the gap between that movie and Stephen King’s novel. It manages to be a proper sequel to both of them at the same time. No mean feat, that. And the ending, the finale, is so, so satisfying.
Those are vampires in the movie, by the way. They feed on the life-forces of people gifted with the Shining rather than on blood, but they are vampires without a doubt.
If you haven’t yet seen DOCTOR SLEEP, by all means, indulge.