Greetings, and welcome back to October Horror Fest! Today’s movie was a sequel to one of my favorites, and day one of horror fest this year. This one may get a little long, or short, I don’t even know how I’m going to phrase this incredible film. Today, my friends, was Doctor Sleep. Without further ado, sit back, relax, turn off the lights, grab some Candy and Popcorn, and let’s review…

Doctor Sleep

We start our film with a young girl named Violet. She is in the woods having a picnic with her family, and all seems well (for now…) Eventually, she asks her mom if she can go into the forest to pick some flowers. While there, she is lured in by our villain, Rose the Hat. Rose is a vampiric entity (a demon basically) who feeds on the steam (essence) of those with the Shining. Rose lures Violet into a false sense of security, eventually ambushing her with her team. We hear a scream, as we cut to the one, the only, Danny Torrance.

It’s the 80s, and Danny is in his house with his mother. (For all my Shining nerds, it explains where Danny moved later and why.) Danny is going to the bathroom, having not spoken a word since leaving the Overlook. While staring at the bathroom, the lady in the bathtub appears. Danny runs and is comforted by his mother. The next day, Danny is visited by Dick Hallorann. This is DIck’s “ghost”. Think of it as a Force Ghost from Star Wars. Dick tells Danny about the Shining once more and tells him how to confront the ghosts of the Overlook. He tells Danny to put them into boxes in his head and to keep them trapped there. That, right there, is how he will win.

We cut to a now drunken Danny, going by Dan. And our boy is a MESS. He’s homeless, living from place to place, and is addicted to booze, just like his father. Dan is visited by Dick once more, as he goes to steal money from the person he just slept with, who happens to be a mother. Dan takes Dick’s advice, and leaves. He gets on a train, eager to run away from the person he is today. He arrives at a small town in New Hampshire.

Along the way, we cut between all our main groups. We’ll get back to Danny-Boy in a second. Rose is building up her team of “False-Shiners” (I think it sounds cool, the actual name of the team is the True Knot). The goal of the group is to live for a LONG time. To eat well, and live their lives. They die, but then feed on the steam of other Shiners to survive. To become a member of the True Knot, you have to survive. I won’t tell you all their names as it’s pretty overcomplicated, but the second in command is “The Crow”. While Rose is building her team, we meet our second hero. A young girl named Abra. She has IMMENSE Shining abilities, that rival Danny’s and Rose’s, and may even be stronger.

Back with Danny, he’s still haunted by his time at the Overlook, and his alcoholism. He meets his friend Billy, who agrees to give him housing and to help him get back on his feet. He is a good man, and sees something in Dan. Before Dan goes to sleep on his first day in New Hampshire, someone writes “Hello” on the blackboard in his room. Danny writes back, and we cut to black.

EIGHT YEARS LATER. That’s right. We are now in the present day of 2019, and Danny is established in his little town. Him and Billy are basically brothers, and we find that the girl who wrote to him is Abra. She calls him Uncle Dan, and Danny has been sober for eight years. At his celebration, he says it’s for Jack Torrance as well. He wishes he could do the same thing Dan is doing now. Dan has taken to using his Shine to help elders pass peacefully into sleep as a hospice worker. He is Doctor Sleep. Abra is growing up, and her Shine keeps getting stronger. With Rose, she is still looking for shiners. They barely have enough steam saved up in their capsules, and they need to hunt for more. Because of this, we get the WORST scene in the entire movie. The group finds a young boy who Shines. He was playing baseball, and is walking home on the side of the road. A good player for someone so young, the group follows in a van. He is lured in, and taken away. He is tied to the ground in a secluded area, and stabbed over and over again by Rose. Pain and fear purify the steam. It’s almost like an addiction for the True Knot. This scene was legitimately hard for me to watch, and it mirrored the Shining. As the boy was being tortured, Abra felt it, just like Danny. She screamed and screamed, and Rose picked it up. The group buries the heartbreakingly murdered boy in a shallow grave, and leaves, Rose now knowing someone stronger is out there. As Abra freaks out, everything goes ballistic. In Danny’s room, an explosion occurs on the blacboard. Danny looks in his mirror and sees the word, Redrum. Danny turns and looks towards the Murder scrawled into the board. Abra communicates, saying the baseball boy was killed.

Now, Danny and Abra both set out on their tasks. Abra uses her shine to see through the eyes of Rose, and track her. Rose notices, and tries to attack, but Abra swats her out of her mind like a fly, terrifying Rose. After this, Abra needs help, and takes a bus to Danny’s town. Once there, Uncle Dan and Abra sit together. Dan tells her what it is. The Shining, he called it. He tells Abra to stay down. To keep her head low, and to not let others know she Shines. Abra is upset, but asks Danny to go find the baseball boy’s glove. With it, she can track Rose. Dan immediately says no, but his mind is changed later that day. Dick appears once again, and perhaps for the last time. He tells Danny what he has to do. He says that he has grown up amazing and must help this girl.

Back with Rose, she gets into a psychic fight with Abra. She finds out where Abra lives, but she’s prepared. She traps Rose in her mind, and begins to go through Rose’s head. She gets information, and Rose is legitimately hurt and scared, with a majorly destroyed hand. She knows how dangerous Abra is. After this encounter, our heroes and our villains both get on the road and go. Danny and Billy set out to find the boy with the help of Abra, and get the glove back. It’s gutwrenching, but Billy believes Danny’s shine, and they bring the glove to Abra’s house. At the same time, the True Knot (minus Rose) set out to find Abra as well. Danny finally introduces himself to Rose’s father (and is punched), but is finally able to believe Abra and Danny’s shine. Once there, Danny’s plan is set into effect. He lets the True Knot track Abra. In the forest, Danny is ready. The True Knot arrives, thinking they found Abra. However, it was a trick, and she’s safe at home with her father. Danny and Billy open fire on the group, and take out every single member, however, at the loss of Billy. But, there’s a problem. The Crow isn’t dead. Abra panics but is silenced by the Crow breaking into her house and taking her, drugging her and killing her father. Danny is all alone and needs to become the hero he has to be.

Danny gets back to his house, and knows what he has to do. He asks Tony for help (his Shine from The Shining), and finally, after years and years, embraces his Shine. He takes over Abra’s body, and causes the Crow to run off the road, killing him and freeing Abra. Abra walks, and is finally picked up by Danny. However, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. Rose inhales all the steam she has left and heads out after Abra as well. Danny drives Abra and knows where he has to go. To end it all. In the dark, SNOWING night, Danny sets out with Abra. We hear the original theme from The Shining fade in, as the same shots from the beginning of The Shining are present. Danny drives strongly, knowing to end it, he has to end where it all began. The music builds and builds, the snow gets stronger and stronger, and the camera pans up. The Overlook Hotel stares back. Danny gets out of the car and keeps Abra safe in it. He turns up the heater, learning from his past. He has to wake up this being, this entity, this hotel. He walks in, and the lights shine. His first stop is the boiler room. He turns on all the valves and gauges and continues his walk through the hotel. He goes upstairs and finds where it all happened. Danny walks to his room. Entering, he sees the axe hole through the door, REDRUM scrawled underneath it. Like father, like son, he sticks his head through the hole. After this encounter, Danny heads back downstairs and walks to the Gold Room. It lights up and looks exactly how it did in the 1920s.

Danny heads to the bar and finds a glass right for him. Suddenly, in a moment that had me floored, Jack Torrance comes out from the bar. He is Lloyd the bartender, but Danny knows who he truly is. He has a heart-to-heart with his father and tells him what happened after he left the wretched place he now stands. Jack tries to convince his son to drink once more, his “medicine”, whiskey. Dan says no, and sends the glass flying across the counter. Suddenly, his mind is hit with a call from Abra. Rose is coming. He looks up, and his father is no longer there. He runs to Abra, and the final battle begins…

Abra enters the hotel, and The Shining references come flying at us. Rose finally encounters our duo in the same room where Jack was writing on his typewriter. Dan has the axe his father held and is prepared to use it. The first method of attack against Rose is through Danny’s shine. He tries to trap her in the boxes in his head, just like the other ghosts of the Overlook, but just barely fails. Rose now knows who Danny is, and Abra books it. She wonders how she didn’t catch him. Danny walks up the stairs backward, and Rose walks towards him, mirroring the staircase scene from The Shining. Danny swings his axe and does deal damage to Rose, but she turns it on him. Danny is severely slashed in the leg, destroying one of his major arteries. He will bleed out. Rose turns her attention toward Danny, sticking her finger in his wound and scaring him, taking his purified steam. Remember, pain and fear purify the Shine. We get flashback after flashback of The Shining, as Danny screams. Suddenly, Rose realizes he isn’t alone. Danny retors, saying that he isn’t and this hotel, it wants her. He opens all the boxes in his head, and every single ghost from The Shining attacks Rose, killing her. Danny tries to escape, but can’t, and the ghosts come for him…

We cut to Abra, as Danny comes into view. His eyes are glazed over. He has been taken by the hotel. He carries the axe in his hand and limps after Abra. Like father, like son. Abra runs, and of course, ends up in Room 237. While in there, she releases Danny of the hotel’s hold over him. Danny keeps fighting but tells Abra to run. Danny books it back to the boiler room, and as the hotel tries to stop it, he wins his inner fight. Abra gets outside, as the boilers blow. Danny gets down on the ground, watching the flames erupt around him. Suddenly, as the flames grow and grow, Wendy is there. She clutches her son’s face gently with her palm, as we see the child Danny once again. All is well. He won. Outside, Abra watches the Hotel burn. It screams and cries out, but Abra knows it is dead. Danny did it.

After we watch the flames fly high into the snowy night, we end up back in Abra’s room. She’s talking to Danny, and he tells her the lesson he learned. Don’t hide your shine. Shine as bright as you can. Abra’s mother knocks on the door, and Danny disappears. He’s gone, but not forever. He’s just passed on. Abra’s mom asks who she was talking to, and Abra says no one. However, she stops herself. She runs out of the room and says she was talking to Dan. She says that both he and her father are truly okay, and her mother smiles. She’s called for dinner, but Abra hesitates. Just like Uncle Dan, she stares at the bathroom. The ending music of The Shining begins to play, as she walks towards the Lady in the Bathtub. She closes the door, and we cut to black…

That is the END of Day 5, and I couldn’t be happier with the film I watched today. This one is going up on the 6th, since this was a MAJORLY long article to write. However, the movie was watched yesterday, and this article was also started yesterday. I am NOT failing on Day 5 my friends! I was discussing with my friend, and we both had the same reaction. This may be on par, or even better, than The Shining. This is truly how you do a sequel, and I HIGHLY recommend this movie to you all, even if you haven’t seen The Shining. Thank you all SO very much for reading. And remember, just as a fellow Danny said, Our beliefs don’t make us better people. Our actions make us better people…