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When Stephen King’s follow up to The Shinning, Doctor Sleep, hit cinema’s last year, it didn’t do too well.
Many people didn’t seem to be aware that it was a sequel to fan favourite The Shinning, and others just didn’t seem interested in the two and a half hour run time.
Now that its hit streaming platforms though, its a completely different story, perhaps showing that some films will actually do better from virtual releases, straight into our homes.
Following Danny Torrance, now all grown up and played by Ewan McGregor, as he tries to protect a young girl with similar powers to his, from a cult who prey on children with these powers, to remain immortal, the film is a spook fest that’ll stick with you long after you turn it off.
Despite its poor box office performance, the slow burning horror was critically acclaimed upon release.
Now that its available to a wider audience on the streaming platform HBO Max, it seems to be gaining traction with horror fans.
It was assumed the long runtime may have turned many cinema goers off from seeing the movie, but where as the original 152 minute movie was loved by critics, it seems fans are much happier with the 180 minute run time of the directors cut, which is available to stream.
The directors cut has almost a full half hour of ‘new, altered and extended scenes’ selected by Mike Flanagan, and fans have touted it as ‘feeling like an entirely different movie’.
There has been discourse surrounding The Shinning for years, with fans, and at points even Stephen King, who wrote the book its based on, calling it out as a poor adaption of the book.
Luckily, it seems Doctor Sleep is an appreciated and accurate adaption, allowing fans of The Shinning to understand both the book and movie better, increasing their enjoyment of it.
Doctor Sleep is easily available on DVD, Blu-Ray, and some streaming services, so what are you waiting for?!