A good adaptation of Stephen King's prose until one point seemed to be merely a wishful thinking. Sure, there were single outbursts like Misera or the famous Shining , but it was Andrea Muschietti who changed the situation in recent years . Quite recently, the painting by Mike Flanagan, discussed here, joined the group of excellent approaches to the source material.
And you can only be glad that Doctor Sen has just found this gentleman – the American has already managed to prove with Oculus or Before I Wake that he can and likes to make horror films, feeling perfectly when emphasizing the psychology of the characters. And that’s an essential skill for endeavors such as the adaptation of the book of the King of Horror.
Hotel Panorama welcomes you again
In the film, we mainly accompany Dan Torrance, who, years after the tragic events at the Panorama Hotel, still cannot free himself from the demons of the past. The last attempt he makes for a trip to the far north of the United States seems to be a success. Or at least until he is contacted by a girl named Abra, who shows psychic abilities identical to those that put the hero’s neck in danger years ago. Dan already knows he’s not the only one, and so do members of the True Knot – an ancient society of beings who feed on the energy responsible for shining. Thus, whether we like it or not, the man will have to roll up his sleeves and face the threat once again – this time in the fight not only for his life.
Source: nytimes.com
Old-style horror
The aforementioned ability to get into characters’ heads is the case of the film Doctor Dreama key issue, because this is exactly how Flanagan’s film appears from the very first camera shots, even resonating from the screen with magical anxiety. The slow, lazy pace is entirely justified here and dictated by the most detailed representation of the characters, both on one side and the other side of the barricade. One can even risk a statement that during the first hour of the film nothing happens that would be directly related to the main plot line – and paradoxically, it is these seemingly insignificant moments that make the closer to the finale, the more anxious we will feel about the fate of individual participants in the drama . Flanagan knows exactly what he is doing, explaining in detail the motivations of the characters – thanks to this, although we do not necessarily have to agree with them, we are well aware why something is happening like this.
As a result, the way of telling a story that seems to be incongruent with today’s standards – instead of chiseled jumpscares that follow one another with surgical accuracy, Flanagan prefers a gradual building of a threatening mood, using the soundtrack and what remains hidden from the viewer’s eyes. . So there is no dazzling violence in his film, but what is shown to us is suggestive enough for our imagination to do the rest.
Source: Galapagos
Technical perfection
In addition to the polished script, Dr. Sen also draws attention to the quality of the production – all the shots are directed so that they do not take any unnecessary second longer, and some sequences, such as Rose leaving her body and “flying” to Abr’s house, cause a small drop of the jaw. Let’s add to this high-octane mix sensational performances by actors, where it’s really hard to decide who to give the palm to priority (my type: Rebecca Ferguson) and we will have a complete movie that begs to be played on the big screen and with the best possible quality …
It’s an ill-fated DVD
… which the carrier, gnawed by the tooth of time, is in no way able to deliver. Let’s be absolutely honest, because you have to say it clearly and clearly – trying to watch on today’s forty-few-inch screens, no matter how well-compressed a movie to DVD format, must end up having a game of catching pixels in the picture, and if only for this reason, we are dealing with a living fossil. In other aspects, it is not better, because Dolby Surround sound, or the ability to choose different audio tracks, is a standard known for decades.
Source: wp.pl
This great movie
It is a pity to cripple such a good film with a mediocre release, but in order not to end with a negative message, it is worth mentioning that the publisher, Galapagos, prepared three other, much more interesting editions of the film. In addition to the DVD, we have an equally standard Blu-ray, and next to it, the 4K edition and, perhaps, an even more interesting two-disc version – containing a director’s version of the image longer by over half an hour. And believe me – the latter is especially worthy of attention.
