Editorials
[Interview] Eight New Things We’ve Learned About ‘Doctor Sleep’!
By now you’ve certainly seen the trailer for Doctor Sleep, the long-awaited follow-up to The Shining from writer/director Mike Flanagan (The Haunting of Hill House). The preview featured surprising imagery evoking Stanley Kubrick’s classic film, but also seemed to indicate a faithfulness to the novel by Stephen King.
In a Q&A immediately after the premiere of the trailer in Los Angeles, Flanagan and his producing partner Trevor Macy answered questions from the press about the film’s production, its unique status as a sequel to multiple versions of the same story, and what sort of Easter Eggs fans will see in the film, which opens in theaters on November 8, 2019.
These are the most fascinating stories that came from the filmmakers!
Doctor Sleep is a Sequel to Stephen King’s Novel AND Stanley Kubrick’s Film
Given the differences between Stephen King’s classic novel and Stanley Kubrick’s classic film, an adaptation of King’s “Doctor Sleep” would presumably have to make a choice: follow the books, or follow the film. Right?
Not necessarily.
“It’s the most common question we’ve had since the project was announced, and the question that we couldn’t really answer until we had material to present,” Mike Flanagan said. “Because the answer is really complicated. The answer to all of those questions for us has always been, ‘yes’.”
“It is an adaptation of the novel ‘Doctor Sleep’, which is Stephen King’s sequel to his novel ‘The Shining’. But this also exists very much in the same cinematic universe that Kubrick established in his adaptation of The Shining,” Flanagan continued, “and reconciling those three, at times very different sources has been kind of the most challenging and thrilling part of this creatively, for us.”
“First and foremost the movie is kind of its own thing,” Trevor Macy added. “And has been embraced by the Kubrick estate and by King as such. But in a very real sense we’re standing on the shoulders of literary and cinematic giants.”
“Which has been, you know, no pressure,” Flanagan joked.
Stephen King Had to Agree to the Kubrick Ideas
“Very, very carefully,” Mike Flanagan explained, “and over a lot of trial and error initially, when it came to trying to craft the adaptation, I went back to the book first and the big conversation that we had to have was about whether or not we could still do a faithful adaptation of the novel as King had laid it out, while inhabiting the universe that Kubrick had created.”
“And that was a conversation that we had to have with Stephen King, to kick the whole thing off.
“If that conversation hadn’t gone the way it went we wouldn’t have done the film,” Flanagan revealed.
“As a lot of you know – I imagine all of you know – Stephen King’s opinions about the Kubrick adaptation are famous and complicated. And complicated to the point that if you’ve read the book you know that he actively and intentionally ignored everything that Kubrick had changed about his novel, and defiantly said nope, this exists completely outside of the Kubrick universe,” he added.
“So the first conversation we had to have, other than that we as – fans of King and apostles of The Shining – really needed to try to bring those worlds back together again,” Flanagan continued.
“We had to go to King and explain how, and some of that amounts to very practical questions about certain characters who are alive in the novel, ‘The Shining’, who are not alive by the end of the film,” Flanagan said. “How do I deal with that? And in particular how to get into the vision of the Overlook that Kubrick had created.”
“And our pitches to Stephen went over surprisingly well, and we came out of the conversation with not only his blessing to do what we ended up doing, but his encouragement,” Flanagan said.
“This project has had for me the two most nerve-racking moments of my entire career,” the director then confessed.
“The first was sending the first draft of the script to Stephen King, and that was utterly terrifying, but he thankfully really loved it. And the second was at the end, very recently, of this post-production process when the film was sent to Stephen to watch and also to the Kubrick estate.”
“Both went very well, and that was always the hope going in, that there was some universe in which Stephen King and the Stanley Kubrick estate could both love this movie. That is the dream. Threading that needle has been the source of every ulcer we’ve had for the last two years,” Flanagan said.
There’s Only One Shot in the Trailer from The Shining
The footage from the first Doctor Sleep trailer features surprising footage of Danny Torrance and the Overlook Hotel, but even though it looks Kubrickian, only one shot in the preview was from Kubrick’s The Shining
“It’s interesting too because what you’ve seen today, in the more iconic imagery that’s been on the screen, that isn’t taken from the Kubrick film,” Flanagan explained. “There’s only one shot in the trailer you saw that’s actually his footage, and that’s the shot of the bloody elevators.”
“Everything else is us. Everything else is our recreation. So I don’t want to spoil to what extent and what specific, outside of what you already got to see, what we have kind of been able to revisit form Kubrick’s world,” Flanagan teased. “But I can say that everything that we decided to use, our intention was always to detail and reverence, and making sure that we were doing it properly, with the hope that even the most rabid cinephiles might not be able to tell the difference with some of our frames and some of his.”
“That’s always been the goal, Flanagan concluded. “We were able to do that with the full support of the Kubrick estate, who were willing to provide us with his designs.”
Doctor Sleep Was Not Made Like a Modern Horror Movie
The Shining may be a classic horror movie, but some younger audiences might not fall under its spell, since trends of horror have evolved in the ensuing decades. It’s a concern that Flanagan thinks he has an answer to.
“It’s interesting because I’ve had that experience where I’ve shown someone The Shining and they don’t see what the fuss is about,” the director explained.
“I think one of the solutions to that for us was we never approached this movie as a horror movie. We always wanted to try to come at it from a different side. We’ve done that for a lot of our things but I don’t know if it’s ever been more true than with this one,” he continued. “It has horrific elements, absolutely, but one of the things that we were trying to be very careful to do is not to create the expectation that this is a modern horror movie in the way that people expect it.
“One of the questions that I would ask,” Flanagan added, “when we were developing the project and when we were talking about the metered expectations audiences have about, in particular, jump scares and startles and the pacing of those, which we’re utterly uninterested in this film, [was] I would say, ‘What’s your favorite jump scare in The Shining?’”
“There isn’t one. The same is true here. We used a lot of the lessons that Kubrick taught us about how to do a psychological thriller, a supernatural thriller, in a way that is more about suffocating atmosphere and tension than it ever is about the kind of traditional scares as we understand them today,” Flanagan concluded. “So in light of that, we have been very careful not to make the kind of movie that those audiences would expect.”
The Big Argument: A Door Number
The notorious and ominous room that Danny is warned about in The Shining is different in the novel than in the film. The novel set the disturbing action in Room 217, whereas Kubrick’s adaptation moved it to Room 237. (The hotel managers of The Timberline Lodge, which was used for exteriors, were afraid nobody would want Room 217 again, so Kubrick changed it to a room number they didn’t have.)
“I’ll tell you one of the most robust arguments we had was about whether the door would be 237 or 217,” Flanagan explained. “Robust argument.”
“And we went back and forth about four times in prep,” Trevor Macy added.
There Will Be Easter Eggs
Mike Flanagan may get asked about King’s novel and Kubrick’s movie the most, but he knows The Shining has other adaptations and influences.
“I actually have quite a bit of admiration for the mini-series,” Flanagan says, referring to the 1997 mini-series directed by Mick Garris, and adapted by King himself. “Because of not only where they chose to shoot it – at the Stanley, which is really meaningful just as far as the genesis of the novel – but for how they treated Jack.”
“So what you’ll see eventually, and I can’t talk too much per spoilers again, but what you’ll see is an honest attempt here to try to pull all that together,” Flanagan continued. “There are lots of easter eggs within the film, specific not only to Kubrick but to King as well, outside of the Shining and Doctor Sleep novels. So I’m hoping this will be exciting for people as nerdy as me, and we did go out of our way to try to make sure it would be.”
Will There Be Conspiracy Theories?
If you’re wondering whether Doctor Sleep will have anything to do with faking the moon landings – a conspiracy theory about Kubrick’s The Shining that took on a life of its own – the answer is very silly.
“Not to be overly spoilery,” Flanagan confessed, “but at least one major announcement by NASA in the past year is something that I have faked. And this is my confession for that. Let me know what you think it is!”
They Had an Adult-Sized Big Wheel On the Set
When asked if anything eerie occurred on the set of Doctor Sleep, Mike Flanagan accidentally revealed the coolest-sounding part of the production.
“The crew and the cast were kind of too busy riding the Big Wheel around and giggling for it to be too ominous for us,” Flanagan explained, before his producing partner interjected.
“He’s not kidding,” Trevor Macy explained. “We had an adult-sized Big Wheel that you could ride around the hotel.”
“It was the coolest thing,” Flanagan admitted, laughing.
Ewan McGregor and Rebecca Ferguson lead the cast. McGregor stars as the adult version of Danny Torrance, while Ferguson plays Rose the Hat.
Carl Lumbly is playing Dick Hallorann with Alex Essoe as Wendy Torrance in the continuation of the storyline from The Shining. Kyliegh Curran has been cast in the role of Abra Stone, a girl who has the gift of ‘The Shining’. Bruce Greenwood plays the role of Dr. John. Alyn Lind is Snakebite Andi, with Jocelin Donahue and Jacob Tremblay also starring.
In Doctor Sleep, still irrevocably scarred by the trauma he endured as a child at the Overlook, Dan Torrance has fought to find some semblance of peace. But that peace is shattered when he encounters Abra, a courageous teenager with her own powerful extrasensory gift, known as the “shine.” Instinctively recognizing that Dan shares her power, Abra has sought him out, desperate for his help against the merciless Rose the Hat and her followers, The True Knot, who feed off the shine of innocents in their quest for immortality.
Forming an unlikely alliance, Dan and Abra engage in a brutal life-or-death battle with Rose. Abra’s innocence and fearless embrace of her shine compel Dan to call upon his own powers as never before—at once facing his fears and reawakening the ghosts of the past.
Trevor Macy and Jon Berg produced the film, with Roy Lee, Scott Lumpkin, Akiva Goldsman and Kevin McCormick serving as executive producers. Flanagan adapted the novel.
Doctor Sleep hits theaters on November 8, 2019.
College kids, strippers and vampires—those were Donald P. Borchers’ only requirements when he approached Richard Wenk about writing and directing a movie for New World Pictures. As requested, Wenk cooked up Vamp (1986), a tailor-made blend of the decade’s teen movie craze as well as its horror boom.
Grim and earnest stories were still very much a part of the ’80s horror landscape, yet Vamp is something of a comedy. One difference between it and, say, Saturday the 14th, though, is the former avoids using schtick. Wenk’s movie proves that horror comedies also don’t have to subtract thrills from their recipes. Of course, it takes a minute before reaching that point; college antics and culture shocks preface this one macabre misadventure.
Vamp‘s initial setup is apt for a typical college-set, sex-driven comedy; to bribe their way into a fraternity house, two pledges (Chris Makepeace, Robert Rusler) go looking for some adult entertainment. Without wasting time on any further exposition, the characters embark on an all-in-one-night trip that quickly detours into terror.
To procure their elusive MacGuffin—a stripper willing to gyrate for some frat boys—Keith (Makepeace) and AJ (Rusler), plus a third wheel named Duncan (Gedee Watanabe), trade the safety of their remote college campus for the seediness of some unnamed city. The setting is recognizably L.A. by day, but as soon as night falls, downtown, along with the characters, slips into a kind of surreal universe. Director of photography Elliot Davis gave this early entry on his prolific résumé an unusual yet distinctive look; that Mario Bava-esque, magenta-green lighting is omnipresent, so much so that it’s almost its own character.
Chris Makepeace and Robert Rusler in Vamp
The faint comparisons to Martin Scorsese’s After Hours are merited, although not just because of Vamp’s distinguishing nighttime aesthetic. Save for the primary characters, the supporting roles in Wenk’s movie are also quite colorful and transactional in their behavior. The difference here, though, is the additional urge to ruin Keith and his friends at every turn. Some of that harm is humorous and tolerable enough, whereas the moment Vamp dishes out its first fatality, it’s abundantly clear how this movie qualifies as horror.
Vamp falls into that category of horror movie that reveals its genre with a scream rather than a series of whispers. The opening scene can function as a hint of what lies ahead—things are not at all what they appear to be—but otherwise, Wenk is more than happy to hold off on the horror. When that time does come, though, it catches the viewer off guard. In addition to the pure shock value is that sudden decision to upend the movie’s foremost feature. Or so it would seem.
If afraid of major spoilage, those new to Vamp would be wise to stop reading here. There’s just no skirting around the fact that the central fellowship in this buddy movie hits a serious snag when AJ is killed. That development causes the story to become more of a “long, bad night” journey for Keith and his romantic interest. So while Wenk scores points for subverting expectations, there is also a touch of sadness in his decision. Because if Vamp does anything well, it’s making the characters likable.
Something that comes easily to Vamp—and other teen horror movies from this same era—is its ability to invent young characters worth caring about, or at the very least, are interesting and not so immediately off-putting. More impressive is how Wenk did all this without actually fleshing out those characters. Still and all, Keith and his kind are a grade above cookie-cutter, and in some cases, aren’t completely devoid of growth.
Grace Jones in Vamp
Vamp appeals with an assorted cast of characters. No two are the same, nor are they operating on the same wavelength. The cinematically extroverted AJ, whose actor conveyed charm and vulnerability in near equal amounts, comes alive when he’s at his most undead. Makepeace then makes the chronically cautious Keith a sympathetic fellow, even as he’s more and more affected by the night’s bizarre events. Meanwhile, Duncan is indeed the designated loser of the whole bunch, but Watanabe still manages to humanize him. As a bonus, the role didn’t require him to pull a Long Duk Dong.
As for Dedee Pfeiffer, she is plain adorable as the mysterious After Dark server nicknamed “Amaretto”. She spends all night fixing her dress strap while at the same time trying to get Keith to remember how he knows her. As their offbeat romance grows, it becomes another highlight of this movie. Whether or not Pfeiffer’s character is really a vampire also creates some welcome tension in the story.
Like a lot of its contemporaries, Vamp went on to become a bit of a cult classic. That current status is determined by several factors, but without a doubt, the casting of Grace Jones is the most considerable. The image of her writhing on that unique-looking chair, a Keith Haring original, springs to mind whenever this movie is brought up.
Chris Makepeace, Billy Drago and Paunita Nichols in Vamp
Prior to that first display of unequivocal horror, local vampire queen Katrina (Jones) took to the stage and delivered a strip show like no other. One would expect nothing less from that renowned model and performance artist. By now reports of Jones’ tardiness on set are no secret, yet it’s also hard to deny her commitment to the part of Katrina. It was, in fact, Jones who took charge of her character’s appearance—on top of Haring painting her body and that now-iconic chair, she had Andy Warhol handle her costuming. And not too many actors could seize a room’s attention without saying a single line of dialogue.
In 2022, Vamp received a retrospective novelization from Encyclopocalypse. This literary union of preexisting source material—Wenk’s original screenplay—and new ideas from author Christian Francis amounts to a more comprehensive visit to the After Dark Club. The basic story there is no different than what’s shown on screen; however, Francis gets creative with the characters’ origins and designs, and he enhances a number of key scenes.
The novelization expands on the urban and social decay of the main setting, and supplies a background for the After Dark Club. Sandy Baron’s character, Katrina’s emcee and familiar, is given ample motivation for sticking around; up until the fiery end, he is loyal to his friend and former business partner “Squeak”, who looks like he was “fed through a combine harvester, and left as nothing more than a heap of mangled remains”. Then there is Billy Drago’s character Snow, the leader of a street gang called The Dragons. His reason for menacing Keith and AJ is more altruistic than in the movie; he and his peers act tough to scare off any potential food for the vampires.
Lisa Lyon in Vamp
If not for all the backstories, Francis’ Vamp would be a hell of a lot shorter. Instead, this tie-in read dives into how AJ met Keith—the orphaned Anthony Joseph hailed from a broken home back in Brooklyn—and how their friendship flourished over the years. Keith’s archership is no longer just an assumed part of his entire being; it’s a confidence-building extracurricular for a boy who got picked on before coming into the protection of the new kid in town. These supplemental, in-depth looks at the protagonists, plus their close connection, are maybe unnecessary. The movie already did a fair and concise job of addressing their platonic intimacy without the need for flashbacks and insights, specifically in that scene where AJ lays it all out as he sacrifices himself.
Where the novelization gets off course is its approach to the minor characters. Intermittently backstorying the likes of Katrina’s indentured servants, Seko (Leila Hee Olsen) and Vlad (Brad Logan), ends up disturbing the flow of the writing. Was it absolutely essential that readers know Vlad was the Grand Duke of the House of Romanov, or how Snow’s accomplice Maven (Paunita Nichols) became so dentally challenged? No, not really. However, one’s mileage with these random biographies may vary.
The novelization is a more substantial experience, but for a movie like Vamp, less is more. And as plentiful as they are, it never simply coasts on its campy charms, either. The character work sits comfortably in that realm between cursory and meticulous, the script is sharper than first realized, and Greg Cannom’s vampire makeup is straightforward yet effective. Most of all, the movie didn’t squander its out-of-the-box concept. Richard Wenk made his vision of a “comic nightmare in which just about anything that can go wrong does” come true, and it is very enjoyable.
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