THE SHINING Prequel THE OVERLOOK HOTEL Trudges Onward...

Header courtesy of NabundaNada @ DeviantArt

As a horror fan, it's hard to report news like this without any bias. You guys know my stance on The Shining, and the place that it holds in my personal life, and as happy as I am to know that this isn't a remake I am still a bit uncertain about the news that The Overlook Hotel, a prequel to Kubrick's masterpiece, is in the works and has secured a director. 

I think that out of all the remakes/reboots/what-have-you that the horror world has seen in the past decade, this will draw some of the heaviest speculation simply because Kubrick's work is regarded as some of the best in the film world, not only the horror world. 

Rumors of this project began circulating sometime ago and it appears that they were more than just rumors. Mark Romanek (One Hour Photo) has laid claim to the directors chair with a draft written by Greg Mazzara (The Walking Dead). James Vanderbilt (The Amazing Spider Man), Brad Fischer (Zodiac) and Laeta Kalogridis (Shutter Island) will be producing. In May, Alfonso Cuaron (Gravity) was heavily rumored to have first rights in terms of directing the flick, and in all honesty, I would be much more interested in he were the one helming the project. His use of atmosphere in Gravity was mesmorizing, and while Romanek's One Hour Photo was plenty chilling, that film came out twelve years ago. That's a pretty big gap between major productions, minus the slew of music videos he's directed over the years. 

King's original prologue (which was later cut before the book went to print in '77) stands as the basis for the film, which "will tell the origin story of the Overlook Hotel through the eyes of its first owner, Bob T. Watson. A robber baron at the turn of the 20th century, Watson scaled the remote peaks of the Colorado Rockies to build the grandest resort in America, and a place he and his family would also call home“.

For now, as always, we wait and we see what's going to come of this new project.  No word has come of yet as to whether or not King will be involved, but seeing as this is one of the novels that hit's closest to home for him, I can't imagine that he won't. Hopefully Romanek won't Kubrick him and effectively shut him out of production on this one, as my hope for this project lies in whether or not King is involved. 

Either way, speculation is fun and there is going to be a ton of that going on until we get more details. Will they recreate the same look for the Overlook? Will they use the original source material and film at the Stanley, as King's mid-90's mini-series did, in Estes Park? Will we see Dan Lloyd return for a cameo in this installment? And what about getting backstory from the original? Will we see the massacre of the Grady twins, or the demise of the woman in room 217 (although it will probably remain 237 for continuity's sake)? 

What do you all think? Are you ready for another jaunt in the halls of the Overlook? 

10 Facts You May Not Have Known About THE SHINING

Back on October 30^th, I had the opportunity to see my personal favorite film on the big screen for the first time, and what an experience it was. To experience The Exorcist in that fashion was a beautiful experience, but The Shining… that was borderline religious. I spent All Hallows Eve with a packed house of eager faced people, some who had never seen the film, others just as big a fan as I am, and the Torrance family, and it could not have been more perfect. 

I had yet to see it in this format, it’s true format, and after seeing The Exorcist, I couldn’t wait. In honor of that, let’s take a look at the iconic film by Stanley Kurbick and some facts about the film that may surprise you.

Now, I’ve been wanting to write a series about King for a while. I’m sure a few of you may remember me discussing this a while back, but it’s been a daunting task. I mean, I have so many thoughts about his work, that’s it’s hard to express in a length that would be tolerable to read. You can absolutely expect a very in depth analysis of this film in the future, but for now, let’s celebrate it with this list of facts and trivia about the 1980 classic.

DOCTOR SLEEP - A Literary Review by Rg Lovecraft

Oooooh Stephen King. How's it been goin', old friend? I feel like we haven't sat down and had a good adventure together in quite sometime. 

It should come as no surprise to you guys that I love me some Stephen King. He's one of those guys over whom I would squeal like a little girl if I was to see him in a grocery store, or pumping gas at the local Chevron. The sad thing about King is that his novels are never properly adapted for the big screen, it's something I've grown to accept. I don't believe that King's writing style can ever properly be conveyed in a visual format, he has such a personal, internalized writing style. Being that the Moretz fronted Carrie remake is hits theaters today (and the reviews are far from flattering) I thought today is a good day to focus on the man himself, the man behind the scenes, and his latest novel Doctor Sleep. 

I have been hotly anticipating this one for a little over a year, when I first heard that it was happening. A sequel to The Shining, and thank the heavens that it was Stephen King doing so and not Warner Bros. It says a lot about the faith and trust that I have in King that I can hear something like this, and not have a second thought. Just pure and complete excitement. I mean, we finally get to see what happens to Danny Torrance (now simply Dan), and how he copes with the aftermath of the tragedy in Sidewinder, Colorado. 

Now, if you're not familiar with the The Shining in it's true, original state, there will be some spoilers. If you don't care, or have read the novel, just highlight over those blank portions. 

The novel picks up after those terrible events, The Overlook has burned down and Danny and Wendy have escaped it's wraith, but Danny is still haunted by Mrs. Mackey and Horace Derwent. Not only have they followed him halfway across the country, but after some help from Dick Hallorann, Danny has found a way to use the shining to his advantage and lock them up in mental lockboxes for safe keeping. From here on out, we are taken many years into the future. Dan Torrance is now an adult, leading a life addled by alcoholism and poor decisions. He drinks to block the shining, which has haunted him his entire life. 

After a terrible encounter involving copious amounts of alcohol, cocaine and a curious toddler, Dan hops a train and heads north where he eventually ends up in a small sleepy town in New Hampshire where he not only finds work, but he begins his path to sobriety and finally finds some semblance of normalcy and purpose in life. He gets a job working for a local hospice in which he uses his talents to help the elderly guests (they are not patients in the Helen Rivington Home, but guests) pass onto their next spiritual journey. This is when he meets Abra, a girl who shines even harder than he did as a child, and the group of vampiric immortals who feed off of children who shine as a form of sustenance, but only after it's been purified through their pain and torment. What follows is a suspense trip unlike any other I've read in a King novel.

Something that a lot of people might find disappointing about this novel is the drastic stylistic differences between it and it's predecessor. It reads nothing like The Shining, and aside from the main characters name, you might never guess that it's a sequel to the supernatural novel. While The Shining was a tortured read of psychological terror and horror, this was more a suspense crime novel, wrought with psychic battles, telekinesis and telepathy. Does this make Doctor Sleep  a bad read? Absolutely not. Stephen King still has his touch, and it's just as much a page turner as anything else of his that I've read.

While I will say, The Shining is still the better of the two, King's character development is still spot on, especially in the case of young Abra Stone. One aspect of King's writing that has always amazed me is his ability to write children. He captures childlike innocence in such an amazing way. I am in no way a "children person", I steer clear of them and vice versa, however he is able to evoke emotions in me that I am sure are the very same that parents feel when staring at their beautiful little creations. King has definitely always had an affinity towards writing about children as well. The Shining, Pet Sematary, IT, etc. all prominently feature children, or the dynamic between child and father. Doctor Sleep is no different. 

I could go on for a while longer, but I'm bordering on analyzing King's writing as a whole (but that's for another post), but I will start to wrap things up now. Doctor Sleep is a great read, it's fun, it's engaging and as always, a page turner. While it does not compare to it's predecessor, it is important to keep in mind when reading this that not only is King in a different head space (it's been 30 years, and he's sober) the book is different. It is beautiful in it's own right though, there is the surface story, but the true underlying current is that of Dan Torrance and whether or not he will be able to finally let the grip that his father, and The Overlook has had on him all these years go. In that sense, it's a beautiful novel.

OVERALL RATING: 7/10

- Rg Lovecraft

Fan Art Find: The Overlook Gets Touristy

Fan art, especially in the horror world, is fucking awesome. I just stumbled across this poster inspired by The Shining. I have to have it.

How You Know When Your Horror Obsession Has Reached New Heights

My extremely religious mother is a sweet heart. She thinks of nobody but herself, is widely considered a saint by my friends and has nightmares when she watches an episode of Law and Order. But she still knows to send her beloved son a picture of The Stanley Hotel when she's visiting Estes Park with my father (if you don't know what this is, you best be leavin' these parts). 
 

And that's when you know that horror culture has become one of the defining aspects of your life. Love you mom!

- Rg