Same here. I'm also one of those heretics who thinks that while THE SHINING has its rightful place in cinema, DOCTOR SLEEP is a better movie. That movie knocked me sideways.
He, he. The film has its moments, but didn't sell me. I'll take the SHINING sequence from READY PLAYER ONE as a 'sequel' any day of the week. But the double whammy of ABSENTIA and OCULUS is ace. HUSH, BEFORE I WAKE and GERALD'S GAME are pretty good too. And then there's HILL HOUSE, which is probably his best work so far.
With Hill House, I felt invested in knowing these characters and rooting for them. The child actors they got were absolutely perfect and made the entirety of the series that much more tragic and sad (even with the uplifting ending). I was also able to empathize with these characters (I see half a dozen Luke's a day with work...and seeing him as a kid just broke my heart over and over again). It is this characterization, along with Flanagan's direction and the Newton Brother's wonderful score, that made this, in my opinion, the best series of the year thus far. Not TOO many sudden shocks, but enough to appease horror fans. This is more an in-depth character study.
Watching Bly Manor...this series is SO British...I'm struggling with the characters in this. Only three episodes in, but Flanagan's got the atmosphere down and I like the Newton Brothers' re-use of the Haunting theme, although it doesn't connect me with the characters as much.
