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I know it always feels like another Stephen King adaptation is just around the corner, but this year especially has felt jam-packed with big movies based on the author’s seemingly endless work. That Dark Tower movie was only two years ago but that seems like an eternity when this year had It: Chapter Two, Pet Sematary, and now a sequel to the gosh-darn Shining.
Watch these movies before Doctor Sleep.
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Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining
Stephen King can hate all he wants, but Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 film version of The Shining is a straight-up horror masterpiece. The icy tone, the psychological destruction of the family, the Jack Nicholson performance, the inexplicable bear outfit. There’s a reason why Doctor Sleep wants to remind you of this movie’s unforgettable iconography.
The Other Shining
Stephen King was so mad at Kubrick’s Shining that years later he wrote a screenplay for his own more accurate take on the material as a miniseries. And it was bad! The good news is King feels Doctor Sleep “redeems” the previous Shining film, so hopefully we can all just get along now.
Room 237
Jack Nicholson’s character wasn’t the only person who lost their mind because of The Shining. There’s a whole community of weirdos out there who believe the movie is a secret metaphor for Kubrick faking the Moon landing or the genocide of Native Americans. The fascinating documentary Room 237 shines a light on the personal Overlook Hotel these people find themselves trapped in. Or it reveals the vast conspiracy at last.
It: Chapter Two
You should watch It: Chapter Two before Doctor Sleep not just because it’s also a big-budget King sequel, but because the movies also actually have similar themes. Both films are about troubled adults facing past childhood traumas, just with a different supernatural layer on top. The Losers Gang fights a murder clown who feeds on fear. Meanwhile, adult Danny Torrance fights weird vampires who want to steal his psychic powers.
The Men Who Stare at Goats
If you want to see Ewan McGregor grapple with psychic powers in a much less horrific way, watch The Men Who Stare at Goats. Based on vaguely true reports, this dark comedy is about the military’s various kooky new age attempts to develop soldiers and spies with extraordinary mental powers. You can only imagine the kinds of folks that would attract.
The Haunting of Hill House
A big reason why a sequel to The Shining is even worth paying attention to (besides its roots in King’s own book sequel) is director Mike Flanagan. He’s been making horror movies for a while, but really got a lot of critical buzz for his Netflix adaptation of the gothic horror novel The Haunting of Hill House. Season two is already in the works.
Gerald’s Game
Speaking of Mike Flanagan, Doctor Sleep isn’t even his first stab at King. In 2017 he directed an adaptation of Gerald’s Game for Netflix. While not supernatural, the movie mines plenty of horror from being handcuffed to a bed alone with no hope for rescue. A killer performance from the underrated Carla Gugino also helps.