Doctor Sleep movie review: Mike Flanagan's strong grasp on the horror genre makes this a worthy sequel to The Shining

Language: English A sequel to one of the most iconic properties in horror was always going to be a tough hill for director Mike Flanagan, but Doctor Sleep just about passes the sequel test, despite being a whole different film with bits of The Shining inserted into it. Doctor Sleep owes its existence to the success of the It films, and I’ll admit it is wonderful to see Stephen King flavored big-budget horror on a mainstream scale. The latter was famously derisive of Kubrick’s film and it is clear why he likes Doctor Sleep – it contains many of the elements that make King’s work stand out – the details of which are best-kept secret before you see the film. As someone who hasn’t read the book on which Doctor Sleep is based on, I can’t comment on how faithful it is to the source material, but King’s approval, as well as the clarity of thought in the narrative, is enough to indicate that Flanagan did jettison the silly bits that every King book contains.