8 Horror Movie Characters That Stupidly Turned Evil In The Sequel

Set decades after the Torrance family’s traumatic ordeal at the Overlook Hotel, Doctor Sleep follows a now-adult Dan (Ewan McGregor) as he helps protect a young girl (Kyliegh Curran) from a supernatural group of child-eaters led by an enigmatic Rebecca Fergusson.

Though Doctor Sleep is far from being a bad film, writer-director Mike Flanagan nevertheless found himself in the difficult position of adapting Stephen King’s sequel to The Shining as well as creating a spiritual sequel to Stanley Kubrick’s own iconic interpretation of The Shining, which diverged substantially from the source material. The result is a film that drops the ball in the final act as it works to create an ending to both versions of The Shining.

Whereas King’s Doctor Sleep concluded on a heartfelt note that combined the various plot threads into a satisfying climax, Flanagan’s version sees Dan become possessed by the hotel like his father was. The aim is to create a parallel between Dan and Jack’s personal struggles, but what we got was an excuse to pad out the climax with some nostalgic call backs to the 1980 film.

Despite this significant blunder, Flanagan’s Doctor Sleep manages to pull itself together during the final moments.