The 5 best Stephen King film adaptations, ranked

Scenes from Stephen King's upcoming film, Doctor Sleep. Photo / Supplied

Stephen King's books have inspired many magnificent horror films. In honour of the Shining follow-up, Doctor Sleep, hitting cinemas today, we're counting down five of the best of those adaptations.

Note: We are excluding non-horrors such as Stand By Me (1986) and The Shawshank Redemption (1994), both of which are amazing but not very scary.

5. THE DEAD ZONE (1983)

Christopher Walken gives one of his best performances as an awakened coma patient cursed with foresight in this quietly devastating thriller directed by David Cronenberg (The Fly). As a venal, detestable aspiring president, Martin Sheen scarily anticipates you-know-who.

4. CHRISTINE (1983)

A tad under-appreciated in the King movie canon, this concerns a dorky teenager (Keith Gordon) who acquires an evil car that helps him become cool and also kills his enemies. Taut and effective.

3. MISERY (1990)

Kathy Bates gained a well-earned Oscar for her performance as a fan who imprisons her favourite novelist following a car accident. The story was inspired by King's relationship with his own fans. Like Carrie, this feels even more pertinent now than when it was made.

2. THE SHINING (1980)

King may not have been a fan but pretty much everyone else was. Epic, artful horror centred around a legendarily unhinged performance from Jack Nicholson. Every frame is a picture.

1. CARRIE (1976)

The first and still the best. Director Brian De Palma masterfully tapped into the raw power of King's debut novel about a bullied teenage girl (Sissy Spacek) who takes bloody revenge on her abusers with her telekinetic abilities.

Need more Stephen King in your life? Check out TimeOut Entertainment's chat with the writer and director of Doctor Sleep, Mike Flanagan.

Doctor Sleep is in cinemas now.