Stephen King. Just hearing that name alone gets publishers ready to sign their checkbooks and fans eagerly anticipating his next novel. And there’s a good reason for that. He is considered by many to be the greatest modern author of our time. Mostly telling stories of horror, life, and suspense, he’s the author so many aspiring writers want to be. It’s no wonder that he is the most adapted living author from book
to screen ever according to a google search, with over 30 films. But which six adaptations stand out as his the best? I bring this up because IT comes to theaters Sept. 8th. I don’t know how IT will be so for now I will take a look at the top 6 Stephen King movies.
Note: These are only films I have seen so if you don’t see your favorite that means either I never saw it (e.g. The Green Mile) or it didn’t make the cut (e.g. The Mist).
1408 (2007) Based on a short story of the same name, this film centers on an author played by John Cusack as he spends the night alone in a haunted hotel room on a challenge by the hotel’s manager played by Samuel L. Jackson. The bulk of the movie is just the author as he attempts to survive the night. This movie succeeds on the strength of the underrated John Cusack’s performance as we see a one man show of terror and scares.
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Carrie (1976) I view this film as a cautionary tale on bullying and being pushed to the breaking point, especially in modern times. We see an unattractive outcast teenager named Carrie White, played by Oscar winner Sissy Spacek, living a life of hell and torment as she’s teased and picked on by her peers all the while living with a controlling, overbearing religious zealot of a mother. This adaptation displays the theme of high school being a complete horror and hell, something most teens can relate to in some way. In a lot of ways, you kind of feel sorry for the young girl and forced to at least understand if not sympathize with the way she is (to a point).
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The Shawshank Redemption (1994) You know how Morgan Freeman has a great narrating voice so smooth that you would want him to narrate YOUR mundane life and make it sound classy? This is the film that introduced us to that voice. Based on the novella “Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption,” this film follows a banker named Andy Dufresne played by Oscar winner Tim Robbins who is sentenced to life in Shawshank State Penitentiary for murdering his wife and her lover, despite claiming innocence. During his time in prison, he befriends a fellow inmate, Ellis Boyd “Red” Redding, played by Oscar winner Morgan Freeman, and finds himself protected by the guards after the warden begins using him in his money-laundering operation. With this film , King proved that he was no pigeonholed author by showing us themes of hope in desperate times and the tendency for abuse of power in positions of authority. This film was so good that despite being labeled a bomb failure at the box office it found the audience it deserved in Home Video sales and Blockbuster rentals. As a result of those sales and the deserved critical reception, it got nominated for Best Picture at that year’s Oscars.
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Misery (1990) You know the old saying “You should never meet your idols?” Well the opposite can also be true . This film shows the horror of what happens when an idol meets his fan. We see an author named Paul Sheldon, played by James Caan, who is famous for a series of romance novels about Misery Chastain. After finishing those books, he decides to move on to other stories and, on his way to deliver a manuscript, is trapped in a blizzard and “saved” by an obsessed fan named Annie Wilkes played by Kathy Bates in the role that won her an Oscar. She keeps him captive and forces him to continue the Misery stories. Perhaps this tale of a rabid, crazy, overly devoted fan is reflection of King himself as he seems to be very reclusive in recent years and shows us HIS fear of his OWN fans? Regardless, this film succeeds on the strength of Kathy Bates’s scary performance.
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Stand by Me (1986) Based on the novella “The Body,” this classic coming of age film tells the story of four boys who go on a weekend hike to find a dead body of a boy their age. The focal point of the film is Gordie, played by geek icon Wil Wheaton. Through his eyes, we see clearly that as life moves on and people change, we tend to wish we could keep our friends and friendships from changing with them. But only through Gordie’s journey do we realize that friends and people come and go like bus boys in restaurants and you should cherish the little things in life for as long as you can. The way the he and his three friends – troublemaker/thug Chris (River Phoenix), Crazy Wildcard Teddy (Corey Feldman), and weak Vern (Jerry O’Connell) – work off of each other feels genuine. Unlike most films of this type where we are given one dimensional stereotypes, we see depth in their characters and motivations. The film also shows that even though we come from different backgrounds, upbringings, and beliefs, there’s always something that brings people together. No matter how strange it is.
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The Shining (1980) I mean it’s iconic; how is it not the best?! Ironically this is the adaptation that Stephen King himself hates and I don’t know why. Maybe it strayed too far from his book? Oscar winner Jack Nicholson takes center stage as a writer wishing to get away from society and stay in an abandoned hotel with his wife and son as he works on a novel and develops the WORST case of cabin fever in the winter time. Everything that makes a great horror film is ever present in this film. Creepy kids, BLOOD, scares, themes of sanity, fear, isolation and cabin fever are told unsettlingly well thanks to director Stanley Kubrick’s eye for detail. Every time I watch this film I think, “Nothing will scare me this time,” but I get scared every time in the third act. It’s no wonder that this film has been satirized, parodied and honored in tons of other media for decades now. All of this earns this film the title of his best movie adaptation.
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Are there any I missed? Any I should see? Agree or disagree? What’s your favorite Stephen King based movie? Feel free to send a comment, share this list and don’t forget to like me on Facebook and/or follow me on Twitter! You can also sign up for email access.
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