Some Good Film Adaptations of Stephen King Stories
At this point in time, I don't think there are many people who have not heard of horror mystery writer Steven King. He has published well over 50 novels, dozens of short stories and compilations, and a bunch of screenplays. Being such a prolific writer, it is not surprising that so many films have given credit to the author. King however, is not always happy to take credit for the associated films, often times publicly denouncing the movies. A quick scan of IMDB and Wikipedia references over 100 movies, TV movies, and sequels as well as two long running graphic novel series. Being the inspirational spring that he is, I want to run down some of the best film adaptations because his association does not necessarily mean quality. As a side note, I will mention if King actually liked the movie, but that has zero affect on what I personally think of the production:
Carrie (1976) Brian De Palma
The first official adaption of a Stephen King novel to film, this was also Brian De Palma's breakout film before going on to make classics like Scarface (1983), The Untouchables (1987), and Mission: Impossible (1996). There are not a lot of horror films that have any association with Academy awards, but both Sissy Spacek (Carrie) and Piper Laurie (Carrie's mom) received nominations for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress respectively. The film is really a tale of vengeance by an oppressed girl who turns out to have some amazing powers. It is a fine film, but it was basically cancelled for a period of time due to the surge of school shootings. A remake was made in 2013 that was not nearly as good but had much better special effects. Despite this being a breakthrough for Stephen King into the film world, the best compliment he ever gave the film was that it was pretty good. King was not nice to film adaptations initially, but the process seems to have grown on him.
The Shining (1980) Stanley Kubrick
This film is considered to be the best psychological horror film, if not the very best horror film, of all time. Stephen King, on the other hand, was very outspoken about how much he hated this film and that the director butchered the concept. I guess all the success goes straight to director Stanley Kubrick, one of the most successful American directors of all time. I remember seeing this film completely uncut on TV in the late 90s (this happened with a couple R rated movies at that time for some reason) and feeling like it was much more creepy than actually scary. The tense atmosphere was palpable as the lead character slowly went insane. The director and cinematographer really walked the audience through the nightmare visuals and decline into madness of the lead character, played perfectly by Jack Nicholson. A fantastic movie all around that owes very little to the original work of Stephen King. Side note: a 1997 remake in the form of a mini-series was produced and written by Stephen King and it absolutely sucked.
Stand by Me (1986) Rob Reiner
Maybe not as well known today as he was when I was growing up, director Rob Reiner has made classics like The Princess Bride (1987) and When Harry Met Sally (1989). This is a director that knows his way around a character study, a fact that is clearly evident in this coming-of-age story in which 4 boys go off in search of finding a dead body. The kids have to deal with a lot of dangerous situations and the journey strengthens their friendship. The acting is surprisingly good from established kid stars at the time Wil Wheaton, Jerry O'Connell, River Phoenix, and Corey Feldman. Stephen King worked closely with the production and has often said it was his favorite adaptation of his work, although it eventually got some competition.
Rob Reiner is back for a second time with another adaptation of a Stephen King original. Once again, Reiner stays very close to the material and uses the acting and cinematography to bring the story to life. Now this film is well ingrained into American culture and there is a famous hobbling scene that has been parodied many times including on the Simpsons, South Park, and Family Guy. Although this film is relatively tame on the gore, Takashi Miike was inspired to make the Japanese extreme horror film Audition that takes the torture aspect to disgusting levels. The main character in Misery (played by Kathy Bates) represents the ultimate obsessive fan and her inability to distinguish reality from the characters. When the author (James Cahn) of the book series that she loves kills off the main character, she kidnaps the author and forces him to write a new story. As you can probably tell from the picture above, her methods of persuasion are of the violent type. I think this is a great film in its simplicity because it is almost entirely two characters set in a secluded cabin in the winter. I think the film is fantastic all around, but I have been advised that you have to be at least a little bit of a horror movie fan to get into it.
The Shawshank Redemption (1994) Frank Darabont
This film was adapted from the short story "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption" by Stephen King, which primarily describes the twist at the end of the film. I believe that the suffering of Andy Dufresne in the prison is what made the twist so amazing. Full credit to Stephen King, this is a mystery thriller concept that rivals the works of Alfred Hitchcock, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and Agatha Christie. However, Darabont adds to the story and character development that really puts his stamp on the film version. This film has remained the highest rated by site users on IMDB for over a decade and there is good reason. The redemption aspect of the film is probably the best of any movie that I know. King called this his favorite adaptation alongside Stand By Me.
The Green Mile (1999) Frank Darabont
This is a film that I feel should be on the AFI top 100 some day because it really has become part of American culture. I worked with a very large man that had the characteristics of John Coffey that his coworkers affectionately called "Green Mile" and most everyone I met, whether they had seen the film or not, knew exactly what I meant (very kind and gentle African American man who was absurdly tall and muscular) when I mentioned his nickname. As pictured above, Coffey was angelic and had some amazing powers of good. The film was nominated for 4 Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director. My very favorite Stephen King adaptation are the ones directed by Darabont.
The Mist (2007) Frank Darabont
It seems at this point that Darabont should have directed every Stephen King adaptation because they all turn out so well. I think so, anyway, but not everyone agrees about the quality of this particular film. On the surface, this movie seems much more about actual creatures and crossing dimensions, basically Lovecraftian in nature. There are complaints that the CG monsters were not very good, but this actually goes away if you watch the film as it was intended: in black and white. Without color, the movie takes on much more of a human drama where panic and desperation lead humans to do the most inhumane things. One warning before watching, though, is that this film has some of the grossest insect-like creatures along with possibly the most downbeat ending of any move I have ever seen. Stephen King actually complemented Darabont on taking such a dark turn because it was not in the original material.
It (2017) Andy Muschietti
I went into this movie with the expectation that nothing could compare to the performance of Tim Curry as Pennywise from the 1990 TV movie. I was wrong. Bill Skarsgard plays the demonic clown with a creepiness that is all his own. I generally also have issues with groups of child actors because I am consistently let down by at least one of them. I was wrong again. The acting, the cinematography, the directing, the use of the material...exceptionally good across the board. A note about the source material is the book is 1100 pages and filled with a whole lot of strange and inappropriate content that director Muschietti left out. The film is still 135 minutes, but it is much more cohesive and a beautiful coming-of-age story.
Gerald's Game (2017) Mike Flanagan
Again, put an amazing concept in the hands of a very capable director and you will have an amazing production. Mike Flanagan brings us the story of a woman who goes out to a forest cabin with her husband to rekindle their marriage. There is some kinky handcuffing to the bed and the husband suddenly has a heart attack and dies, leaving the woman trapped and trying to escape. There are wild animals and other things that get into the cabin that force the woman to take desperate measures to get loose. There is a scene of pure self inflicted gore that I have watched once and now skip through. It actually makes me nauseous. It is more than just horror, because the woman is forced to face things that have happened to her in the past as she grows desperate, tired, and hungry. The film is very hard to watch and I recommend having somebody there and keeping the lights on. Or maybe you aren't a wuss like me and can totally handle it. By the way, director Mike Flanagan has made some other psychological horror films like Absentia (2011), Oculus (2013), and Hush (2016). In 2019, he directed the sequel to The Shining, called Dr. Sleep, but I don't think it was the best story or Flanagan's best work.
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Depending on your tolerance of gore and comedy horror, there are a lot of other films based on Stephen King novels that you might like. Also, a lot of King's novels involve rape and repressed childhood physical and sexual abuse. If that is a trigger for you, then you should probably stay away. There is a whole Wikipedia page that lists every single adaptation of King's works that link to the individual films. There are really good ones not listed in my favorites above like Creepshow (1982), Christine (1983), and Dolores Claiborne (1995). There are a couple surprises on the Wikipedia list, like I didn't know The Running Man (1987) was based very loosely on a Stephen King novel. King has also contributed to some film garbage like The Night Flier (1998), Riding The Bullet (2004), and The Cell (2016). I noticed a pattern amongst the good adaptations compared to the bad: the skill of the director directly correlates with the quality of the film and the story has to have something to do with the uprising of the oppressed. If that is in the plot synopsis, you got a pretty good chance of getting a quality movie. If it is about vampires or werewolves or zombies and directed by a hack...maybe not so much.
