Aric Mitchell: The Best And Worst Stephen King Movies

Very glad to introduce Aric Mitchell.  I think you'll enjoy this post a lot, I did.  Discuss freely, as I know you will. 

While it would be surprising if you’ve never read at least a few words of what Stephen King has written, it would be a bombshell to hear you’ve never seen any of the films based on his work. Sometimes his movies turn out pretty darn good. Sometimes they’re celluloid disasters. We thought we’d take a look at 10 cinematic adaptations of King’s work and determine, once and for all, the best from the worst.

THE BEST

1. The Shawshank Redemption: There’s nothing altogether controversial about ranking director Frank Darabont’s prison drama at No. 1. Based on the moving novella, “Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption,” this film has a stellar cast, more than one powerful scene, and an ending that will stay with you for a very long time.

2. The Green Mile: This serialized novel made for a terrific, though depressing film, with Tom Hanks at his best. The parallels to the Christian story of Jesus are a little obvious, but the acting and direction (again from Darabont) make for a gripping drama, proving that King’s imagination is best used outside the horror genre.

3. The Shining: King wasn’t fond of Stanley Kubrick’s take on his horror novel of the same name, but you can’t deny that Kubrick had a handle on disturbing imagery and his casting of Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall is the perfect chemistry for terror.

4. Carrie: King’s spot-on ability to capture teen angst and humiliation makes Carrie a compelling story. Brian De Palma’s once unique directorial style brings it all to life in a visual feast that catches steam through the unhinged and sometimes sympathetic performances of Sissy Spacek and Piper Laurie. Kids can be so cruel.

5. Pet Sematary: King said that writing Pet Sematary was one of his hardest experiences as a writer. He actually set aside the manuscript prior to finishing and had trouble revisiting it. One look at the scene in director Mary Lambert’s adaptation where little Gage Creed is mowed down by a semi-truck and you can understand why. But even that paled in comparison to the horrifying Zelda (Andrew Hubatsek).

THE WORST

1. Sleepwalkers: Stephen King and director buddy Mick Garris had no one to blame but themselves for this dreck starring Brian Krause and Alice Krige as a mother-son team of incestuous creatures bent on finding and destroying a young virgin in small town America. The story had potential to be gripping, but it all plays out like a cheaper than cheap B-movie effort. Would have probably made a better novel.

2. Maximum Overdrive: Killer semi-trucks, a theme that would come up again in Pet Sematary, although this time they’re idiotic, not disturbing. King’s sense of humor is on display, but this was very early in his movie stage, and he just wasn’t ready for writing and directing his very own feature yet. It shows. Badly.

3. Graveyard Shift: Brad Dourif’s role as The Exterminator is about all this feature, based on the Stephen King short story and directed by Ralph S. Singleton, has going for it. It’s a cheap and forgettable Saturday afternoon movie that you watch half heartedly while napping to take away attention from how bad it is.

4. The Running Man: It’s not the worst of the worst, but compared to some of King’s other efforts—see the 5 at the top of this article—it has no business being in the same classification. For one, Arnold Schwarzenegger can’t act. He’s terrible and always has been. The good movies he’s done are good in spite of him. The bad guys and fantasy world, as brought to life by director Paul Michael Glaser, are beyond cheesy and really take away from the thoughtfulness behind King’s original novel.

5. The Night Flier: This made for HBO feature comes from a Stephen King short story. Neither are very imaginative. Miguel Ferrer (Robocop) plays a reporter looking for a murderer with vampiric tendencies, who travels by plane. Wholly forgettable and lacking in substance, but not quite the standout of bad of, say, Sleepwalkers or Maximum Overdrive.

Disagree with any of our selections? Which movies should be here that we left off? Share your thoughts below.

Guest author Aric Mitchell is a movie buff, novelist and regular blogger on Halloween Costumes and other scary things. He can be reached at aric@starcostumes.com.