Stephen King Video Games

Doesn't it seem like there should be more games based on Stephen King books?  I'm still waiting for someone to give me an edition of THE  STAND Civ 5.  Really, no one has wanted to drive Christine?  Think about it -- it would be a lot more fun than Pole Position.  Actually, a lot of things were better than that game.

Here is a list of video games based on King's work.  I am not including Discordia.  If you know of others, tell me in the comments section (or email me).

1985: THE MIST:

Was a text adventure game.  Remember Zork?

1989: THE RUNNINGMAN

The Running man was released as a Commodore 64 game.  It also inspired a game called "Smash TV."

1992: THE DARK HALF:

www.giantbomb.com gives us this review of The Dark Half video game:

The Dark Half is a point and click story based adventure game based on the Stephen King novel of the same name. It was released in 1992 by Capstone and even though many consider it to be a terrible game, it is highly sought after and considered a cult hit.

The Dark Half was developed by Symtus and published in 1992 by Capstone. It is a ScummVM-esque point and click adventure game that is based on the Stephen King novel of the same name. Although the mechanics of the game are very similar to many adventure games released around the same time from LucasArts, it is possible to die / be arrested in the game, bringing your adventure to an eary finish. 

The game itself is a poor reflection of the novel and is riddled with plot holes and inconsistencies. Even with these inherent flaws, The Dark Half remains a cult classic, a title that is still highly sought after even this long after it's debut. The ease of getting a "Game Over" screen is such that it's vital to save often and in different files, which is a turn off for many gamers with games such as Monkey Island setting the benchmark of a "deathless" game.

1994: The Lawnmowerman 

This was a Sega Genesis game. I never got to play it because we were Atari people.  Then Commodore.  

For more, check out David Finniss article at voices.yahoo.com.

Finnis' article covers all of the above games,and also a wallpaper program called F13: "The only thing that I was able to find on my own was a program called F13. It wasn't so much a game as a program that gave you wallpapers for your desktop. There were some mini-games as well as an electronic copy of Everything's Eventual. It received a mixed review at best."

10 King Novels That Should Be Video Games:

I liked this article by Clayton Ofbricks: 10 Stephen King Novels That Should Be Video Games.  He gives a nice outline of how each game would be played out.

1) The Shawshank Redemption: 3rd Person Stealth Action 

2) The Stand: Post Turn Based Strategy 

3) The Green Mile: Construction and Management Simulation 

4) Misery: Tower Defense 

5) The Dark Tower: Action RPG 

6) Christine: Extreme Driving Sim 

7) Rose Red: Survival Horror 

8) Pet Sematary: FPS 

9) Salem’s Lot: Sandbox 

10) Cujo: Trivia

Or. . . you could just play The Sims 3 Supernatural!  Or, Naughty Bear.

Is Lawnmower Man Comparable To True Detective?

Jeff Jenson has an interesting article titled, 'True Detective': Does Stephen King's 'The Lawnmower Man' explain the monster at dream's end? popwatch.ew.com

This is actually the most I've read about Lawnmower man -- ever.

From the portion discussing politics:

Like King’s story, True Detective traffics in culture war politics, and makes Republicans look like jerks , and clearly desires for them to reap what they sew, or just get reaped. The well-connected Reverend Tuttle tried to co-opt the Dora Lange investigation by lobbying for a task force to investigate anti-Christian crimes that would take charge of the case. And then there’s Hart’s father-in-law: In his single scene so far this season, Maggie’s well-to-do pop, clearly a political conservative, made a big impression by making snide comments about President Bill Clinton and complaining about sex-crazed young people wearing Goth make-up. “Things aren’t like they were when I was young. People said ma’am and sir. There was more dignity. People weren’t out in the streets yelling about their rights.” 

and from the section discussing "circle"

 “The Lawnmower Man.” The titular character tells Harold that his overgrown backyard won’t be a problem to cut. “The taller, the better. Healthy soil, that’s what you got there, by Circe. That’s what I always say.”Circe? Circe was the Greek goddess of magic. Her niftiest trick: She could turn her enemies into animals. In Homer’s Odyssey, in fact, she seduced the great hero’s men and transformed them into pigs. 

True Detective. The Carcosa cultists had “animal faces ” — masks — according to victim/survivor Toby Boulair [sp?], aka “Johnny Joni.”  And all of True Detective’s “heroic” men? Total pigs.

Which King Film Actually Scares?

art credit: Glenn Chadbourne

I enjoyed Giles Hardie looks at Stephen King's most famous screen adaptations posted at The Sydney Morning Herald.  He suggests that all King movies don't work, citing Dreamcatcher and Secret Window.  Sigh -- I liked Secret Window because I thought it actually enhanced  the novel quite a bit.

So what King films does Hardie think are worth mentioning?  Well, Carrie, of course, and The Shining.
Hardie's note on Stand By Me is interesting.  He writes, "This movie would deserve a mention just for featuring probably the best example of future star casting ever to grace one movie - Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Gerry O'Connell and Corey Feldman (pictured) are the four heroes, Kiefer Sutherland their nemesis and John Cusack the dead brother in this tale of four boys' journey to see a dead body."

Oddly enough, Hardie then cites The Running Man.  Huh?  Seriously?  I think this movie is getting more attention these days because of the Hunger Games, which Hardie cites.

Pet Sematary and Misery make Hardie's list, as does -- drum roll -- The Lawnmower Man.  In fact, it makes Hardie's list just because it's so bad!

This film is, to be fair, schlockingly awful in many ways. For a brief moment in the early '90s virtual reality was going to take over the world, and this film gave us Jobe, a man who cuts the lawn who has an unspecified learning disability. Through the magic of virtual reality, Jobe is transformed into a genius, then an evil telekinetic, and then a megalomaniac computer virus. It gets a spot here because it is so amusingly awful and also because King won multiple lawsuits to have his name removed from the title, which was the only thing that the film and his short story had in common.

Hardie rounds out his list with The Shawshank Redemption, Apt Pupil and The Green Mile before giving special mention to a Stephen King mini-seires -- IT!  Hardie writes, "Tim Curry's Pennywise the Clown is arguably King's most terrifying screen-based character, yet as a mini-series It doesn't qualify for this list."  I would agree with that thought.

The article leads me to a question -- what Stephen King films do you actually find scary?  

My list:
1. Pet Sematary.
2. The Shining.
3. The Mist.
4. Christine.
5. Bag of Bones had moments.

The Lawnmower Man

I found this article interesting on the lawsuit King filed to have his named removed from the Lawnmower Man. http://everything2.com/title/The+Lawnmower+Man

King lost the suit, but producers still removed his name. Somehow the movie got a sequel -- go figure.

Here's what I don't understand: They can make a movie of Lawnmower Man, and even give it a sequel, but no Eyes of the Dragon?