To adapt a Stephen King book is to set yourself on one of two paths: Eternal adulation or crushing ridicule. For an author as prolific and beloved as King, whose work is, for the most part, pretty cinematic even in its written form, there are tons of terrible movies based on his oeuvre of short stories and novels that almost make you wonder if the source material is bad, too. And then there are the good ones, even great ones, that remind you that not only is King a master of his craft, but when a director and their crew of actors really get it, they get it.
There are few things in life better than a great King adaptation, and there’s probably a reason why so many great directors have tried their hand at his work. His writing style, while firmly his own, lends itself to unique cinematic visions: the likes of Brian De Palma, David Cronenberg, John Carpenter, Rob Reiner, Frank Darabont, Mike Flanagan, and, of course, Stanley Kubrick have all brought his work to terrifying life and more than satisfied the fans. (Even King eventually admitted Kubrick’s version of The Shining was all right.)
So, while the list of bad Stephen King movies is frightfully long, the list of great ones is slowly catching up, and includes a few titles that are considered the best movies ever made, period. These run the gamut from blood-and-guts horror flicks and dread-inducing thrillers to understated family dramas and nostalgic tales of young friendship, capturing the range of an author that never wasn’t in his prime and a filmic universe led by some of the greatest actors and directors that ever lived. Not bad for a guy from Maine.
The 12 Best Stephen King Movies
Most of these are already cinema classics, and the rest are criminally underrated.
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The Worst Stephen King Movies Ever Made
There are some great Stephen King movies out there, but there are some truly terrible ones, too.
Gallery Credit: Emma Stefansky
