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6 most awesome Stephen King horror films (plus 3 that sucked)
A number-one fan, a telekinetic teen and a haunted hotel star in the 10th of our 31 specials for the 31 days of Halloween—the best and worst horror films based on the works of Stephen King. And we're talking horror films here—otherwise the un-scary Stand By Me, Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile would certainly make the top five.
The list also omits TV movies, miniseries, individual segments of TV anthology shows like Twilight Zone, sequels to King adaptations that had more to do with exploiting the original films than bringing King visions to the screen and the many, many "Dollar Babies," amateur films made with King's permission that never achieved theatrical release.
Come back tomorrow at noon for the most gruesome horror movie posters ever!
Misery
Injured author Paul Sheldon is confined to a bed in the care of his deranged "number one fan." James Caan's lead performance is every bit as trapped and miserable as the actor—usually a dynamo of energy—must have felt. The close-ups of Kathy Bates, radiating insanity as the sweet but violent Annie Wilkes, are as scary as any number of CGI monsters.
The Mist
The best of the monster-movie Kings, this pulpy tale of monsters attacking shoppers trapped in a supermarket marks one of the few times CGI has ever been scary. For a bonus, there's the ending, a substantial alteration to the one in King's original story. It redefines the phrase "genuinely messed up."
Creepshow
All right, so not all of this tongue-in-cheek anthology film that King and director George Romero crafted as a tribute to the horror comics of their childhood works at the level intended. The first story, about a zombie determined to get its share of Father's Day cake, is just about as bad as any King adaptation on film, and the rest are a mixed bag. But I confess a deep admiration for segment number three, "The Crate." Veteran character actors Fritz Weaver and Hal Holbrook, playing at the height of their respective gifts, have a fine time dancing the line between campy and genuinely chilling in this dark comedy about a pair of professors with different approaches to the problem of the monster in the box under the stairs.
The Shining
King was so unhappy with Kubrick's adaptation of one of his best novels that he didn't rest until he remade the film as a TV miniseries. And, granted, it's not the book he wrote, but the film about a family that spends a winter in a haunted hotel is still a chilly if flawed masterpiece, never scarier than in the scene where Wendy (a battered Shelley Duvall), sneaks a peek at the manuscript her loopy husband has been writing.
Carrie
The climactic rampage of put-upon telekinetic Carrie White (Sissy Spacek), who has just been humiliated at the prom, packs a terrifying wallop even if we do think she kind of has a point.
The Dead Zone
Less a horror movie than the tragedy of a good man who finds himself saddled with an awful responsibility, this tale of the last few years of a clairvoyant schoolteacher has some sequences that would do any full-out fright film proud. The confrontation with Deputy Frank Dodd is one, and so is the climax at Greg Stillson's political rally.
And now for the three worst:
Maximum Overdrive
Based on the frightening short story "Trucks," about diesel-powered behemoths taking over the world. A mess on almost every level. It was directed by Stephen King himself, who cheerfully described it as a "garbage movie," suggesting a truth he later confirmed in his columns for Entertainment Weekly, which is to say that he had a hell of a future as a movie critic. As a director, though? Not so much.
The Lawnmower Man
The short story King originally wrote is a vignette about the forest god Pan, transplanted to suburbia. The makers of the movie decided to put King's name above the title of their FX-driven film about virtual reality imbuing a simple-minded gardener with godlike powers. King sued in order to get his name removed. Let's just say it was a good use of legal clout.
Dreamcatcher
King's gamiest late-career novel, a gooey alien-invasion story that reads as though the author took every successful element from his better works and churned them up in a blender, was not much improved despite a screenplay by William Goldman and Lawrence Kasdan, who had spun gold out of straw before. But here? When you have to rely on "sh*t weasels," you've already lost.
And while you're in a Halloween state of mind, why not check out:
Day 1: 19 amazing Star Wars pumpkins
Day 2: Our 9 favorite crazy zombie kills of all time (video)
Day 3: 10 scariest Stephen King novels
Day 4: 14 great Cthulhu toys that make devouring souls fun
Day 5: 15 haunted cereals that will scare your dentist
Day 6: 20 great costumes to dress up your pet
Day 7: 21 (mostly) sexy female stormtroopers (NSFW)
Day 8: 9 movie and TV clowns that scared the hell out of us
Day 9: 10 creepy movie kids even Angelina Jolie wouldn't adopt
Day 11: 16 horror movie posters so gruesome they make our eyeballs bleed
Day 12: 16 hot movie and TV vampires who turn us into willing victims
Day 13: 20 awesomely hot Slave Leia costumes (slightly NSFW)
Day 14: 14 lamest horror movie killer costumes (What were they thinking?)
Day 15: 9 of the grossest, goriest X-Files creatures
Day 16: 11 splatterific exploding head scenes from the movies
Day 17: 15 of the most disgusting Halloween candies you can buy
Day 18: 19 freakiest movie and TV neighbors from hell
Day 19: 11 most disturbing Treehouse of Horror segments from The Simpsons
Day 20: 9 rampaging space zombies hungry for our sci-fi brains
Day 21: 10 most nightmarish movie prom nights
Day 22: 11 scary, goofy and just plain revolting movie possessions
Day 23: 13 kick-ass moments from Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Day 24:13 real haunted houses you can visit in the U.S.
Day 25: 15 ghoulish apps you can download to your iPhone
Day 26: 20 hot film and TV witches and warlocks that cast a spell on us
Day 27: The 10 most truly, utterly evil things in sci-fi
Day 28: The 15 cursed movie objects you NEVER want to own
Day 29: 14 most twisted original Twilight Zone twist endings
Day 30: 16 sci-fi costumes that would definitely get you fired (NSFW)
Day 31: 12 awesome sci-fi Halloween moments, real and fake
By PALADIN at 12:26 PM ON 10/10/09
What ? ....
THE STAND doesn`t get a mention ??
How can that full-length treatment NOT make the cut?
By Obi Window Washer at 12:45 PM ON 10/10/09
I loved the mist, great book and great movie.
But you dare put "Maximum Overdrive" on the list but leave out the far superior TV movie "Trucks"? And what of The stand (As PALADIN mentioned) and what of "The Langolears" and "Night Flyer".
By Marty B. at 12:46 PM ON 10/10/09
I believe The Stand doesn't make it since it's a TV adaptation. Moreover, it's definitely not "most awesome" nor did it suck. If there was a top something or other of mediocre Stephen King adaptations, The Stand would be right up there.
By Mandy at 1:30 PM ON 10/10/09
I guess Scifi Wire is running low on topics for Halloween theme considering they did top ten Stephen King novels just last week...
By PALADIN at 1:32 PM ON 10/10/09
RE; "I believe The Stand doesn't make it since it's a TV adaptation..."
I had thought of that, but then they pointedly mentioned King`s tv miniseries take on 'The Shining', so why NOT mention 'The Stand' ?
Frankly, I had no problem with the tv effort. It had a great cast and for a limited-by-nature tv production, it was quite stylish and fairly true to the book.
I loved the use of 'Don`t Fear The Reaper' to set the tone early on.
By Seanbtwo at 2:11 PM ON 10/10/09
I loved the Mist as well...awsome song at the end. However, I very much enjoyed Dream Catcher....and what about Pet Semetary??
By KShinta at 2:23 PM ON 10/10/09
This Just in: Stephen King is a HACK!
That is all
By Bill at 2:27 PM ON 10/10/09
I loved "The Mist" riight up to the end. But the ending was so WRONG there are no words to desribe it.
By Paul at 2:36 PM ON 10/10/09
Children of the Corn totally blows.
By Morguerodent at 3:28 PM ON 10/10/09
CUJO was so-so, but Dee Wallace deserves honorable mention for her oscar worthy perforrnace as a mother desperately trying to save the life of her child.
By closettrekkie at 3:47 PM ON 10/10/09
I know that strickly speaking that salem,s lot was done as a tv series the child vampire floating outside the window scared the hell out of me.It was the first vampire themed series I,d seen and I,ve been hooked ever since the new tv series sucked
By archangel at 4:34 PM ON 10/10/09
They omitted "IT". I know it was omitted because it was a TV Mini-Series, but that was one of the better ones.
I don't think Maximum Overdrive should have been on the list of the worst...
By Michael at 6:10 PM ON 10/10/09
I agree that the three on the "worst-of" list are pretty bad. But I'm gettin' pretty miffed about IT getting left off of all these best-of-SK lists. Perhaps the staff at Sci-Fi Wire are a bunch of evil clowns and just don't think Pennywise is scary...
By oddball at 6:14 PM ON 10/10/09
This is all an opinionated list of scifi's own interests. There was no voting going on therefore this list does not represent popular interest. Therefore if your movie didn't make the list I wouldn't get all huffy about it.
By The Doctor at 9:44 PM ON 10/10/09
I think not including TV mini-series is insane. Most of his work gets butchered to fit in a two hour movie. The Shining movie is a cult thing, but it sucks. The TV mini-series of The Shining is truly excellent. "Salems Lot", "It" some of his best stuff on film and they're all TV mini-series.
By bullseye67 at 11:16 PM ON 10/10/09
who could forget the movie christine? killer car awesome.
By legendzero1 at 11:33 PM ON 10/10/09
1408.
By captainwhat at 11:42 PM ON 10/10/09
If they included any of the miniseries' in this list they would lose a post for next weekend.
By Marty B. at 12:47 AM ON 10/11/09
@Paladin, the use of BOC's "Don't Fear the Reaper" is a cue from King, he uses it as an epigraph in the novel.
captainwhat, if it wasn't planned, you just gave them another day of filler.
By familyman99 at 6:33 AM ON 10/11/09
1408 should have been on the list.
As for "The Mist"...the ending is unconscionable. Before the ending, I would have given it a 7. After seeing the ending, make that -700. There was no excuse. The screenwriters, directors, and everyone else involved need to hang their heads in shame. Nothing--and I do mean NOTHING--justifies that.
By Paul B. at 8:05 AM ON 10/11/09
I don't know which is worse, the crummy lists on this site or some of the dipheads who post comments.
First, why not include TV movies and miniseries on the list? Personally, I found Storm of the Century more chilling than everything on this list. But that's okay, you said you weren't using TV stuff here, so I'm assuming others are right: you're planning a "7 Best TV Versions of Stephen King" or some other random number. (Why 6 films instead of 5 or 10? Most lists are based on nice, round numbers. Not here!)
This list should be called, "The 6 Most Awesome Stephen King horror films (as chosen by one SYFY staffer, excluding made-for-TV films or miniseries, at the author's whim) and 3 others we just wanted to snipe at.
Why not make a list of "The 4.5 Best Horror films with a running time of 90 to 100 minutes that were released between Christmas and Easter" if you're going to be pointlessly specific?
Or better yet, just be HONEST and start naming these lists "Our Staff's FAVORITE horror films/books/whatever"? Maybe then your readers can stomach the idiotic choices because they aren't being claimed as "bestac of" lists.
Then again, when has this site ever listened to its readers? (For example, this is now my SIXTH attempt to post, thanks to the crummy captcha used here, but do the site admins care?)
By Token at 10:04 AM ON 10/11/09
I thought the ending of The Mist was freakin' BRILLIANT...even if slightly predictable. The fact that it got so many people upset is just the proof.
I thought Kubrick's The Shining was crap...the man never seemed to understand that the characters in a story should be real people. The events of the movie could have been predicted from the very first shot...you just knew that Jack Nicholson was going to go crazy, and Shelly Duvall was going to be a victim. I thought they should have cast Rob Reiner and Sally Struthers for the leads...yup, Gloria and the Meathead as the perfect sympathetic troubled American family. That would have been a hoot....
By Jon at 5:32 AM ON 10/12/09
Loved the mist right up to the end, where I think that it stepped over the line between shocking and plain turning off. I don't want to watch a father "mercy kill" his own son only for the cavalry to arrive a minute later. I don't care what statement the director is making. I didn't spend the previous hour and a half getting attached to these characters for that. I think that most of the people saying how good it was don't have kids. Ruined what was otherwise an excellent film.
By Jonas72 at 7:55 AM ON 10/12/09
Hmm, I rather liked Dreamcatcher, both novel and movie. But the ending of the movie was extremely hollywoodized.
By mykl at 10:54 AM ON 10/12/09
Actually “The Lawnmower Man” does not count since King sued for then to take his name off since the film only shares the title with the short story. Not even in the movie does it say anything about King anymore (and Sci-Fi… oh sorry Syfy showed the flick last week).
So I would say replace that one with the movie version of “Riding the Bullet” or the more recent “ 'Salem's Lot”.
By Taiso at 12:53 PM ON 10/12/09
Oh, all of you people saying that the end of 'The Mist' need to f***ing get over yourselves.
They ran out of gas, they thought the monsters were all around them hiding in the mist and they didn't have the ability to even SEE anything to fight it. They'd been driving for HOURS and found nothing to give them any sense of hope whatsoever. Everything they knew was, as far as they knew, over.
Dude made a decision that he wasn't going to let his boy die a horrible death and be eaten by monsters. He promised that he wouldn't let the monsters get him.
Yes, it was horrible, insane decision made in a horrible, insane world. But the movie went into a place that you, as a parent, aren't comfortable with.
I applaud the movie for actually GOING THERE. It asked an uncomfortable question and challenged us as an audience.
The decision doesn't sit well with me either, but sometimes the best fiction makes us uncomfortable.
If you don't like the ending because you don't think it's a decent finish to the story, no worries.
You people letting your parental sensibilities creep into your judgement of the film's unsettling ending need to step back and remember that not everything has to end in a manner you consider unobjectionable just because you went up in your significant other and nine months later, a new life came out of it.
By Lordmoon at 12:57 PM ON 10/12/09
@Jon
So you want everything to end in a fairytale ending? The Mist is a horror film based on a story from a horror writer. I’m not sure what kind of ending you really should have expected here.
By Glibli at 9:51 AM ON 10/13/09
All folks who attack the article for not including tv adaptations, read this paragraph again.
"The list also omits TV movies, miniseries, individual segments of TV anthology shows like Twilight Zone, sequels to King adaptations that had more to do with exploiting the original films than bringing King visions to the screen and the many, many "Dollar Babies," amateur films made with King's permission that never achieved theatrical release."
Ummm. Reading comprehension much?
By outlaw_the at 3:26 PM ON 10/13/09
Well SORRY Some Like the maximum overdrive. Its a GREAT Music Video on the level of Flash Gordon with Qween. Got to Love The Simpson gal before Simpsons. And Way better then the TRUCKS Tv movie. Still Looking for the Joly Time Toys Truck Miniture! It is way better than Some of the Video Game/Movies that have been made. Now all it needed were a few Zombies and it would have rocked!
By lookn_4_stars at 11:40 AM ON 10/14/09
That lameass mini series with Steven Weber better than the movie? Nicholson, Duval, and Kubric all should've gotten Oscars for that movie. You guys must be drinking drain cleaner. And no list of the worst King movies is complete without Silver Bullet ( I spotted the werewolf in the opening scene). Get a clue guys.
By smeghead at 1:47 PM ON 10/15/09
good list, but where the hell is Christine???
By dephigravity at 12:52 PM ON 10/19/09
First of we will most likely be seeing a Stephen King TV adaptations or originals poll in a few days so everyone can hold off on The Stand, It, Tommyknockers, both 'salem's Lot versions, The new Shining, Rose Red, The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer, Golden Years, Desperation, etc. their time will come. I would say drop Lawnmower Man for obvious reasons and replace it with Sleepwalkers.
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dephigravity:
First of we will most likely be seeing a Stephen King TV adaptations or originals poll in a few days so everyone ca...More »