With the sheer amount of Stephen King adaptations released in theaters and on television, there are bound to be some that don’t live up to the King of Horror’s genius. But there are others that not only match the greatness of the source material but expand upon King’s writing with haunting imagery we’ll never forget.
Obviously, the true classics like Carrie (1976), The Shining (1980), and Misery (1990) are among the best films of their genre. But we’ve found that many of the best King-based movies and shows also come from his work outside of horror, with films like Stand by Me (1986) and The Shawshank Redemption (1994) proving how many of his more straightforward stories are ripe for on-screen interpretation, too.
As The Shining turns 45, we list some of our favorite Stephen King movie and TV adaptations that stick in our minds like a good ghost story.
The Dead Zone (1983)
Director David Cronenberg brings his signature brand of Canadian creepiness to this taut supernatural thriller. Christopher Walken stars as a school teacher who comes out of a coma with a gift that feels more like a terrifying curse. He has the psychic ability to tell a person’s fate by coming into contact with them, leading to him becoming involved in a political conspiracy. It’s like a Twilight Zone episode spiked with arsenic. —Chris Nashawaty
The Running Man (1987)
Sure, it may not be as well-known as The Terminator, Predator, or even Commando. However, director Paul Michael Glaser’s dystopian sci-fi satire is Peak Schwarzenegger. Ahnuld plays a wrongly convicted man who has to fight for his freedom on a death-sport television reality show. To make matters worse, it is hosted by former Family Feud kissing bandit Richard Dawson (who, let the record show, is a fantastic movie villain). Timely, prescient, and highly underrated. —C.N.
Dolores Claiborne (1995)
This powerful feminist psychodrama feels like a love letter from King to his single, working-class mother, who he says supported their family alone after his father walked out. Kathy Bates plays Dolores, a hardscrabble Maine housekeeper who hasn’t seen her estranged daughter, Selena (Jennifer Jason Leigh), in 15 years. Selena returns after her mother is suspected of a murder that mirrors the events surrounding the death of Selena’s abusive father (David Strathairn). Director Taylor Hackford toggles between the past and present in a way that reminds you that sometimes in life, it’s hard to tell them apart. —C.N.
Pet Sematary (2019)
Mary Lambert’s 1989 adaptation has its hardcore fans. But, for my money, Starry Eyes directors Kevin Kolsch and Dennis Widmyer’s remake digs into something darker and more primal. The Creed family (led by an excellent Jason Clarke) moves to Maine; watches their beloved cat, Church, become roadkill; and then brings that pet back to life by burying it in a supernatural cemetery deep in the woods. Like many things that seem too good to be true, there’s a catch: Those buried there do not come back the same.
There’s a lesson here about grief and not messing with the dead (or our cherished memories of them), but you’ll be too busy digging your fingernails into your armrest to give it much thought until you’re home lying in bed. Oh, and P.S., good luck trying to fall asleep. —C.N.
The Mist (2007)
Frank Darabont is the go-to director when it comes to King adaptations (see also: The Green Mile and The Shawshank Redemption). And he certainly found every ounce of the author’s air of locked-room dread in this one. Set almost entirely in a small-town Maine supermarket where the locals are hiding out from…well, what exactly? Thomas Jane steals the show from a great cast of character actors, especially in a final scene that is so raw and bleak and amazing that I may just go watch it again right now. —C.N.
Stand by Me (1986)
Sometimes lost in all of those volumes of white-knuckle horror prose is the fact that King is more than just creeping dread and gotcha scares. He’s also a master of nostalgia. Rob Reiner’s Stand by Me may be the clearest example of the author’s Proustian obsession with the smallest quotidian details of youth — the recollected smells, sights, and sounds of long-ago summer nights that we’re only able to share with our oldest (and first) friends. But yes, there’s also a dead body.
Told in sun-dappled flashback, Stand by Me revolves around four childhood friends (beautifully played by River Phoenix, Wil Wheaton, Jerry O’Connell, and Corey Feldman) who, in 1959, set off to find that dead body. But really, it’s about male bonding, the first taste of freedom, and how the most insignificant things (a catchy pop song, a campfire story about a pie-eating contest puke-athon) can feel like the only things that matter. —C.N.
Christine (1983)
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Keith Gordon as Arnie in ‘Christine’
Stephen King and John Carpenter — need we say more? Carpenter, known at that point for such films as Halloween (1978) and The Fog (1981), proved a strong match for King’s pulpy tale of a seemingly sentient Plymouth Fury with a penchant for killing. While King has stated he found the movie adaptation “boring,” in some ways we prefer the film’s more economical storytelling compared to the book, particularly the choice to cut out the backstory of how the car came to be possessed. Rather than get bogged down in the details of an origin story, Carpenter leaves it semi-ambiguous and allows the audience to just enjoy the ride. —Kevin Jacobsen
Misery (1990)
Misery is the moment Kathy Bates became an icon. Annie Wilkes, the self-proclaimed number-one fan of a jaded bestselling author played by James Caan, is an unforgettable cocktail of G-rated verbal abuse and hard-R physical violence (the sledgehammer!). “I thought you were good Paul. But you’re not good. You’re just another lying ol’ dirty birdy.”
King and Bates both make Annie, arguably King’s most vivid and dementedly noble character, the perfect villain in their own ways. It should come as no surprise, then, that Bates won the Academy Award for Best Actress for the role in 1991. —C.N.
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Although it was nominated for seven Oscars, including Best Picture, Frank Darabont’s adaptation of King’s 1982 novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption was greeted at the box office with relative indifference. Since then, thanks to an infinite loop of cable airings, The Shawshank Redemption has snowballed into the ultimate male weepie — a nakedly sentimental drama that guys can choke up watching and not feel guilty about afterward.
Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman play Andy and Red — a pair of long-term convicts who gradually become best friends despite Andy’s undying dream of freedom and Red’s suspicion that after so long behind bars, he might not know how to live on the outside. Shawshank has its naysayers who dismiss it as melodramatic hooey, but they’re wrong. —C.N.
The Shining (1980)
Before you say anything, yes, Stephen King is famously not a fan of this version of his 1977 novel. Then again, he may be too close to the story to see what everyone else loves about Stanley Kubrick’s haunting goose-flesh adaptation. Part supernatural chiller, part psychological thriller (with a dash of sub-zero cabin fever thrown in for atmosphere), The Shining is the ultimate combination of a typical horror movie and an art film. This dream-logic nightmare begs you to wrestle with it, rearrange it, decode it, and find your own terrifying answers. Like the frenzied conductor of a runaway train, Jack Nicholson and his devilish smile drive it all. —C.N.
Carrie (1976)
A horrific but oddly relatable coming-of-age story, Brian De Palma’s masterpiece stars Sissy Spacek as small-town outcast Carrie White — a sheltered, picked-on wallflower with a deranged religious zealot mother at home (Piper Laurie) and a telekinetic gift triggered by a rage with which she’s just beginning to grapple.
De Palma’s suspenseful Rube Goldberg–meets–Alfred Hitchcock pig’s blood at the prom climax gets all the attention. Still, this sympathetic love letter to teenage misfits everywhere wouldn’t work without Spacek’s wide-eyed vulnerability and King’s deep understanding of the humiliations of adolescence and popularity that every teen knows all too well. —C.N.
Mr. Mercedes (2017–2019)
Kent Smith/AT+T Audience Network
Brendan Gleeson as Kermit William ‘Bill’ Hodges on ‘Mr. Mercedes’
If you are looking for an underrated crime series, Mr. Mercedes should be at the top of your watchlist. Brendan Gleeson is simply terrific as retired detective Bill Hodges, who remains haunted by a terrifying incident in which a man dubbed Mr. Mercedes claimed the lives of 16 people. His independent investigations lead him to a supernatural serial killer (Harry Treadaway), who will seemingly stop at nothing to torment Hodges. Not unlike its 2020 contemporary, The Outsider, Mr. Mercedes combines procedural drama with supernatural scares to create an enjoyable roller coaster ride. —Clark Collis
11.22.63 (2016)
Russ Martin/Hulu
James Franco as Jake Epping/James Amberson in ‘11.22.63’
Some King novels feel destined for cinematic adaptation — two hours, in and out. Others, like his sci-fi doorstopper 11/22/63, are much more suited to television, as proven by this Hulu-produced limited series. Telling the story of an English teacher (James Franco) gifted with the chance to time travel back to 1960 to prevent John F. Kennedy’s assassination, the eight-episode thriller is well-paced and well-performed with a strong emotional core that tackles potent themes about love and the consequences of our actions. —K.J.
Castle Rock (2018–2019)
It is easy to poke holes into Castle Rock‘s inclusion in this list. After all, it’s not technically an adaptation of any particular work. Despite this technicality, this anthology TV show skillfully evokes the milieu of King as a posse of top-notch acting talent (including Sissy Spacek, André Holland, and, in season 2, Lizzy Caplan as a young Annie Wilkes) help extend the Master of the Macabre’s universe. Talk about a multiverse of madness! —C.C.
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