The best and worst Stephen King adaptations

It all began with “Carrie.” It was King’s first published novel, and also the first film adapted from his work. All these years later, it’s still one of the best. Brian De Palma is not a subtle director, and his fingerprints are all over the film, but it all comes together in a slightly over-the-top fashion befitting a particularly intense high-school experience. Sissy Spacek is very good as Carrie, but Piper Laurie steals the show as her mother.

This movie isn’t just based on a King short story, it was also King’s directorial debut. However, it did not go well, both on and off the screen. King has fully admitted to being out of it while directing due to his cocaine abuse, and he has since disowned the film and called it a “learning experience.” What did he learn? That he never wanted to direct another film.

To many, this is the best King adaptation. Stanley Kubrick’s movie is considered a horror masterpiece centered on Jack Nicholson’s turn in the lead role. One person didn’t like “The Shining,” though. That’s King himself, who does not like Kubrick’s adaptation at all.

Thanks to never-ending reruns on TNT, “The Shawshank Redemption” has become a favorite King adaptation. For a while, it was also the highest-ranked movie on IMDb. However, reruns aren’t the only source of the film’s critical acclaim. It was nominated for Best Picture in 1994.

King’s short story is very different from the film. They have something in common, though. Both the story and the movie version of “The Lawnmower Man” are terrible. The movie is totally bonkers in a way that is bizarrely fascinating, but not necessarily good.

The story is “Cujo” is simple, terrifying, and effective. A giant St. Bernard turns rabid and traps a woman and her kid in their car. It’s pretty brutal, but spare and gripping nevertheless. “Cujo” is a lean, mean horror machine.

King was going through some things when he wrote the overwrought, overlong novel “Dreamcatcher.” He original wanted to call it “Cancer,” which maybe says it all. The movie is totally bonkers, but in a way that is a series of missteps.

Kathy Bates won an Oscar for “Misery,” a film that probably hit close to home when King wrote the story. It’s about a writer who is in an automobile accident and then taken in by a woman who calls herself his “number one fan.” However, she notably did not call herself his “most stable fan.” Bates is great, to be sure, but so is James Caan.

King’s “The Dark Tower” series is vast but beloved. People had wanted a movie adaptation for years. Plans to adapt the series began in 2007, and the movie didn’t hit screens until 2017. That isn’t always a bad thing, but in this case the complicated production schedule was a sign of what the movie would end up being. That is to say, a shrug of a movie that flopped at the box office.

There was a miniseries adaptation of “It” where Tim Curry made a splash as Pennywise the Clown, but eventually the lengthy novel was turned into two movies. The first film, focused on the main characters as kids, is definitely the better of the two. It’s creepier, spookier, and has the better parts of the plot. At least, the best parts of the plot that made the cut for the film. The novel has some, well, weird stuff in it.

This barely feels like a King adaptation. It’s supernatural, but not a horror film. The movie was mostly forgotten, though, and rightfully so. If “Hearts in Atlantis” hadn’t been a King adaptation, it likely wouldn’t have been made into a movie.

How do you make a movie about a killer car work? You combine a horror writer with a horror director with chops. “Christine” is directed by John Carpenter, the man behind movies like “Halloween” and “The Thing.” He makes the most of the material.

A King adaption from director Tobe Hooper, the man behind “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” and “Poltergeist?” And it stars Robert Englund (aka Freddy Krueger) and Ted Levine (aka Buffalo Bill)? Why have you never heard of “The Mangler?” Well, because it’s awful. It’s a movie about a killer laundry press. A lot of horror luminaries contributed to this film, but they couldn’t turn it into anything worthwhile.

“Gerald’s Game” is a terrifying story, but in a very different way from most King stories. Mike Flanagan adapted it for Netflix with Carla Gugino and it turned into a well-received adaptation. It has a 91 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and probably got Flanagan the gig directing “Doctor Sleep,” the “Shining” sequel that did not make this list, as it is neither among the best or worst King adaptations.

King is not a fan of “Graveyard Shift,” calling it a “quick exploitation picture.” Watching the movie makes that abundantly clear. It was tossed into theaters in order to capitalize on King’s name. The poster even says “Stephen King’s Graveyard Shift” on it. Quality didn’t really matter to the filmmakers, and that shows on the screen.

This work of magical realism is directed by Frank Darabont, who also directed “The Shawshank Redemption.” It ended up being another Oscars success. Michael Clarke Duncan was nominated for Best Supporting Actor in his breakout role, and “The Green Mile” was also nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Picture.

A couple years after “E.T.,” Drew Barrymore got to star in this adaptation of “Firestarter,” which is about a girl with pyrokinesis. The story has potential, and Barrymore acted from basically the beginning of her life, but the film is kind of a flop. “Firestarter” got another adaption in 2022. We’ll have to wait and see what its legacy ends up being.

David Cronenberg and Christopher Walken joining forces in a King adaptation? That’s an off-kilter but intriguing pairing. Also, it worked out. “The Dead Zone” doesn’t get talked about as much as other King adaptations, but it’s as good as most of them. The film is definitely better than the TV show starring Anthony Michael Hall, though that lasted for six seasons on USA as well.

If not for people making jokes about “Thinner,” there would likely be no recollection of this film. Some people do enjoy doing the old lady cursing the guy with “Thinner,” though. It’s a forgettable film with an unmemorable cast. The whole thing is overwhelmingly mediocre.

This movie was also written by King, and it features him in a small acting role as well. The story is pretty bleak, but it’s an effective horror movie, with a great turn by Fred Gwynne. They remade the film again in 2019, and while it’s not quite as good, it does have its positive qualities, including John Lithgow’s performance in the Gwynne role.