With the recent release of Osgood Perkins’s horror-comedy The Monkey, another Stephen King story has now been adapted into a film. The Monkey is inspired by a short story of the same title from a short collection called Skeleton Crew. While The Monkey might not be the most unique story from King to be adapted into a film, there is no denying the impact the acclaimed author has had on both the horror and drama genres. From possessed cars and alien clowns to finding redemption through escaping prison, here are 10 of the most important films adapted from Stephen King’s work.
1.Carrie (1976)
Carrie is one part coming-of-age film and the other part horror movie. Even with the story’s two remakes coming out in 2002 and 2013, the original film still stands as the best telling of this story. Filmmaker Brian De Palma builds tension in a way that few other filmmakers are capable of. There is a real sense of anger in this version of Carrie that feels unique, even when compared to the rest of the films in De Palma’s catalogue. The prom scene still holds up as one of the most well-crafted horror sequences from its era thanks to the performance given by Sissy Spacek and the well-crafted direction from De Palma.
2. Christine (1983)
John Carpenter, one of the greatest horror directors of the 1980s, went with Christine for his adaptation of a Stephen King novel. Christine is not the most thematically dense film ever, but it does feature an impressive synth score and some impressive special effects with the car. Like most Carpenter films, Christine can be absurd and ridiculous, especially as the film enters its third act and the characters must face off against this living car. The movie knows how to be absurd in all the right ways, though, creating one of the most entertaining watches in the Stephen King horror-sphere.
3. The Dead Zone (1983)
Probably the most underrated movie to make this list, The Dead Zone stars Christopher Walken as Johnny Smith, a man who recently woke up from a coma and now can now see someone’s future from just their touch. The Dead Zone is David Cronenberg’s swing at adapting one of King’s stories. Truthfully, The Dead Zone never quite reaches the heights of other King adaptations and also never reaches the heights of other Cronenberg films to come out during the 1980s, but it is still an entertaining time. The film does an effective job of exploring the idea of fate and also delving into anxieties around politicians.
4. The Green Mile (1999)
The Green Mile is director Frank Darabont’s second Stephen King film to revolve around the United States prison system. Darabont’s adaptation of Shawshank Redemption was up for Best Picture in 1995 and quickly became one of the most important films of the 1990s; he then followed up that triumph with The Green Mile five years later. While it might seem like a cop-out to try and capitalize on the movement already built up with Shawshank, The Green Mile proves itself to be a lot more than just another story about the cruelty of the United States prison system. Tonally, The Green Mile is darker than Shawshank and also a bit more based around fantasy, creating a powerful drama.
5. It (2017)
The remake of It is the most recent film to make it into the Stephen King Hall of Fame. It is a master class at balancing tone. At points, the film is as charming, if not more so, than Stand By Me, but when it needs to be, the film can become scary, gross, and even silly. It is the type of film that teenagers should watch at sleepovers; it hits all the right beats. It is hard to deny the cultural relevance of this film. It made $700.3 million at the global box office, making it both the highest-grossing Stephen King film and the highest-grossing horror film of the 2010s.
6. Misery (1990)
Misery is Rob Reiner’s second go around with a Stephen King property. Reiner’s first attempt at adapting a King story is a charming coming-of-age film in the form of Stand By Me, but his second adaptation is an intense and gripping horror-thriller about an out-of-control “greatest fan”. Not only is Misery crowned as one of King’s favorite adaptations of his work, but Kathy Bates also won Best Actress at the 63rd Academy Awards for her role as Annie Wilkes. Misery explores themes of obsession and addiction, which all cumulate in a story that feels very personal to King and creative people more broadly.
7. The Mist (2007)
The Mist is the third and final King adaptation from Frank Darabont and it is a weird one. The Mist’s tone and directing are so vastly different from The Green Mile and The Shawshank Redemption that one would never guess the film came from the same director. It is pretty easy to write The Mist off as late-2000s CGI shlock, but at its core, the film is a lot more than that. The film spends most of its time with its character locked inside of a grocery store, where it quickly becomes a “Lord of the Flies” type of situation. The characters are forced to confront their differences in religion and politics, all while fending off CGI bug creatures. The Mist is also home to one of the most devastating endings of any film on this list.
8. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2024, The Shawshank Redemption has become synonymous with the IMDB Top 250 list. Whether or not one agrees with the film’s ranking on that list, there is still no denying that the story told here is one of the great American dramas, a type of film that rarely gets made these days. The film features all-time performances from both Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman, who turn the film into an unforgettable experience about the power of friendship and absolution. It is a film that simply has a perfect ending, and there is a strong argument to be made that it should have won Best Picture over Forrest Gump at the 1995 Academy Awards.
9. The Shining (1980)
Stanley Kubrick’s take on The Shining might not be the most well-adapted film on this list, but it is the best film on this list. There are few films made as meticulously as this one. There is a reason that The Shining is still considered one of the most unnerving films ever made. The Shining and all its filmmaking techniques find a way to tap into the imaginative fear people have as children and the realistic fears people have as adults. A film that is so singular in its existence that there has never been anything quite like it since, even with the Doctor Sleep sequel. The Shining remains one of the most effective and haunting films ever made.
10. Stand By Me (1986)
Rob Reiner’s Stand By Me is one of the defining coming-of-age films to come out of the 1980s. Stand By Me might revolve around a group of boys trying to uncover a dead body in the woods, but the real horror of the film is the struggles of growing up and in the end, growing apart. The film features an ensemble cast of young male Hollywood actors, all of whom give performances that elevate the story’s writing. While coming-of-age films were a-dime-a-dozen in the mid-80s, Stand By Me continues to prove itself as one of the smartest and most thoughtful films in its genre.