Best Stephen King movies?
 

Since Halloween is coming up, I was thinking of picking up some Stephen King movie adaptations, which ones are the best?

The Shining
The Stand
The Shawshank Redemption (short story) Not a horror movie but a great flick

The best adaptations aren't the scary ones:

Shawshank Redemption
Stand By Me

The Dark Half and Misery aren't bad. Carrie has it's moments but loses it in the finale. Some like The Shining but I didn't think it was a good adaptation.

It ('nuff said, it scared the crap outta me)
The Stand
The Shining
Christine
Misery

Personally I'd rent some Halloween movies. AKA Michael Myers.

I wouldn't mind seeing a Dark Tower movie.

Hey everyone is forgetting The Dead Zone. A truly great film!


And an honorable mention for Maximum Overdrive. Camp trash fun directed by King himself:D

Sleepwalkers is a fun cool film as well. It's not based on any stories though and was an original script by him. Many hate the film,but I think it's a good time all around.

Creepshow is also a hell of alot of fun. I know a graphic novel was written for the film. Anyway King wrote the screenplay + has a role in one story,and Romero directed it. And Savini did the effects. It's a must view,especially for halloween:)


The original Salems Lot is a great creep fest as well,despite being a loose adaption of the novel itself. I have'nt seen the new tv mini-series yet though.

Yeah, best adaptation and best horror movie are two totally different animals.

Best Adaptations:
the Shawshank Redemption
the Green Mile
Stand By Me (aka the Body)
Apt Pupil
Misery
the Stand (to an extent)
the Shining (tv version)

Horror:
Pet Sematary
the Shining (worst adaptation ever, lawnmowerman non-withstanding)
Children of the Corn (the original, can't vouch for the numerous sequels)

I'm not sure which is the best Stephen King movie, but I think I know which one you might want to avoid: Stephen King's Riding The Bullet. I could only stand to watch it for probably the first 20 minutes or so, but all the scenes in that first 20 minutes where the movie drifted into the main character visualizing what was possibly going to happen in the next scene turned me off the film right away. It was like watching Stephen King direct an episode of Scrubs.

All are already mentioned, so I'll move along....

Nobody's mentioned my favorite... Storm of the Century. While it's a miniseries and not a movie, I think it's King's best horror story that has been committed to film.

Great Stephen King horror film adaptations:

CARRIE
SALEM'S LOT (1970's miniseries)
THE SHINING (Kubrick film version)
THE STAND
THE DEAD ZONE
CUJO
CHRISTINE
IT (Edited on DVD :( ; LaserDisc is unedited)
MISERY
DOLORES CLAIBORNE
STORM OF THE CENTURY
SECRET WINDOW

There are some others, like CREEPSHOW and SILVER BULLET, that have their own particular charms, but IMO, the above list is made up of the ones that most effectively pull off a successful cinematic translation of King's original texts.

There's not a lot of love for Pet Sematary (probably deservedly so), but it's the one movie that freaked me out enough that I have avoided watching it again since I saw it last (like 10 years ago). All because of Zelda.

:up: Completely agree!

I don't have a favorite, but these are the ones I enjoy in one way or another:

Shawshank Redemption
Carrie
Misery
It
Stand By Me
Pet Sematary

You and me both. Zelda gave me serious, and I mean serious nightmares when I was a kid.

There is nothing I've ever seen on screen that creeps me out more than this.....thing:

http://www.geocities.com/johnyboy788/zelda.jpg

I was a teenager when I saw Pet Sematary in the theater and Zelda was the scariest part of the movie. I get shivers up my spine even today when I think of her cackling. Those scene have definitely stayed with me more than any other horror movie that I saw back then. Watched it again not too long ago & it still gets to me. It is a shame Gage seems a little hokey at the end.

Now that I am a parent of a young boy the Jeez, now I need to go watch it again.

Yeah, Zelda easily stole the show for me. Just the thought of her in that back bedroom.... saying "Rachaeeeeelll". Damn, I'm going to freak myself out thinking about Zelda again. I need to buy the dvd one day.

The Shining, Pet Sematary, Carrie and Misery are my favourites.

1. Stand By Me
2. The Shawshank Redemption
3. The Green Mile

Would people listing (admittedly great) films like STAND BY ME, THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION and THE GREEN MILE knock it off? It's pretty clear the original poster is asking about the best Stephen King HORROR films.

-ohbfrank- Yes, massa.

You are inferring from the:
part.

There are two parts to the question. Some are referring to this part:

Since there are barely any good Horror adaptations you have to look at his other work. What is wrong with that?

It is a double edged sword. I think you would have better luck bitching at the original poster for wording the question poorly.

Should have been: Since Halloween is coming up what are some good Stephen King horror movies?

Adaptation is a big difference especially since a lot of people on this forum read Stephen King.

Riding the Bullet, while far from a great film, didn't suck half as much as I thought it would.

The Stand is by far my favorite adaptation.

Awesome book too.

If he was interested in any type of Stephen King film, whether horror or not, why even make the specific reference to Halloween? Christ people, must we go out of our way to be difficult?

Maximum Overdrive was always a guilty pleasure for me.