The Top 7 Stephen King Movies

Stephen Edwin King was born on September 21, 1947. He is one of the foremost contemporary authors of fictional horror. His writing career commenced in January 1959. More of his novels have been adapted for the silver screen than any other writer. A majority of the movie renditions of Stephen King's novels are wonderfully produced. As an avid Stephen King fan, I am very familiar with both his films and novels. These are some of my personal favorite Stephen King-based movies:

Carrie (1976): This widely popular film was directed by Brian DePalma and is about a high school student named Carrie White (Sissy Spacek). She is a social pariah and is considered to be odd and different by her classmates. She is often the object of ridicule and mockery. Her mother is a religious extremist named Margaret White (Piper Laureie). She is heavily abusive and often locks her daughter in a closet filled with candles and religious statues for hours on end. After a particular incident of mass harassment, some of Carrie's female classmates are given detention. All of them attend with the exception of Chris Hargenson (Nancy Allen), Carrie's archrival. Because she skipped detention, Chris was forbidden from attending her senior prom. She blamed Carrie for this, and along with her boyfriend, Billy Nolan (John Travolta), she began plotting her revenge. As the movie progresses, we learn that Carrie is telekinetic; she has the unique ability to move things through force of the mind. This is a talent that is soon used to exact revenge on all who ever taunted her. This is a positively superb movie. There are some minor novel-to-movie differences, but overall the film is excellent and I highly recommend it.

Cujo (1983): This film is about a Saint Bernard named Cujo, who is bit by a bat and becomes rabid. He is owned by a family that also owns an auto repair shop. Donna Trenton (Dee Wallace) is a housewife whose life is turned upside-down when her husband, Vic (Daniel Hugh Kelly), discovers that she has been having an affair with a local handyman named Steve (Christopher Stone). Donna and her son, Tad (Danny Pintauro), visit the auto repair shop to have their car fixed. Before they are able to exit the car, they are attacked by the rabid dog. As in every horror movie, the car stopped working and the two were stranded. The dog continues to terrorize them and prevent them from getting out of their car. There is no one in sight and Vic is away on a business trip. Donna tries desperately to protect her son, while trying to escape from the vicious dog. This is an excellent movie. It is very suspenseful, especially if it is your first time watching it.

The Shining (1980): This is one of Stanley Kubrick's most popular films. It is about a recovering alcoholic named Jack Torrence (Jack Nicholson). He receives a position as the winter caretaker of the massive Overlook Hotel in Colorado. He takes his wife, Wendy (Shelley Duvall), and his young son, Danny (Danny Lloyd), along with him. The three are to live in the hotel entirely alone for several months. Danny is telepathic and begins to see horrifying visions of the hotel's past. Meanwhile, Jack is gradually taken over by the dark forces of the hotel. He becomes completely insane and tries to murderhis wife and son. Wendy and Danny are completely cut off from the world. The hotel is in the middle of nowhere and a heavy blizzard makes it impossible for them to leave... This movie is superb and possibly my absolute favorite of all time. The acting is wonderful and Jack Nicholson plays an excellent psychopath.

Christine (1983): This film was directed by the infamous John Carpenter. It is about a teenage boy named Arnie Cunningham (Keith Gordon). He purchases an old 1958 red Plymouth Fury and restores it to mint condition. He names the car Christine and becomes unhealthily obsessed with it, not realizing that it has a mind of its own. The car forms an obsession with Arnie and tries to kill anyone that gives him a hard time or comes between them. Arnie's friends soon discover that the previous owners of the car all experienced the same problem. They also all met the same deadly fate. Arnie's friends try desperately to free him from the clutches of his crazed car, while simultaneously trying not to get killed themselves. It probably does not sound all that scary, but it is an excellent movie and very suspenseful.

It (1990): Every 30 years, the quiet town of Derry, Maine is terrorized by an evil presence, known only as it. The evil is personified in the form of a psychotic clown named Pennywise (Tim Curry). Pennywise terrorizes a group of young friends and had the horrifying ability to morph into whatever they fear the most. The kids think that they have defeated "It" and all continue along their own paths. That is until 30 years later, when the death of a friend and a mysterious string of murders lure the group back to Derry to finish off "It" once and for all. This movie is completely terrifying, especially if you are coulrophobic.

Pet Sematary (1989): The Creeds move to a nice community with their two young children. The only undesirable quality of the quaint area is the speedy highway that claims the lives of countless pets. The family cat, Church, was no exception. A neighbor, Judd (Fred Gwynne) takes Louis Creed (Dale Midkiff) to a place known as Pet Semetary. It was created by the local children (hence the misspelling) as a final resting place of the many lost pets. Legend has it that if you bury your pet there, it will rise from the dead. The only catch is that it will come back as something evil. Louis does not believe this until Church comes back from the dead in evil form. Several days later, their toddler son, Gage, is struck and killed by a truck. Louis and his wife, Rachel (Denise Crosby), were completely grief-stricken and would give anything to have their son back ...anything. Louis makes the foolish mistake of burying his son in Pet Semetary, yielding horrifying results.

Misery (1990): This film is about a popular novelist, Paul Sheldon (James Caan), who is injured in a car crash. Ironically, he is rescued by an avid fan of his work, Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates). She takes him back to her home where she cares for him. She is mentally unstable and a little too obsessed with Sheldon's novels, especially those featuring the fictional heroine, Misery Chastaine. She insists that he finish his current novel with an ending that she chose. When he refuses, she becomes insane. He tries to escape, but she breaks his legs, rendering him immobile and at her mercy.