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The Reaper Man@Cult Labs 22nd August 2008 06:36 PM

Best Stephen King Film Adaptation
 
What's the best King film adaptation in your opinion?
Tell us why you chose what you did and why you like it/them so much please.....;)

steve 22nd August 2008 07:47 PM

An impressive list and whenever someone says King stories are hard to adapt (I admit I've been guilty of this comment) then this list (almost) proves them wrong as there are some wonderful films here.

A few comments about my a few of my choices:

The Mist - one of the best films I've seen this year

Carrie - the film is better, IMO, than the book. Sissy Spacek is superb.

The Shining (Kubrick) - it's still a mesmerising experience.

Cujo - a guilty pleasure

Delores Claiborne - Kathy Bates & Jennifer Jason Lee - spine tingling performances


I could go on and on....

Angel 22nd August 2008 08:32 PM

Definitely Carrie.

Always been a favourite of mine.

The Dead Zone would be 2nd. Chris Walken has hardly been better.

vincenzo 22nd August 2008 10:51 PM

Carrie, followed by Stand By Me.

vipco 22nd August 2008 11:08 PM

Needful Things and Thinner, are my top 2 King films.

iluvdvds@Cult Labs 23rd August 2008 11:31 AM

Great poll btw!

My top 3 on that list would be -

3) Misery - Amazing performances
2) Creepshow - King & Romero - what's not too luv? I luv the last story most!
1) The Shining - Stanley Kubrick is one of my fav directors - it's just visually stunning!

it'smebilly 23rd August 2008 11:30 PM

Hard one this, quite a few on there I really like and think are top notch films but I went with "The Mist". This, in my opinion is the best King adaptation in at least a decade, great stuff and highly recommended. I have no idea why 1408 is so highly regarded though, it's ok but not as great as most reviewers say, in my opinion of course.

The Reaper Man@Cult Labs 24th August 2008 10:53 AM

Totally agree 1408 was utter bollocks!

mark meakin 24th August 2008 01:43 PM

The Dead Zone (1983) cracking acting throughout from Walken.
Carrie (1976) Still one of the best King adaptions & one of De Palma's best.Nice score too along with fine acting from Spacek & Laurie.
Salem's Lot (1979) though it's lost it punch now I recall this series giving me & many classmates the creeps on its first transmission.
The Mist (2007) A real classic that will be better appreciated in years to come.
The Shining (1980) very little King remains but it's still a great horror film.I have the mini-series but have still yet to watch it.
The Night Flier (1997) Miguel Ferrer excells as an unpleasant journalist.
Christine (1983) Another favourite with nice performances from Keith Gordon & Robert Prosky.
Misery is also a fine film & I have a soft spot for the entertaining Silver Bullet (though the identity of the werewolf is obvious due to miscasting),Needful Things & Graveyard Shift (trash but enjoyable trash)
Creepshow is also great fun with "The Crate" being my favourite story with Adrienne Barbeau & Hal Halbrook on nice form.

Angel 24th August 2008 01:47 PM

What for you would be the worst adaptations, Mark?

I thought Rose Red was unbelievably boring myself.

mark meakin 24th August 2008 01:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by reaper72 (Post 12610)
Totally agree 1408 was utter bollocks!

1408 started off well then it went downhill quickly.A shame as I'm a sucker for a good ghost story:(.Thinner & Firestarter were rather underrated IMHO.

mark meakin 24th August 2008 01:57 PM

Rose Red would've worked better with an hour removed though its nothing special.I'm not keen on his own version of TRUCKS Maximum Overdrive.I know it was remade under its original title but I've never seen it.Creepshow 2 while not anywhere near as good as the first is mildly entertaining.Apparently the third one is lousy.Riding The Bullet had a couple of creepy scenes but I regard that as one of the worse too.Graveyard Shift is crap but entertaining crap !.

Stephen@Cult Labs 24th August 2008 03:44 PM

And has anyone seen the black & white version of The Mist yet? I liked it a hell of a lot better than the colour version (what i've seen of the clolour version that is!),The CGI effects looked mucher better in b&w I thought.

Zarith 24th August 2008 09:29 PM

I voted for The Dead Zone. I wanted to vote also for The Shining. But it's a Kubrick movie. Stephen King has not much to do with it (his "official" TV mini serie version is really awful, by the way).

David Cronenberg did an amazing work on Dead Zone. He filtered the novel in such a clever way... it's brilliant! And the performance of Christopher Walken is heartbreaking. One of the best adaptation of Stephen King, and one of the best movie of Cronenberg.

I'm big fan of the Cronenberg of the 80ies: Videodrome, Dead Zone, The Fly and Dead Ringers are all excellent.

it'smebilly 24th August 2008 11:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stevoj (Post 12618)
And has anyone seen the black & white version of The Mist yet? I liked it a hell of a lot better than the colour version (what i've seen of the clolour version that is!),The CGI effects looked mucher better in b&w I thought.

I really liked the B/W version but I don't mind the colour version either. Depends what mood I'm in and whether I want to watch a 50's creature feature or a great genre picture from the 70's or 80's.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if this one was held in the same high regard as "The Thing" in years to come, a picture in which it this shares quite a few similarities.

There are other greats though on there, including amongst others Carrie, Salems Lot, Dead zone, The Shining, IT and Storm of the Century (which I really like also).

The Reaper Man@Cult Labs 25th August 2008 04:19 PM

The Dead Zone is arguably the finest on that list.
Salem's Lot (Hooper) is also a masterpiece of terror IMO......
Ralphie and Danny Glick,Geoffrey Lewis in the rocking chair,the master in the kitchen with the priest,Marjorie Glick rising from the dead,the master's appearance in the jail....all brown trousers material.....:eek:

mark meakin 25th August 2008 05:48 PM

THe only really ropey CGI effect I can recall in The Mist was the tentacle.I thought the other creatures in the movie were great.Considering the fairly low budget the film worked out well & I'm also sure as I've mentioned before it will be better thought of in the future.Hopefully the Momentum release will contain the B & W version.

mark meakin 25th August 2008 05:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by reaper72 (Post 12633)
The Dead Zone is arguably the finest on that list.
Salem's Lot (Hooper) is also a masterpiece of terror IMO......
Ralphie and Danny Glick,Geoffrey Lewis in the rocking chair,the master in the kitchen with the priest,Marjorie Glick rising from the dead,the master's appearance in the jail....all brown trousers material.....:eek:

As I said before everyone was talking about this in my class the day after its premiere.I also love the part where the crate is moving around in the delivery truck.'It' was ok but nowhere near as creepy unless you had a clown phobia.

steve 25th August 2008 08:45 PM

I agree, Rose Red was very dull and lacked any level of tension or spookiness and was an utter disappointment.

steve 25th August 2008 08:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mark meakin (Post 12642)
THe only really ropey CGI effect I can recall in The Mist was the tentacle.I thought the other creatures in the movie were great.Considering the fairly low budget the film worked out well & I'm also sure as I've mentioned before it will be better thought of in the future.Hopefully the Momentum release will contain the B & W version.

I completely agree that the CGI'd tentacle was the only 'ropey' effect and I am holding off from buying the US DVD release until I find out what the UK edition has on it.

I think this film will last a long time and will be one of those films that gets discovered every now and then and will become a major success on DVD. It really is a remarkable film and I think my friends have grown tired of me telling them how remarkable it is.

bedorca 25th August 2008 08:49 PM

Thought The Dark Half was quite dull too..........

Romero / King combo.......Who would of thought? :(

The Reaper Man@Cult Labs 25th August 2008 08:54 PM

Agree with Zarith .....Cronenberg really nailed THE DEAD ZONE.
CHILDREN OF THE CORN also holds a soft spot with me,the Caddyshack gopher and upbeat ending was the only letdown for me.
The impact of that opening music followed by the cafe massacre was astounding.
Great little couple of months for video releases that was:-COTC TDZ and BATHOD -God bless Thorn-Emi!;)

The Reaper Man@Cult Labs 25th August 2008 09:08 PM

Judging by the results;anyone else think Garris should wrap the King adaptations?

Sam 26th August 2008 06:46 PM

Creepshow would come near the top of any film poll for me, being one of my all time favourites. I also voted Carrie as it's just a great film - well shot, well acted and an ending that scared me half to death when I first saw it!

Halloween_22 26th August 2008 08:32 PM

Tough one that, I actually really like a fair few of those films. Always loved COTC, also a big fan of Needful Things, Salem's Lot, Pet Sematary and Cujo. For me though it's gotta be 'Stand By Me'. It's a really moving film, and although i'm not one for getting emotional this one always manages to put a lump in my throat :o

iluvdvds@Cult Labs 28th August 2008 01:36 PM

I watched Pet Sematary for the first time last night! What a fantastic film! I never read the book before I had seen it, so I didn't know what to expect (besides basic knowledge of it!!) - great film. More films need to have murderous children!!!

TALL DUDE 2nd September 2008 09:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by iluvdvds (Post 12792)
I watched Pet Sematary for the first time last night! What a fantastic film! I never read the book before I had seen it, so I didn't know what to expect (besides basic knowledge of it!!) - great film. More films need to have murderous children!!!


Check out devil times five,mate.

Released by code red in the states and its going very cheap on the net at the mo.

Only thing that annoyed me with this was the slow motion kills,seemed to go on for ever,but apart from that it was pretty good.
The interviews section in the extras are a hoot,as the "director" is given a very bad name,and apparently ended up in a brawl with one of the films participants. Only in the world of moviemaking,eh.:D

The Reaper Man@Cult Labs 15th September 2008 06:48 PM

THE MIST is excellent....what I watched yesterday was the r1 disc of SOMETIMES THEY COME BACK......funnily enough,it was far more entertaining than I remember it being when I first watched it on VHS many moons ago....

Peter Neal 15th September 2008 07:28 PM

As far as the horror novels are concerned, there's no match for "Carrie", but I chose "Stand by me", because it's a) one of my personal dearest faves since the time it played theatrically and b) it really looks like the words in the novella transformed into images on screen. Plus, it makes some valuable points about childhood friendships and their impact in later life.
Generally I'd say that King's non horror fiction usually inspires much better movie results than the genre fare for reasons, which I'm not entirely sure about. ....:confused:

Daemonia 17th September 2008 12:39 PM

Cronenberg's The Dead Zone for me - and this is also probably partly because it's my favourite King novel too.

Now there's a thought - is your preference influenced at all by how much you liked the original book?

Peter Neal 18th September 2008 04:48 PM

I don't know..."Dead Zone" is my favourite King book too, but the movie is only faring "better than average" with me despite a great cast and the neat touch of having Johnny appear during and in the midst of his visions.
Cronenberg did a good job, but his sort-of distanced style doesn't suit the material too well imho. I would have wanted to see the movie totally grab me on an emotional level, but it didn't despite the final scenes.
This is a novel I'd very, very much would welcome a new movie adaption of.
Just think of the potential in the current times!
If Oliver Stone ever considered to pick up a King source, it simply should be "The Dead Zone"!:cool:

The Reaper Man@Cult Labs 19th September 2008 06:05 PM

Watched SOMETIMES THEY COME BACK last weekend,was better than I remember it being when I first saw it on video.:)

vipco 20th September 2008 05:13 PM

I thought the Dead Zone the film was ok but prefered Needful Things, Thinner and The Running Man.

Why Oliver Stone for The Dead Zone Peter.?

Peter Neal 20th September 2008 07:09 PM

Because Stone would milk the political angle the story provides for all its worth...plus he's great with emotional scenes ("Born on the Fourth of July" springing directly to my mind.), he's not squeemish if the story asks for some stronger imagery, I think he'd have the right visual sensibilty for the material and to top it all, he's great at getting good performances out of actors you'd not imagined coming from the likes of Tom Cruise or Woody Harrelson.:cool: That's just my take, of course....

vipco 20th September 2008 11:39 PM

I agree Peter.

The only thing I disliked about 4th July , was Tom Cruise never convinced me he was a Nam vet. I just couldn't believe he'd been though the horrors of Nam. He was to fresh faced after his tour.

The Reaper Man@Cult Labs 16th June 2010 09:39 PM

10 Attachment(s)
All that talk on the Return to Salem's Lot thread got me hankering for the original again.:nod:

Creepy as hell,this is certainly Tobe Hooper's unsung masterpiece,it doesn't have the breakneck pace of TCM,but is FAR scarier....:eek:

Any newer members rate this?
Tell us the first time you saw it......

mbv 16th June 2010 09:53 PM

For me it was a close call between The Mist and the Shining. The Mist shaded it as I had been waiting for a movie of this for years since I read the story. It exceeded my expectation and generally blew me away.
The shining is still one of the scariest movies ever so Kubrick deserved all the praise he got for it.

wayfarer 17th June 2010 07:36 AM

I voted for Shawshank because it is the best King adaptaption so far. The Green Mile at #2, then The Mist at #3. Spotting a pattern?

Mick Garris tried to create faithful adaptations but if I'm honest I thought they were all turds. His Masters of Horror series was by far the best horror telly I've seen, yet it got the thumbs down from many horror fans, I understand?

broonage 17th June 2010 08:31 AM

I saw Dollan's Cadilac recently, not bad.

Gojirosan 17th June 2010 09:43 AM

Kubrick's The Shining is the best. A masterpiece on many levels.

Carrie, The Dead Zone, The Dark Half, Stand By Me and 'Salem's Lot (Hooper) occupy the next rung.

Then The Mist, The Shawshank Redemption, Creepshow, Cat's Eye, 1408, Christine and Dolores Claiborne are close behind.

Then the rest are pretty much crap. Some, like The Running Man or Sleepwalkers are at least entertaining crap, but many are just crap.


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