DaMU's Stephen King Halloween

[Dead & Messed Up]

Last Halloween, I counted down the fifteen films that best evoke H. P. Lovecraft. It was fun (http://match-cut.org/showthread.php?t=3648). For Halloween this year, I'm going to count down the fifteen best Stephen King adaptations. Along with each of the best, I'll mention one of the worst, because let's face it, there've been some pretty epic stinkers. Because we're dealing with adaptations, I won't include content written originally for the screen. If you're so damned curious about those omissions, know that I loved Storm of the Century and hated Sleepwalkers.

Every entry will follow the pattern below, with a new entry every other day leading up to Halloween, because it takes a little while to write these.

Yes, I've seen all these movies. Pray for me.

Note: the links redirect you to my blog. It's a real bait-and-switch, I know.

2. The Shawshank Redemption (Graveyard Shift) (http://horrorfilms101.blogspot.com/2012/10/feature-stephen-king-halloweenthe.html)
3. The Shining (The Langoliers) (http://horrorfilms101.blogspot.com/2012/10/feature-stephen-king-halloweenthe_27.html)
4. The Green Mile (Children of the Corn) (http://horrorfilms101.blogspot.com/2012/10/feature-stephen-king-halloweenthe-green.html)
5. Stand by Me (Dreamcatcher) (http://horrorfilms101.blogspot.com/2012/10/feature-stephen-king-halloweenstand-by.html)
6. The Dead Zone (The Mangler) (http://horrorfilms101.blogspot.com/2012/10/feature-stephen-king-halloweenthe-dead.html)
7. Misery (Sometimes They Come Back) (http://horrorfilms101.blogspot.com/2012/10/feature-stephen-king-halloweenmisery.html)
8. The Mist (Firestarter) (http://horrorfilms101.blogspot.com/2012/10/feature-stephen-king-halloweenthe-mist.html)
9. "Battleground" (Creepshow 2) (http://horrorfilms101.blogspot.com/2012/10/feature-stephen-king.html)
10. Creepshow ("The Road Virus Heads North") (http://horrorfilms101.blogspot.com/2012/10/feature-stephen-king-halloweencreepshow.html)
11. Dolores Claiborne (The Tommyknockers) (http://horrorfilms101.blogspot.com/2012/10/feature-stephen-king-halloweendolores.html)
12. The Stand (Maximum Overdrive) (http://horrorfilms101.blogspot.com/2012/10/feature-stephen-king-halloweenthe-stand.html)
13. 1408 (The Lawnmower Man) (http://horrorfilms101.blogspot.com/2012/10/feature-stephen-king-halloween1408.html)
14. Christine (Silver Bullet) (http://horrorfilms101.blogspot.com/2012/10/feature-stephen-king-halloweenchristine.html)
15. Cat's Eye (Thinner) (http://horrorfilms101.blogspot.com/2012/10/feature-stephen-king-halloweencats-eye.html)
HM: Hearts in Atlantis (The Shining TVM) (http://horrorfilms101.blogspot.com/2012/10/feature-stephen-king-halloweenhearts-in.html)

[Dead & Messed Up]

Honorable Mention: Hearts in Atlantis
(Scott Hicks, 2001)

The tears in his eyes overspilled and began to run down his cheeks. He'd gotten used to feeling old; feeling young again - knowing he could feel young again - was a terrible disorienting shock.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FPn9mpE_g_s/UF9yLA-kXCI/AAAAAAAABMA/MTgdLwhHoug/s1600/Hearts+in+Atlantis+-+Anthony+Hopkins.jpg

The Long and Short of It

Bobby Garfield (Anton Yelchin) and his mother Liz (Hope Davis) welcome a boarder named Ted Brautigan (Anthony Hopkins) into their house. Although Liz is suspicious, Bobby immediately forms a bond with the old man. However, once Bobby realizes that Ted has psychic powers, everything changes.

Adaptation Decay

Significant but Honorable. The original book is a collection of five stories, and "Hearts in Atlantis" translates two of them to screen: "Low Men in Yellow Coats" for the main story and "Heavenly Shades of Night are Falling" for the beginning and ending. Although screenwriter William Goldman jettisons the idea that Ted Brautigan's story connects to interdimensional agents of King's Dark Tower stories, the film's "Low Men" still pursue Brautigan, and the overall attitude matches the book. Like so many King stories, this is a fable about the paradox of youth. How its magic is unrecognizable to children and irretrievable to adults.


http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lGrsow6w714/UF9yT0QX-YI/AAAAAAAABMI/F0udcBdiMCY/s1600/Hearts+in+Atlantis+-+Anton+Yelchin.jpg

Forget All That - How’s the Movie?

Shot with soft focus and golden hues that evoke memories of Ray Bradbury, the flick is sumptuous to watch. The characters are portrayed to great success not only by Anthony Hopkins, who can say so much by doing so little, but Anton Yelchin, whose open-faced charm eventually led to lead roles in films like Charlie Bartlett and Star Trek. At times, the film's saccharine winsomeness becomes a little oppressive - the score by Mychael Danna italicizes too many emotions. Overall, though, the film succeeds at carrying over the story's sense of nostalgia without getting lost in King's sometimes-confusing larger universe.

Alright, But Is It a Good Halloween Flick?

No - if you want a scare-heavy novel-based movie starring Anton Yelchin, you'll have to wait for his headlining role in the upcoming Odd Thomas, based on the book series by Dean Koontz.

Kingwatch 2012

There are no references to King, no sightings of King. The film doggedly tries to work on its own terms, no doubt taking cues from The Green Mile (released two years prior and name-checked in the Hearts trailer).

But You Know What Sucks?


Dishonorable Mention: The Shining (TV)
(Mick Garris, 1997)

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pjnHnLyl3Ag/UGoI5yh8ZzI/AAAAAAAABOw/h78RcgI0g98/s1600/Shining+Steven+Weber.jpg

Actually, it doesn't suck. Not completely. Director Mick Garris coaxes strong performances out of Steven Weber and Rebecca De Mornay, and there's a sense of style to the environment and photography. The problems are threefold. Firstly, Garris, at the behest of Stephen King (who wrote this adaptation as a corrective to Kubrick's film), indulges in some terrible CGI for the hedge animals that chase Danny. Even allowing for the chintzy effects...I mean, how do you shrub somebody to death? Secondly, the new ending (again, written by King) is cloying, sugar-coated crap. Thirdly, Kubrick's The Shining, more than anything, is an iconic movie. A movie of enormous images like the Overlook hallways and the bloodied twins and the hedge maze and Jack Nicholson's face. How could an ABC TV movie not disappoint?

[megladon8]

Can't wait!!!

Jen and I will be eagerly awaiting every entry :)

[amberlita]

If you're so damned curious about those omissions, know that I...hated Sleepwalkers

Bah! At least admit that was great use of an Enya song.

JKQwgpaLR6o

Wasted on a crummy movie though.

[MadMan]

Considering I watched Pet Sematary recently, and I purchased several King books a couple months back, I find this to be a really cool thread idea.

[Morris Schæffer]

Steven Weber will always be Brian Hackett to me, but The Shining 1997 was ok.

[Dead & Messed Up]

15.Cat's Eye
(Lewis Teague, 1985)

"Sit down Mr. Morrison," Donatti said benignly. "Let's talk this over like rational men."
When he could get his breath, Morrison did as he was told. Nightmares had to end sometime, didn't they?

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LH1IQffYx0I/UF1NwPlGEII/AAAAAAAABKw/sV5qzVZf75U/s1600/Cats+Eye+-+James+Woods.jpg

The Long and Short of It

See the cat? He's a good cat. He runs into the arms of a man (James Woods) who tries to quit smoking with the help of a questionable business called "Quitters Inc." The cat escapes and runs to a casino, where a millionaire forces a traitorous man (Robert Hays) into a high-stakes bet in "The Ledge." Finally, he protects a young girl (Drew Barrymore) from a soul-sucking goblin in "The General."

Adaptation Decay

Accurate and Honorable. Two of the three stories come straight from Stephen King's short story collection Night Shift, and King wrote the screenplay himself. With the half-hour length of the segments matching neatly to the short, twisty speed of the original stories, there's little to alter. "Quitters Inc" plays up the dark comedy of its original story without sacrificing its almost-plausibility - there are shades of new-age movements in Quitters Inc.'s coerced self-improvement. "The Ledge" is too simple and frightening of an idea (force a man to dangle forty stories in the air) to require changes, although the short story left the villain's fate with a question mark instead of an exclamation point. "The General," in which Drew Barrymore falls prey to a breath-sucking goblin, is an original work, but it maintains the film's sardonic edge.


http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-V0mxMDKJDAE/UF1NzEIlL0I/AAAAAAAABLI/DFNx-DLAS9s/s1600/Cats+Eye+-+Robert+Hays.jpg

Forget All That - How’s the Movie?

A good damn time. Not great...but good. "Quitters Inc." is a funny slice of paranoia, and I suspect its depiction of Woods' nicotine cravings will ring true to many viewers. "The Ledge," the most straightforward of the three, benefits from Kenneth McMillan chewing up the scenery, and Hays' trip around the ledge still inspires a few gasps. Watch out for the pigeon. The best segment, though, is "The General," which gives the titular cat a starring role...and Drew Barrymore a measure of atonement after the depressing King flick Firestarter. Some of the blue-screen effects are a little dodgy, but the cackling goblin at the end is a fantastic little critter. He's all cackles and grunts and sneers until the cat bites back. Kudos to its creator, the late, great Carlo Rambaldi (E. T., Conan the Destroyer).

Alright, But Is It a Good Halloween Flick?

Sure! Cat's Eye is a fleet, fun horror omnibus. There's nothing groundbreaking here. Just a trio of vivid thrillers that come up to the stage with energy and leave before the crowd gets bored. Queue it up with Trick 'r Treat or Trilogy of Terror and have yourself a fun night.

Kingwatch 2012

Although there's no Stephen King the Man to be found here, Cat's Eye is loaded with sight gags, like...


http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VFVxPDNenzg/UF1NutRIG0I/AAAAAAAABKg/JZ_1jvgltG0/s1600/Cats+Eye+-+Cujo.jpg

...the rabid St. Bernard from Cujo...

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EXhv6NauirA/UF1Ntuz-9XI/AAAAAAAABKY/PERJ7z1N78A/s1600/Cats+Eye+-+Christine.jpg

...the Plymouth Fury from Christine...

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BFx4r2u9BQA/UF1N0cy3vMI/AAAAAAAABLY/IShnBRGu2Ys/s1600/Cats+Eye+-+The+Dead+Zone.jpg

...a TV playing The Dead Zone...

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TD_9Lxm_fCA/UF1NynJvIaI/AAAAAAAABLA/FiXULt8aj6I/s1600/Cats+Eye+-+Pet+Sematary.jpg

...and a woman reading Pet Sematary.

But You Know What Sucks?


15. Thinner
(Tom Holland, 1996)

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4JpPSLTizOc/UGvI_fAqFnI/AAAAAAAABPY/_ARxKb6owtA/s1600/Thinner+Movie+Emaciation.jpg

Marred by casual racism and cheap fat-suit effects, Thinner isn't terrible, but it's dull enough to explain why King released the original novel as a "Richard Bachman" book. In case you don't know, the story's about a fat man who runs over a gypsy. The dead woman's husband condemns the man to get thinner. So he does. And there's your movie. The story "others" the gypsies, those bizarre keepers of mystical knowledge, in a way that recalls King's difficulty in writing beyond the status quo - consider his tendency to lean on magical negroes (The Stand, The Green Mile, The Shining) and mentally challenged savants (The Stand, Dreamcatcher). The ending of Thinner is admittedly clever, as Holland finds a nasty way for the story to have its cake and eat it too. Unfortunately, the rest of the film is too mediocre to excuse its distracting shortcomings.

[Dukefrukem]

Thinner is indeed bad, but every time it plays on TV I can't change the channel.

Great stuff D&MU.

[Morris Schæffer]

I just realized The Running Man might make an appearance.:)

[MadMan]

I just realized The Running Man might make an appearance.:)Heh, yep.

Since I'm reading Night Shift, I look forward to seeing how Cat's Eye depicted two of the stories from it.

[D_Davis]

Night Shift and Skeleton Crew are probably King's two best books in terms of pure literary prowess. I think Skeleton Crew is a classic of the American short story.

"The Jaunt," is one of my favorite short stories ever.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Night Shift and Skeleton Crew are probably King's two best books in terms of pure literary prowess. I think Skeleton Crew is a classic of the American short story.

Truth.


"The Jaunt," is one of my favorite short stories ever.

Double truth.

"Longer than you think, Dad!" it cackled. "Longer than you think..."

:eek:

[Spun Lepton]

"The Jaunt," is one of my favorite short stories ever.

Absolutely agreed. Probably my favorite short story by King.

[D_Davis]

Truth.



Double truth.

...longer than you think...

:eek:


Absolutely agreed. Probably my favorite short story by King.

This will haunt me forever.

[EvilShoe]

Agreed on the love for "The Jaunt". Read it when I was like 14, still think about it from time to time. Terrifying.

[Dead & Messed Up]

14. Christine
(John Carpenter, 1983)

Son, you're probably too young to look for wisdom in anyone's words but your own, but I'll tell you this: love is the enemy...yes. The poets continually and sometimes willfully mistake love. Love is the old slaughterer.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_6GvhzdawNY/UG8unrow2OI/AAAAAAAABQQ/HKtCjlgwi3A/s1600/Christine+Keith+Gordon+Harry+D ean+Stanton.jpg

The Long and Short of It

Arnie Cunningham (Keith Gordon) might be the nerdiest nerd that ever nerded his way through high school. His nerdery makes him a target of both bullying and parental shame. However, he does have something nobody else has: a possessed car that will do anything for him. Her name is Christine.

Adaptation Decay

Mostly Accurate. The original novel is narrated from the perspective of Arnie's sometimes-friend Dennis (played here by John Stockwell), and the film tries to maintain Dennis's status as the hero, with Arnie as a kind of anti-hero. Unfortunately, this isn't too successful, and why bother with a well-meaning lunkhead when Arnie's so much more interesting anyway? He's the guy who's falling in love with a possessed car, for God's sakes. On that note, the book makes explicit that Christine is haunted by its former owner, while the film opts for the cleaner idea that Christine, like Shirley Jackson's Hill House, was simply born bad. An opening scene in the car plant is both new to the film and wholly welcome.


http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Poc-yr0d6jA/UG8uj-7xLzI/AAAAAAAABQI/ts3rFri86f0/s1600/Christine+Movie+Chase.jpg

Forget All That - How’s the Movie?

Undeniably fun. John Carpenter was in the prime of his film career and a fine match for this kind of material, infused as it is with a can-you-believe-this-shit? cheeriness and a selection of rock-and-roll standards (this is the director who bio-pic'd Elvis with Kurt Russell). The music offers great backing to Carpenter's familiar steady camera and careful eye, giving the suspenseful stalk-and-crash murders welcome black humor. In case the possessed car wasn't enough of a hint. Meanwhile Keith Gordon provides Arnie with a subdued, effective transformation from eighties geek to fifties greaser, his confidence built by Christine and fueled by countless schoolyard taunts.

Alright, But Is It a Good Halloween Flick?

Sure! This fits in fine with a King-a-thon or a Carpenter-fest, and it has the right goofy-scary approach to match the holiday. You'll laugh, you'll gasp, and you move on to the next film in an orderly fashion.

Kingwatch 2012

No references, no sightings. Like Hearts in Atlantis, this film wants to exist on its own terms.

But You Know What Sucks?


14. Silver Bullet
(Daniel Attias, 1985)

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WIT-_pmle-k/UG8sQSjuG5I/AAAAAAAABQA/R_bkuYuHw2U/s1600/Silver+Bullet+Werewolf.jpg

Silver Bullet is a tedious werewolf movie with the occasional glimmer of campy goodness. Like the funny bit when the one-eyed priest is trying to drive down a kid in a high-speed wheelchair. Or when a bunch of townspeople form an angry mob and immediately get dragged underneath waist-high fog. Or when the guy who clearly is the werewolf has a dream where everybody in a church lycanthropizes. Sounds appealing, but most of the film is witless dialogue and feature-length paddery. Stephen King wrote this film, based on his Cycle of the Werewolf, itself a foregone conclusion wrapped up in a thin story. I remember reading that book as a teenager, and the only thing that interested me was how the full moon managed to fall on every single holiday of every month. I can buy a werewolf fighting "the Busey," but I can't buy that.

[Spun Lepton]

But You Know What Sucks?


14. Silver Bullet
(Daniel Attias, 1985)

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WIT-_pmle-k/UG8sQSjuG5I/AAAAAAAABQA/R_bkuYuHw2U/s1600/Silver+Bullet+Werewolf.jpg

Silver Bullet is a tedious werewolf movie with the occasional glimmer of campy goodness. Like the funny bit when the one-eyed priest is trying to drive down a kid in a high-speed wheelchair. Or when a bunch of townspeople form an angry mob and immediately get dragged underneath waist-high fog. Or when the guy who clearly is the werewolf has a dream where everybody in a church lycanthropizes. Sounds appealing, but most of the film is witless dialogue and feature-length paddery. Stephen King wrote this film, based on his Cycle of the Werewolf, itself a foregone conclusion wrapped up in a thin story. I remember reading that book as a teenager, and the only thing that interested me was how the full moon managed to fall on every single holiday of every month. I can buy a werewolf fighting "the Busey," but I can't buy that.

Aww! It's not that bad.

[Dead & Messed Up]

I know that'll get me chewed out in some circles, but I had the same reaction to the film that I had to Maximum Overdrive: "There's five minutes of brilliance meted out in all this dreck."

[Spun Lepton]

I know that'll get me chewed out in some circles, but I had the same reaction to the film that I had to Maximum Overdrive: "There's five minutes of brilliance meted out in all this dreck."

It's the killer vending machine, isn't it? C'mon admit it. Best. Scene. Ever.

[Dead & Messed Up]

It's the killer vending machine, isn't it? C'mon admit it. Best. Scene. Ever.

That...and this:

Ptlkw49o-54

[D_Davis]

Cycle of the Werewolf is top 10 King for me. He addresses the full moon/holiday thing as an artistic license for thematic reasons.

[Scar]

Joining in on The Jaunt love.

[Spun Lepton]

Is Graveyard Shift going to make it here? If you disliked Silver Bullet, I'll be surprised if you liked it.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Cycle of the Werewolf is top 10 King for me. He addresses the full moon/holiday thing as an artistic license for thematic reasons.

There are days when I agree with you whole-heartedly. And then...


Is Graveyard Shift going to make it here? If you disliked Silver Bullet, I'll be surprised if you liked it.

I'll never tell.

But yes, you'll see it.

[Skitch]

I just came off a King movie fling last month! I was stunned how much I enjoyed Hearts In Atlantis the first time I watched it. I had no expectations, and I really liked it.

Also, Silver Bullet is okay! It has Gary Busey and Anne of Green Gables! And a Corey! And a completely irresponsible parenting motorcycle gift for a pre-teen who's already half paralyzed! :)

[Spun Lepton]

Damn it, now I want to watch Maximum Overdrive again. :lol:

[MadMan]

Maximum Overdrive is not a good movie, but I'll be damned if I don't love it and find it to be hilarious. My most found memory of that film is choosing to watch it since Iowa was losing to Michigan at the time when it was being aired on TV.

Silver Bullet sucks. Poor DaMU, beset by crazy RTers who think that movie is good. Now Christine is pretty damn good- I bought the book, and I'm looking forward to reading it so I can compare/contrast the adaptation and the novel.

[EvilShoe]

This thread is a huge trip down memory lane, by the way. Was obsessed with Stephen King from age 15 to 20, and saw too many of these. Looking forward to more!

[Dead & Messed Up]

13. 1408
(Mikael Hafstrom, 2007)

...now he could hear it coming, the dweller in the room behind the room, the thing in the walls, the owner of the buzzing voice. "Six!" the voice screamed. "Six, this is six, this is goddam fucking SIX!"

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2TeKgPuQM84/UFK0xp_45tI/AAAAAAAABD0/mczKIF6HBdo/s1600/1408+-+Cusack+Jackson.jpg

The Long and Short of It

Mike Enslin (John Cusack), the author of a book series on haunted houses, has never had an authentically supernatural experience. Then one day, he gets a postcard from the Dolphin Hotel with one sentence written on it. "Don't stay in room 1408."

Adaptation Decay

Significant but Honorable. Stephen King's short story is a compact bit of spookery, but at 52 pages, it's slim material for a feature-length film. So the writers compensate by adding many, many more sources of horror, and, more importantly, inventing a back-story for Mike Enslin that involves a family tragedy. Surprisingly, most of these additions work. Although the abundance of scares makes the film sometimes play like a list of gags instead of a story, writers Scott Alexander and Larry Karazewski add a couple of brilliant late-film twists. One involves Enslin escaping the room much sooner than expected, while the other involves what happens after the room's alarm clock counts down from 59:59 to 0:00. Meanwhile, the back-story offers deeper motivations for Enslin's search for the supernatural.


http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IVi4pNgT_CM/UFK0y7Gtj2I/AAAAAAAABEE/1-d_JN6PPq8/s1600/1408+-+Phone+Melting.jpg

Forget All That - How’s the Movie?

Pretty damn good. John Cusack gives Mike Enslin a good sense of pathos, with his skeptical humor belying undercurrents of despair. Thank God for that, because 1408 is a one-man show for most of its runtime. As mentioned, the film sometimes feels like a string of gags, and those gags grow in size and volume as the film progresses, which inevitably leads to less fright and more shock. Let's face it - Enslin suffering a hurricane-sized deluge in 1408 is not as unnerving as him finding two chocolates on a pillow that was previously chocolate-free. Still, as a funhouse ride, 1408 delivers the goods, and it's a pleasure to see a fright flick that manages to chill with a PG-13 rating. Sidenote: it was Quentin Tarantino who nominated Samuel L. Jackson for the hotel manager role. Why? Because if Jules Winfield is scared of 1408, you should be too.

Alright, But Is It a Good Halloween Flick?

Mostly. The film takes itself more seriously than a Cat's Eye or Creepshow; friends might be checking their watches during the "drama" bits. But 1408's constant invention should keep viewers engaged.

Kingwatch 2012

No King sightings, although Mike Enslin plays an author whose grisly books sell better than his attempts at serious "literature." The biggest nod to Stephen King's universe is the appearance of a free-standing doorway in the middle of the room.


http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YxmKY5pPE9s/UFK0yLE3xBI/AAAAAAAABD8/E8ulPcbzJBM/s1600/1408+-+Dark+Tower+Door.jpg

Stephen King nuts will know that free-standing doors have an important function in his Dark Tower series: they're portals between worlds. In 1408, there are hints that this door might be a gateway to the afterlife, so, hey, there you go.


http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zftUevoljs0/UFK2E-sabyI/AAAAAAAABEM/xz8a0gzMU90/s400/1408+-+Dark+Tower+Door+2.jpg

But You Know What Sucks?


13. The Lawnmower Man
(Brett Leonard, 1992)

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1sfnx5ZyYxs/UHHcVKtO0qI/AAAAAAAABQ4/q4odVjry-co/s1600/Lawnmower+Man+Virtual+Reality. jpg

This brazenly unfaithful "adaptation" retained two scenes from King's original story of a pagan lawn-care-worker and jammed them into an a script about virtual reality. King responded by suing them for using his name in the publicity. Weirdly, The Lawnmower Man is more miscalculated than straight-up awful. The premise is kinda sorta interesting, with abused dimwit Jobe (Jeff Fahey) discovering intelligence and power in the virtual worlds of Lawrence (Pierce Brosnan). And then his powers cross over into reality. The primitive candy-color CG effects have a retro charm, and the filmmakers liberally apply religious imagery (prefiguring The Matrix's story of a VR messiah). What sucks is that the film heel-face-turns into a vacant revenge picture, with Jobe using his new telekinetic powers to kill everyone who ever wronged him. It's not a total loss - I'm grateful for how Pierce Brosnan, when referencing a failed experiment, declares, "He was the best chimp I ever had!"

[megladon8]

Thank you for making me feel a little more secure in my liking 1408. I thought it was pretty darn good.

Jackson's delivery of "It's an evil fucking room" is golden.

[Pop Trash]

This thread is giving me a serious case of middle school nostalgia.

[Pop Trash]

Yeah, I liked 1408 as well, even though it seemed blatantly influence by Polanski's The Tenant (both even feature the protagonist seeing a double of himself in the room outside of his window, which in both films scared the pants off me).

I also don't get the "terrible movie" accusations against Maximum Overdrive. For such a supposedly awful movie, it sure is watchable. I saw it numerous times on cable in my youth.

[Rowland]

I wouldn't make any great claims for 1408, but it has a lot of verve, and Cusack sells the shit out of it.

[Morris Schæffer]

I will check out 1408. Director Hafstrom will next attempt to solidify the career resurrection of Ahnuld in The Tomb. :)

[Dead & Messed Up]

This one is gonna get some hate.


12. The Stand
(Mick Garris, 1994)

"Do we have a choice?" Larry asked bitterly.
She turned to look at him, surprised. "Choice? There's always a choice. That's God's way, always will be. Your will is still free. Do as you will. There's no set of leg-irons on you. But...this is what God wants of you."

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Spi8ui6DWaY/UF1NMn6XZII/AAAAAAAABJw/tNSod0JeFQQ/s1600/The+Stand+-+Rain.jpg

The Long and Short of It

After a global epidemic of "superflu" wipes out 99% of the population, the United States lie in ruins. As the survivors adapt to the new world order, they begin to have odd dreams. Some dream of a kindly old black woman. Others dream of a dark man with no face...

Adaptation Decay

Significant but Honorable. Stephen King wrote the teleplay to 1994's The Stand based on his 1978 novel (not the thousand-page "director's cut" he released in 1990). The book is widely regarded as King's best work of fiction, an epic dark fantasy couched in Old Testament sensibilities. It's also a tremendously violent work, which makes an ABC TV movie perhaps the least likely home for it. While network restrictions mute some of the drama, the tele-film doesn't shy away from dead bodies, and, with King writing, and the six-hour runtime (originally broadcast in four two-hour events), the flick hits nearly all the important beats from the original novel. Which might be a bummer for those who remember how the original novel climaxes. There are a few significant changes, like the loss of dueling journals, and King combining the pill-popping Rita Blakemoor with devil-betrothed Nadine Cross (which works better than you'd think).


http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XiezamwsxCA/UF1NL3MH4QI/AAAAAAAABJo/liVYVw8Qibg/s1600/The+Stand+-+Matt+Frewer+-+Trashcan+Man.jpg

Forget All That - How’s the Movie?

The Stand sure as hell isn't perfect, as it contains a miscast Molly Ringwald and some hideous CG effects. Mick Garris's direction veers from the suspenseful to the workmanlike to intentional camp, as with a tawdry Showtime-style seduction between virginal loser Harold (Corin Nemec) and Nadine (Laura San Giacomo). These elements could've led to a patchier affair, but the excellent cast keeps the film consistent. Gary Sinise is perfect as everyman Stuart Redman, and he's surrounded by veterans like Ray Walston, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, and, most impressive of all, Matt Frewer as schizo pyromaniac "Trashcan Man." His fidgety anti-hero drives the film into its later apocalyptic chapters. Those chapters feature the heroes walking across the Rockies toward their titular "stand," and, backed by W. G. Snuffy Walden's simple guitar work, the images evoke Americana without going overboard. As with the novel, the supernatural stand-offs are never quite as engaging as the survivalist drama, but The Stand retains the page-turning energy of King's classic story.

Alright, But Is It a Good Halloween Flick?

Not at all. If you want some good Stephen King mini-series creepiness, watch Storm of the Century. It's not on this list since it was originally written for television, but it's damn good telefilmery with a hell of an ending.

Kingwatch 2012

There aren't any references to other King works, but the man himself plays good-natured hick Teddy Wiezak, and Garris stuffs the flick with his horror director friends.


http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-niq_8t6d6GM/UHR6cfX7i2I/AAAAAAAABTY/q3ome5aF_iY/s1600/The+Stand+Cameos.jpg
Clockwise from top left: Stephen King & Mick Garris, John Landis (An American Werewolf in London), Tom Holland (Fright Night), and Sam Raimi (The Evil Dead)

But You Know What Sucks?


12. Maximum Overdrive
(Stephen King, 1986)

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rP1oIWreAQU/UHRygCV2QfI/AAAAAAAABSw/GHoNKUb0FZU/s1600/Maximum+Overdrive+Green+Goblin .jpg

Even in a turn-off-yer-brain way, there's little to recommend in Maximum Overdrive, the only film Stephen King ever directed himself. A loose reworking of his story "Trucks," Maximum Overdrive gets a few points for how proudly dumb it is, with one man dying at the hands of a vengeful soda machine, another guy learning from an ATM that "you're an asshole," and a climactic moment that involves a waitress armed with a bazooka shot to hell by a sentient gatling gun. You won't find that in The Green Mile. There are a few moments of zany pleasure ("We maaade youuu!"), but the flick drags its heels with dull romance, dull truck stop dissension, a predictable resolution, and none of the wit found in similar siege horror flicks like Tremors or Demon Knight. The soundtrack by AC/DC features a silly heavy-metal riff on the violin shrieks of Psycho, but like the rest of the film, it wears out its welcome pretty damn fast.

[MadMan]

Regardless Maximum Overdrive is still hilarious, and that's the only thing it has going for it. That film is also one of the earliest horror movies I reviewed for a thread on the Axis that featured short write ups. That review is lost, but I can always write another one.

[Spun Lepton]

Agreed with MadMan. There's no question it's a terrible movie, but it's so silly and over-the-top that I can't help but giggle all through it. You forgot to mention the child-killing steam-roller, DaMU.

And UGH at The Stand. Fucking Mick Garris. Blecch.

[D_Davis]

I think The Stand is pretty good, if incredible hampered by the budget.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Agreed with MadMan. There's no question it's a terrible movie, but it's so silly and over-the-top that I can't help but giggle all through it. You forgot to mention the child-killing steam-roller, DaMU.

According to my exhaustive online research, Stephen King was hardcore into coke during filming, and during that steamroller scene, the fake-kid's head accidentally exploded into a gore rainbow. The effects people apologized for what happened, and King was so delighted by what happened.

[MadMan]

According to my exhaustive online research, Stephen King was hardcore into coke during filming, and during that steamroller scene, the fake-kid's head accidentally exploded into a gore rainbow. The effects people apologized for what happened, and King was so delighted by what happened.:lol: That's....brilliant.

[Skitch]

I think The Stand is pretty good, if incredible hampered by the budget.

Yeah, this.

[Dead & Messed Up]

11. Dolores Claiborne
(Taylor Hackford, 1995)

I want you to get every goddam word, startin with this: twenty-nine years ago, when Police Chief Bissette here was in the first grade and still eatin the paste off the back of his pitchers, I killed my husband, Joe St. George.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kOX4BDDC8ao/UF1M8_GdLQI/AAAAAAAABJQ/2X8Oi1pci38/s1600/Dolores+Claiborne+-+Kathy+Bates.jpg

The Long and Short of It

Dolores Claiborne is a stalwart wife and mother who's had a rough go of things, but she won't let her daughter suffer any misfortunes. Not even if they come from inside the family...

Adaptation Decay

Acceptable. Stephen King's novel is a chapterless first-person narrative, complete with lovable Maine diction sneaking in constantly, as delivered by Dolores to a police officer. The film presents itself with an opening headed by Claiborne's daughter Selena (Jennifer Jason Leigh), who travels home and becomes the audience avatar. Through her, we learn the hidden depths of Dolores, who's accused of murder now and might have a history with the act. I haven't yet read the novel. I've paged through most of King's bibliography over the years, and the few unread books feel increasingly precious. If Wikipedia is to believed (and sometimes it isn't), the original novel included a psychic connection to King's earlier novel Gerald's Game. The movie ignores that and stays grounded.


http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-c5dwuGuSxzI/UF1M9zQGh3I/AAAAAAAABJY/la8-Ks6CCGc/s1600/Dolores+Claiborne+-+Mother+Daughter.jpg

Forget All That - How’s the Movie?

Heavy on the melodrama at times (watch out for that orchestra), Dolores Claiborne isn't the most exciting King adaptation out there. It's short on exploitable elements and tall on character, which puts pressure on the cast. Credit goes to David Strathairn's greasy downturned shame, and, hey, there's a young John C. Reilly reachin' and hitten' that Nor'eastahn ah-ccent. But Dolores Claiborne is Kathy Bates, and Kathy Bates is Dolores Claiborne. She has to play two arcs in the film, past and present. In the former, she builds up her resolve, and in the latter, she breaks the facade enough to reconnect with her daughter. Bates is always immediate, always compelling. She feels urgent. Stylistically, Hackford distinguishes the two timelines with cold and warm colors, and it's fun to watch the reds and tans from the past invade the muted, blue present. It isn't a subtle technique, but, hell, this ain't a subtle flick. What mattehs is that it's a good'un.

Alright, But Is It a Good Halloween Flick?

No, dammit! Stay away! Stay far away. After Halloween, you're golden.

Kingwatch 2012

Set in Bangor, there's ample opportunity to riff on King's familiar haunts, but the only link worth noting is the re-appearance of Bob Gunton, who played Warden Norton to such frightening effect in The Shawshank Redemption.


http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4Ez7eCp9GEU/UHerMf1lRoI/AAAAAAAABUI/v2AXkjayG5k/s1600/Dolores+Claiborne+Bob+Gunton.j pg
I dislike you already, and I dislike you immensely.

But You Know What Sucks?


11. The Tommyknockers
(John Power, 1993)

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1KEVY_lFxs4/UHeo0e4bVGI/AAAAAAAABUA/1Idcr0Fepfk/s1600/Tommyknockers+Jimmy+Smits.jpg

Written during the Great Stephen King Coke Binge of the Eighties, The Tommyknockers was a novel about his problems with substance abuse. Because he's Stephen King, "cocaine" became "Lovecraftian alien monsters that mutate people into similar monsters and devolve them of morality and restraint," obviously. The TV adaptation eases the gas on the mutations but drives ahead with the addiction metaphor. It also offers the dull problems that most TV movies run into. Flat lighting, unconvincing special effects, and, even at the mini-series format, a need to compact elements that require breathing space. Worst of all, unlike The Stand, which builds on one of King's greatest novels, this is based on one of his worst. You can build a crappy house on a strong foundation, but you can never build a strong house on a book in which tentacles burst out of people's genitals. At least, that's what my dad told me at graduation.

[Winston*]

I remember being pretty creeped out by The Tommyknockers when I saw it when I was a kid, but thinking back on the bits I can recall it seems like the stupidest thing ever.

Isn't there a death ray that comes out of a lipstick?

[Watashi]

The Langoliers for #1 on the worst?

[Dead & Messed Up]

The Langoliers for #1 on the worst?

Still in flux. There was a period where I thought it would be, and then a new challenger entered.

I feel like that guy on Event Horizon who saw all the stuff.

[EvilShoe]

My favorites are probably the most obvious ones: anything Darabont did, The Shining (took me a while to seperate book from movie, though), Carrie, Salem's Lot (original), etc...

Mostly wondering where these will rank, as I saw and enjoyed them years ago. No idea if it was due to my young age:
The Dark Half was one of my favorite King books at the time. Watched the adaptation a few times, and grew to appreciate it. Remember liking the visual style.
Also thought The Night Flier was a lot better than I had been led to believe. Quite atmospheric, with a terrific turn by Ferrer.
I'mquite certain I'd still enjoy The Dead Zone. Prove me right.
I loved Pet Semetary. Probably the King adaptation I've seen the most. Never cared for the sequel. Horrendous.I absolutely hate Mick Garris' adaptations. It's not that they're awful, they're just insanely bland. The Stand didn't grab me, The Shining's a slog. It's not because of TV's limitations, because Storm of the Century is immensely watchable. His work on Masters of Horror is completely incompetent as well. The series is a mixed bag at best, but his output looks shockingly cheap.

A shame Sleepwalkers can only make the list as a dishonorable mention. That movie's wretched.

[Dead & Messed Up]

The Dark Half is decent, but you won't see it in the top ten. I watched The Night Flier, and it was also decent - much better than I expected.

Odd to disagree with you on this one, but I think Garris's work on Masters of Horror displays a much stronger sense of style than what his TV movies feature. I have no idea why that would be the case, given their short schedule, but, especially with Valerie on the Stairs, I was thinking, "Wait, why can't he direct like this all the time?" I thought that one had a great sense of shadow, and the warm color design...and his output on that series reveals a serious erotic interest his TV movies don't let him explore.

I'm not saying that makes him a great director or anything. I think he's meh. Bland, as you say, but not insanely bland, as you more accurately say. But they at least hint at some sort of auteur stamp and greater control.

I know that's generous, but if we can re-evaluate Paul W. S. Anderson, then...

[EvilShoe]

The Dark Half is decent, but you won't see it in the top ten. I watched The Night Flier, and it was also decent - much better than I expected.

Odd to disagree with you on this one, but I think Garris's work on Masters of Horror displays a much stronger sense of style than what his TV movies feature. I have no idea why that would be the case, given their short schedule, but, especially with Valerie on the Stairs, I was thinking, "Wait, why can't he direct like this all the time?" I thought that one had a great sense of shadow, and the warm color design...and his output on that series reveals a serious erotic interest his TV movies don't let him explore.

I'm not saying that makes him a great director or anything. I think he's meh. Bland, as you say, but not insanely bland, as you more accurately say. But they at least hint at some sort of auteur stamp and greater control.

I know that's generous, but if we can re-evaluate Paul W. S. Anderson, then...
It's been a while so my memory is a bit hazy on the details, but his directing didn't do much for me. I remember the erotic scenes looking more like softcore porn than, well, erotic. Maybe he did improve, but his style still felt lacking compared to the other directors.

But as said before: it's been a while, so you might be right and my memory's playing tricks on me. If he ever releases something that gets good reviews, I'll be sure to check it out.

[MadMan]

Hey DaMU, AMC decided your idea was awesome and kicked off their Horrorfest with movies based on Stephen King's work. Also I fully expect to see The Dead Zone high up on your list.

[Neclord]

I'm not sure before now I ever stopped to consider just how many of King's works have been adapted to film/television. I mean, goodness. He has to hold some sort of record. And lots of money.

[Dead & Messed Up]

10. Creepshow
(George Romero, 1982)

Now, you can explain why a smart man will do something, because a smart man goes by the facts. If a smart man gets car trouble, he goes to a service station. If he gets wasps in his house, he calls the exterminator. And if a smart man gets sick somehow, he calls the doctor.

Jordy Verrill wasn't a smart man.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ojQX0PFbg9g/UF1NY5jaw8I/AAAAAAAABKI/bRjFjIhgzl4/s1600/Creepshow+-+Animated+Segment.jpg

The Long and Short of It

A reuniting family gains an unexpected visitor...their long-dead father! An alien grass discovers the best soil of all...man! A spiteful sleaze murders his philandering wife and her lover...or so he thinks! A college professor finds a beast under a staircase...and puts it to good use! A rich recluse must fight off an uprising...of cockroaches!

Adaptation Decay

Significant but Necessary. Out of the five stories in Creepshow (six if you include the wraparound), two are based on Stephen King stories: "The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill" comes from "Weeds (http://bo-ne.ws/forum/read.php?17,31698)," and "The Crate" comes from, go figure, "The Crate (http://lovestar1.webstarts.com/uploads/The_Crate.pdf)." Neither story made it into an official Stephen King collection, but they've been published in magazines and anthologies. "Jordy Verrill" amps up the silliness that King hints at in "Weeds," which reads more tragically, especially when Jordy "hears" what the alien grass has in mind. "The Crate" similarly amps up the corn factor with an over-the-top performance from Adrienne Barbeau, who's more spoken around than seen in King's tale. It's a drag for those who prefer darker thrills, but the right choice for the film. The other three stories play in the classic mold of EC, more black-hearted morality tales than simple creepfests. Granted, the morality isn't much more nuanced than "Don't be an asshole."


http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XU6yNqGT6kI/UF1NYOH1CEI/AAAAAAAABKA/swynsNllais/s1600/Creepshow+-+Adrienne+Barbeau.jpg

Forget All That - How’s the Movie?

A treat. Creepshow benefits from a cast of veterans and up-and-comers, but the best surprise is George Romero's direction. The man is more renowned for his concepts than his style, but Creepshow expertly evokes the EC comics it's honoring. Not just with the wraparound, in which King's son Joe (now a writer himself) "reads" the movie, but with the use of animated interludes that show the book's "Creep" guiding us from tale to tale. Meanwhile, moments of terror feature illustrated backgrounds and borders, and the film mixes its yucks and yuks in equal measure. The gore is cartoonish, the victims caricatured evil that, frankly, deserve everything that's coming to 'em. "Jordy Verrill" is the odd man out, as it offers none of the righteous comeuppance of the other tales, but even that one should grow on you (see what just happened?).

Alright, But Is It a Good Halloween Flick?

Creepshow may be the best Halloween flick to bear King's name. Fast-paced, gruesome, with solid belly-laughs. Most terrifying of all, the first story features a non-bald Ed Harris disco-dancing. Scared the hell outta me.

Kingwatch 2012

"Jordy Verrill" reveals a signpost at the end that says Castle Rock is only five miles away. Uh-oh. And in the most substantial role of his tragically short acting career, Stephen King is the star of the second segment. It's a specific role that demands a specific kind of approach...


http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-y28HCa3Hz-o/UHnuswrXgkI/AAAAAAAABWA/g4o4S6r8R_g/s1600/Creepshow+Stephen+King.jpg

Nailed it.

But You Know What Sucks?


10. "The Road Virus Heads North"
(Sergio Mimica-Gezzan, 2006)

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-y9LLyxYmKiE/UHnxn8lta5I/AAAAAAAABWo/B4aBP53PpdA/s1600/Road+Virus.jpg

Nightmares & Dreamscapes was a mostly unembarrassing TNT mini-series that took eight Stephen King stories and reworked them for the small screen. Six of them were decent, if unexceptional. One of them was great (more on that later). One of them, "The Road Virus Heads North," was atrocious, a stylistic disaster, full of aggressive, assaultive cuts and filters and angles, enough to make Tony Scott say, "Hey, let's just...dial this down a few notches." Tom Berenger plays a successful horror writer who finds an eerie painting on sale, but when the painting starts shifting and changing, he realizes that its subject might be very real...and very hungry. This is the type of story that demands slow-burn filmmaking, keeping things low-key, letting the situation dictate the style. Instead, director Sergio thinks razzle-dazzle is the way to go. Bummer. The original story is wonderfully eerie. This, however, is embarrassing.

[MadMan]

I blind bought Creepshow because of the Barnes and Noble two for one sale, and its one of my favorite blind buys. Great movie, and I watched it when it popped up on IFC recently just in time for October. My favorite story of the bunch is The Crate, but I think the first story is the best out of all of them.

And yes Ed Harris disco dancing will forever live in everyone's nightmares.

[EvilShoe]

It's a shame Creepshow 2 isn't that good, although I did get a kick out of seeing The Raft on screen. One of my favorite short stories by King.

[megladon8]

Ed Harris' dance is one of cinema's, nay, all of mankind's greatest achievements.

[Morris Schæffer]

That director, mimica gezzan, helmed a whole bunch of Battlestar Galactica episodes. I recgonize him from that.

[MadMan]

Ed Harris' dance is one of cinema's, nay, all of mankind's greatest achievements.XLDaqPw-2mM

:twisted: :lol:

[Dead & Messed Up]

9. Battleground
(Brian Henson, 2006)
from Nightmares and Dreamscapes

He was very good, very reliable, but what his customers paid for was the infallible predator's talent. John Renshaw was a human hawk, constructed by both genetics and environment to do two things superbly: kill and survive.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-W9nD1i5jxQw/UHxRAdY4TII/AAAAAAAABXo/Sose_fyPA38/s1600/Battleground+William+Hurt.jpg

The Long and Short of It

Seasoned assassin John Renshaw, meet toy soldiers. Toy soldiers, seasoned assassin. I'm sure you'll get along.

Adaptation Decay

Improvement. Yes, we're finally hitting that level of quality. "Battleground" takes its name from a Stephen King story published in Night Shift, in which an assassin fights off a cursed box full of toy soldiers. This version, directed by Brian Henson (son of Jim Henson), keeps things simple. Incredibly simple. This is so simple that not a single line of dialogue is spoken. Instead, the drama depends on William Hurt knowing when to be silent, when to growl, and when to scream. If you think he isn't up to the task, you don't know William Hurt the way I do. The no-dialogue conceit is an ingenious decision, matched by another one, late in the story, in which we learn that the box of soldiers happened to feature - I kid you not - an elite commando. King didn't include an elite commando. Now, you might ask, why would the commando wait so long to attack? Renshaw would understand. Before you kill your prey, you must first observe.


http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FRIcuylXcJg/UHxQ5Q7KnqI/AAAAAAAABXY/zzHuSZoun2g/s1600/Battleground+Toy+Soldiers.jpg

Forget All That - How’s the Movie?

With those improvements? With William Hurt? With a tight runtime? With this kind of premise? It's awesome is what it is. Brian Henson's history, working in special effects that lean on Lilliputian scales, proves invaluable. The soldiers and their various accessories convince, and their teeny little movements allow for some morbid humor. One of Renshaw's assaults results in a miniature D-Day horror show that inspires pity...until he starts stepping on the soldiers like cockroaches, and we remember exactly what's happening. Scripter Richard C. Matheson (son of Richard Matheson) boosts the story's length without padding it, and Hurt works perfectly as a no-nonsense guy who just landed in Nonsense City. Stephen King's early short stories most often function as sick jokes; Henson and Matheson and Hurt zero in on that wavelength and deliver. For what it is, "Battleground" is triumphant.

Alright, But Is It a Good Halloween Flick?

Kinda. Maybe. "Battleground" traffics more in thrills than outright scares, but it offers the high-concept wackiness that makes Halloween so much fun.

And If That Ain't Enough

Check out the rest of Nightmares and Dreamscapes. Okay, not all of it. Three more episodes. "The End of the Whole Mess" is a clever faux-documentary about two brothers (Henry Thomas and Ron Livingston) who try to cure violence itself. "The Fifth Quarter" is a fun little potboiler about a modern-day treasure map and the double-crossing crooks chasing it. "Umney's Last Case" has William H. Macy playing both a private eye and the bored writer who created him - is there a way they could swap realities? No. No, there isn't. But ignore that. I've already warned you about "The Road Virus."

Kingwatch 2012

King devotees will notice that Renshaw's dangerous escape from his bathroom involves walking a ledge.


http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9D6HStsqJQc/UHxQ4_U65lI/AAAAAAAABXQ/MDoz06vlohc/s1600/Battleground+Ledge+Homage.jpg

Horror devotees will notice that Renshaw's case of trophies includes the Zuni Fetish Doll from Trilogy of Terror.


http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2bAJlA80rOw/UHxQ6JQpGQI/AAAAAAAABXg/ifVt-_IE_w0/s1600/Battleground+Zuni+Fetish+Doll. jpg

Devotees will also recognize that Trilogy of Terror, a 1975 made-for-TV movie, was based on three stories by Richard Matheson. Look at Henson, just homaging away.

But You Know What Sucks?


9. Creepshow 2
(Michael Gornick, 1987)

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PUM2y75gw28/UHxTcXVAU_I/AAAAAAAABXw/SLb2amrQyPs/s1600/Creepshow+2+Raft.jpg

Separated by Heavy Metal-style animated interludes that heroically pad the runtime, this tedious piece of crap, authored by Romero, offers exactly one Stephen King tale between two derivative stories of revenge that offer none of the style or fun of the original. Can King's contribution save the film? Nope. His contribution, "The Raft," is a crummy port of a crummy story in Skeleton Crew about some crummy teenagers who get on a raft and get chased around by...well, I think it's supposed to be a horrifying sentient protoplasm, but it looks like a tarp covered in maple syrup. Doesn't help matters that the only memorable part of the segment involves one of the "heroes" copping a feel from his sleeping girlfriend while the syrup-tarp yanks on her hair. Stop it, movie.

[Morris Schæffer]

Ed Harris' dance is one of cinema's, nay, all of mankind's greatest achievements.

It is. It really fucking is. :cool:

[Spun Lepton]

Creepshow is one of my all-time favorites. Being a fan of the EC Comics that inspired it, I've always said Creepshow captured the tone of the comics much better than the Tales from the Crypt TV show did.

While I didn't hate Creepshow 2 as much as you did, agreed that it's just not very good. It's sorely missing all the stylishness of the original, which was one of its major charms. The first story is OK, but it's terribly short and seemed to be edited with a hatchet. The 2nd story is bland and over-reliant on the 80s character cliches. Agreed that the dude copping a feel on the sleeping woman was pretty lame. The last story is not bad, even if it is overly simple. And, yeah, that wrap-around is total balls.

[Skitch]

My love for The Raft from Creepshow 2 goes a long way.

[Dead & Messed Up]

My love for The Raft from Creepshow 2 goes a long way.

Eww.


While I didn't hate Creepshow 2 as much as you did, agreed that it's just not very good.

As long as you don't like it. That's what matters to me.

[Skitch]

Its a nostalgia thing. The Raft scared the shit out of me when I was a youngin.

[MadMan]

Man I want to see Battleground now. I forgot that William Hurt was in that segment. Highly underrated and awesome actor.

[EvilShoe]

Nothing wrong with the Raft.

I think. No way I'm revisiting Creepshow 2.

[Dead & Messed Up]

8. The Mist
(Frank Darabont, 2007)

By tonight, she'll have six people sitting with her. If those pink bugs and the bird come back tonight, she'll have a whole congregation sitting with her tomorrow morning. Then we can start worrying about who she'll tell them to sacrifice...

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EixJr2V66Sg/UFK3q_zRa8I/AAAAAAAABEk/H4k9_ruSvRQ/s1600/The+Mist+-+Rolling+In.jpg

The Long and Short of It

After a violent storm, father David Drayton (Thomas Jane) drives into town with his son and a neighbor in tow. What they don't know is that they're being followed by a strange fog that settles over the town, traps them in a grocery store, and forces them into a nightmare that might prove hopeless...

Adaptation Decay

Your Mileage May Vary. In the novella (collected in Skeleton Crew), it's implied that the military is the cause of the Mist, but in the film, Darabont creates a soldier named Jessup (Sam Witwer), who makes the connection explicit. In the novella, David's neighbor is presumably white, but in the feature, Andre Braugher plays Norton and adds a racial edge (referring to a group of skeptics as "my people"). In the novella, David sleeps with Amanda Dumfries (Laurie Holden), but in the film, he has no time for sex. Most notably, the novella and the film have different endings. While the other changes aren't too significant, the ending's grown notorious as either (a) a brilliant subversion or (b) a manufactured "gotcha." I think the novella's ending works for the novella, and the film's ending works for the film. What can I say? I'm an equivocating bastard.


http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-301iTzZ4bxw/UFK3qNg_rgI/AAAAAAAABEc/8DrKO8RrxGk/s1600/The+Mist+-+Mrs+Carmody.jpg

Forget All That - How’s the Movie?

Frank Darabont is one of the few directors in Hollywood to grant King's works the patience they deserve (Rob Reiner is another), and he nails the quiet hysteria of the novella. Along the way, he suggests all the ways that Bush's America willfully partitions itself, specifically through color, class, and creed. That last point is emphasized by Marcia Gay Harden as Mrs. Carmody; she takes what looks like a campy role and invests it with hideous conviction. If her scapegoating and followers seem unlikely, remember that people still listen to Pat Robertson after he blamed 9/11 on the gays. Getting away from the social criticism, Darabont also creates scenes of undeniable suspense, like an expedition to a pharmacy that goes terribly wrong, and scenes of unexpected awe, as when a late-film arrival dwarfs all the previous threats. If you have the opportunity, watch the film in black-and-white. It's Darabont's preferred version of the film, and it rocks.

Alright, But Is It a Good Halloween Flick?

Sure, especially if preceded with black-and-white big bug classic Them!...or with Night of the Living Dead. I've pointed out before that the two have a hell of a lot in common (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9NKxihsXVQ).

Kingwatch 2012

Stephen King was supposed to cameo as the biker who takes the rope from David...and gets torn in half. That didn't pan out, so Darabont fell back on set dressing to honor the author. It's nearly impossible to see, but the spinning book-racks all feature books by Stephen King. Hopefully Skeleton Crew isn't in there. Can you imagine David Drayton leafing through a book and learning about David Drayton? What's next? Stephen King writing himself into a story? Anyway, here's "King's Pharmacy."


http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-te3q_tpyFgM/UFK3pYCNnWI/AAAAAAAABEU/aXyoX30kOmY/s1600/The+Mist+-+Kings+Pharmacy.jpg

And here's a painting of King's gunslinger, Roland, with the same universe-door nodded to in 1408 (http://horrorfilms101.blogspot.com/2012/10/feature-stephen-king-halloween1408.html).


http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UxFDz17GnCw/UH8R11RJSeI/AAAAAAAABYY/fkIB0x2JEds/s1600/The+Mist+Dark+Tower+Poster.jpg

But You Know What Sucks?


8. Firestarter
(Mark Lester, 1984)

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-48vMPAW4ghM/UH8Tfuk2PdI/AAAAAAAABYg/QGf-kx3JRJw/s1600/Firestarter+Drew+Barrymore.jpg

My lasting memory of Firestarter is Charlie McGee (Drew Barrymore) becoming so powerful of a pryokinetic that she manifests giant ball-missiles of fiery death. Even as a kid, I called bullshit on that. That may say more about me as a child than Firestarter as a movie, but if nothing else, we now know that I draw the line at ball-missiles of fiery death. The film takes King's wonky, middling sci-fi novel and squashes the story into drecky pulp, which is a damn shame, considering that George C. Scott got involved in this mess (I assume he wandered onto the set while looking for the studio cafeteria one day). Is it worse than Maximum Overdrive or The Lawnmower Man? Maybe not, but considering some of the talent involved, Firestarter is a hell of a lot more aggravating. It adds absolutely nothing to the conversation to note that director Mark Lester also directed Showdown in Little Tokyo, in which the late Brandon Lee was super-impressed with Dolph Lundgren's penis (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SY6GvTY7E5U), but there you have it.

[Raiders]

Here's hoping Cujo makes the top five. Very underrated I think.

I also am a big fan of Storm of the Century. I feel like it came on TV (AMC maybe?) last year around Halloween. That ending is really good, especially for a made-for-TV production.

[Dead & Messed Up]

I also am a big fan of Storm of the Century. I feel like it came on TV (AMC maybe?) last year around Halloween. That ending is really good, especially for a made-for-TV production.

Yes, yes, for sure. If I weren't focusing on adaptations, it'd be in my top ten, for sure. Stylish, tragic, superior telefilmery.

[Skitch]

Count me in for Storm of the Century!

[Skitch]

And I love The Mist too.

[Morris Schæffer]

The mist is definitely good. And yay for Them. :)

[Dead & Messed Up]

7. Misery
(Rob Reiner, 1990)

I thought you were supposed to be good, the typewriter said - his mind had invested it with a sneering and yet callow voice: the voice of a teenage-gunslinger in a Hollywood western, a kid intent on making a fast reputation here in Deadwood. You're not so good. Hell, you can't even please one crazy overweight nurse.

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The Long and Short of It

Paul Sheldon (James Caan), famous novelist, crashes his car during a blizzard. He wakes up the next morning in the care of a nurse named Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates). Annie's his number one fan. She's also a psychopath.

Adaptation Decay

Fair. The film loses some of the more absurd horrors found in the novel. For example, in King's original, Annie stabs a victim repeatedly with a cross before finishing the job with a lawnmower. In the film? Shotgun to the chest. More importantly, King's novel places much more attention on how and why Sheldon writes, and how that writing is therapeutic, which ties into different codas for novel and film. The film, however, focuses on the psychological cat-and-mouse games. Annie Wilkes attacks with brutish, crippling emotional outbursts, and Sheldon survives by affecting Stockholm syndrome. This switch was probably unavoidable, given the differences between literature and film. Oh, and Annie uses a sledgehammer here instead of an ax, and it's up to you to decide if that's a canny callback to how Kubrick used an ax instead of a mallet in The Shining.


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Forget All That - How’s the Movie?

Delicious, tense film-making. On an initial viewing, it's hard to believe that Rob Reiner directed the film, given his background with comedies like This Is Spinal Tap and When Harry Met Sally. On a second viewing, it's easier to see strains of humor creeping into Misery, with Wilkes's clean potty mouth and the chatty sheriff Buster (Richard Farnsworth) and the underlying perversity of the premise. This material could've easily fallen over the edge into parody, but Reiner's style is droll. The real pleasure of the film lies in the relationship between Wilkes and Sheldon. Kathy Bates won an Oscar, rightly, for injecting her larger-than-life bipolarisms with the precise amount of sadness. James Caan, more a reactive force than an equal to Bates, nonetheless holds his own, both as a sympathetic hero allowed a degree of ingenuity...and as an avatar for us, viewers bearing witness to this woman's depths of insanity.

Alright, But Is It a Good Halloween Flick?

It's not supernatural, if you're a stickler about such things, but there are few films based on King that carry as much dread, and forget all the CG critters and puppets you've seen - Annie Wilkes is one of his most memorable monsters.

Kingwatch 2012

Paul Sheldon is one in a vast pantheon of author avatars for King. While we're here, let's also note some other King hero-writers found in his novels and novellas:

Ben Mears of 'salem's Lot.
Jack Torrance of The Shining.
Gordie LaChance of The Body.
Bobbi Anderson of The Tommyknockers.
Bill Denbrough of It.
Thad Beaumont of The Dark Half.
Bob Jenkins of The Langoliers.
Mort Rainey of Secret Window, Secret Garden.
John Marinville of Desperation.
Mike Noon of Bag of Bones.
Scott Landon of Lisey's Story.
Tess of Big Driver.

If a book of his doesn't have a novelist, you can bet there's an English teacher in there somewhere. They say "write what you know," but it'd be nice to see King write about, like, a space plumber or something.

But You Know What Sucks?


7. Sometimes They Come Back
(Tom McLoughlin, 1991)

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One of many turkeys served up by the late producer Dino de Laurentiis, Sometimes They Come Back follows a teacher (hey!) who's haunted by new students who eerily resembled the greasers who killed his brother years earlier. Are they the same kids? Yes. Yes, they are. But because of Hell and curses and plot stuff, they're alive again. Solidifying King's life-long hatred of greaser delinquents (you wonder how many times kids like this dumped little Stevie's books) Sometimes features sleepy performances from Tim Matheson and Brooke Adams, the latter of whom probably realized this was a step down from working with David Cronenberg on The Dead Zone. With some of the King movies that suck, there's at least a level of weirdness or camp or stupidity that makes them useful as curiosities - I've been chided by those who vouch for Silver Bullet. Truth be told, a film like that is more worthwhile than Sometimes They Come Back, which, in addition to being crappy, has the bad manners to be dull.

[MadMan]

If a book of his doesn't have a novelist, you can bet there's an English teacher in there somewhere. They say "write what you know," but it'd be nice to see King write about, like, a space plumber or something.:lol: I would absolutely read a King novel about a space plumber.

[Pop Trash]

I remember liking the movie Misery more than the book. The book had these weird digressions/story-within-a-story passages about some African tribe and their bees (I might be remembering that wrong; its been years) that I didn't get at all. Plus I thought the sledgehammer was even more fucked up. Somehow a clean axe wound slicing off your feet seems a slight bit better than your bones being shattered into a million pieces.

[Dead & Messed Up]

I remember liking the movie Misery more than the book. The book had these weird digressions/story-within-a-story passages about some African tribe and their bees (I might be remembering that wrong; its been years) that I didn't get at all. Plus I thought the sledgehammer was even more fucked up. Somehow a clean axe wound slicing off your feet seems a slight bit better than your bones being shattered into a million pieces.

And it's kind of Hitchcockian, in that you only see the sledgehammer impact one foot, and briefly at that. The rest is dreadful, dreadful insinuation, followed by Bates's demented "God I love you."

[Neclord]

So what the bloody hell happened to Rob Reiner? I didn't even remember he directed Misery, and he sure doesn't seem like the guy who would anymore.

[Dead & Messed Up]

So what the bloody hell happened to Rob Reiner? I didn't even remember he directed Misery, and he sure doesn't seem like the guy who would anymore.

He had a real dexterity in his career for a while. Princess Bride, this, A Few Good Men.

[MadMan]

Rob Reiner for some reason or another let his career go to shit after the 1990s. Too bad, really.

[Dead & Messed Up]

6. The Dead Zone
(David Cronenberg, 1983)

He was alone now, walking down this gloomy and deserted hall of shadows. And it began to seem to him that it wasn't an illusion or a mirage or a dream - at least not of the ordinary kind.

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The Long and Short of It

Johnny Smith (Christopher Walken) just woke up from a coma, and things have changed. Not only because he lost five years, and not only because his girlfriend (Brooke Adams) married someone else...but because, now, Johnny can see the future.

Adaptation Decay

Significant but Honorable. Compacting King's novel forces some severe cuts, but Cronenberg and scripter Jeffrey Boam make it work. For example, Johnny Smith originally showed some precognitive power as a young man, during a game of ice hockey. In the film, this is scrapped and reworked into a later premonition when Johnny warns one of his students of an impending hockey disaster: "The ice...is gonna break!" The book moves Johnny to Phoenix for the ending, while the movie keeps everything in Maine and squeezes Johnny's love, Sarah Bracknell, into the climax. There are other changes, but the most interesting is that Greg Stillson (Martin Sheen) is withheld, appearing over an hour into the film. King showed Stillson early and often in the novel, but the film keeps him out of view, which has the intriguing effect of making him more obstacle than villain, the last of a series of threshold guardians; in the film, Johnny's real enemy is his power.


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Forget All That - How’s the Movie?

Gradually affecting. King's Johnny Smith was a regular, all-American man, and this film was made in the days of The Deer Hunter and Brainstorm, when Christopher Walken could unironically play a hero. Walken's outbursts are predictably satisfying, given his cadence, but it's when Johnny's withdrawn and lonely that the film finds its soul. Most of the other actors key off that tone, while Martin Sheen rightly overplays Stillson as a self-deifying nightmare; in a smart parallel to Johnny, Stillson speaks of his own "visions". What makes the film work, and what makes it honor King, is that David Cronenberg lets the supernatural elements emerge instead of impose. The visions rely on staging and cutting instead of flashy effects, and the low reality of Johnny's wintry surroundings (shot expertly by Cronenberg collaborator Mark Irwin) allow the fantasy elements to feel truly otherworldly. The best King stories are sly, hinting at all the boogeymen bubbling beneath Norman Rockwell's America. The Dead Zone nails that tension.

Alright, But Is It a Good Halloween Flick?

Not really. If you're 'thonning Cronenberg, sure, but even then, this lacks the spikier, punk-rock energy of flicks like Scanners and Videodrome.

Kingwatch 2012

This is the second Stephen King film to take place in Castle Rock, which previously housed a rabid St. Bernard, and would eventually be home to four kids looking for a body, a ghostly pen-name, a supernatural dog, and an ominous shop of antiquities.

But You Know What Sucks?


6. The Mangler
(Tobe Hooper, 1995)

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Tobe Hooper's version of a story about a demonic laundry press (that's right) is as good as a story about a demonic laundry press can be, so it sucks pretty hard. A detective and his hippy friend investigate the deaths at a laundry, and meanwhile the laundry owner (Robert Englund) pervs his way from one virginal laundry worker to the next, and when they're eaten by the press, he leans on his crutches and gnashes his teeth and that's about it for him. Meanwhile, the hippy talks endlessly about an herb called Hand of Glory, and how bad it would be if the laundry machine demon ate Hand of Glory, and thank God it hasn't consumed Hand of Glory, because, and I quote, "If this thing ate some Hand of Glory, we'd be in for some profoundly shitty special effects." Sure, nobody has high expectations about a flick about a demonic laundry press (seriously), but somehow The Mangler still fails to meet those expectations. I guess that's some kind of achievement.

[MadMan]

Not really. If you're 'thonning Cronenberg, sure, but even then, this lacks the spikier, punk-rock energy of flicks like Scanners and Videodrome.I greatly prefer The Dead Zone over Scanners. Videodrome is better, but then again Videodrome is better than many things.

Somewhere in my room is my hand written review on paper for The Dead Zone. I'm usually away from a computer when I get the writing bug.

[Pop Trash]

I miss pre-irony Walken. Dude was good.

[Dukefrukem]

How badly do I need to watch The Dead Zone?

[MadMan]

How badly do I need to watch The Dead Zone?You should watch it because its a good movie. There, question answered. Next?

[Dead & Messed Up]

5. Stand By Me
(Rob Reiner, 1986)

"Maybe you'll even write about us guys if you ever get hard-up for material."
"Have to be pretty fuckin hard up." I gave him the elbow. There was another period of silence, and then he asked suddenly, "You ready for school?"

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The Long and Short of It

Gordie LaChance (Richard Dreyfuss) just learned that a childhood friend died. While visiting his hometown, he reflects on his youth. The friends he made, the adventures he had, and the challenges he faced.

Adaptation Decay

Improvement. Stephen King's novella (published in the same collection as Apt Pupil and Shawshank) was a story about the simple struggles of growing up, but he modulated that with some frightening dream sequences and a more melancholic attitude. The film retains that spirit but cuts out an aggravating story-within-the-story, a piece of debris called "Stud City" that derails the momentum. It reads like King re-discovered an old manuscript, said "Fuck it," and shoved it in. However, the film keeps "The Revenge of Lard-ass Hogan," which is equally meaningless in the larger scale of the story, but much more fun and more indicative of a preteen boy's attitude: the awfulness of adults, and the beauty of a really good barf. Minor adjustments include Castle Rock getting relocated to Oregon, and the title changing from The Body to Stand By Me. Reiner keeps everything else intact, most importantly the train imagery. The kids keep dodging it, but, like adulthood, it looms, both slow and implacable.


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Forget All That - How’s the Movie?

Quietly wonderful. Rob Reiner makes a film about children that doesn't feel condescending. The key? Letting them talk as King wrote them: the way preteen boys actually talk. They try swearing, they digress into tangents, they mix childhood interests with pubescent curiosities - they notice that Annette on The Mickey Mouse Club is really filling out her shirt these days. The four boys are beautifully acted by River Pheonix, Wil Wheaton, Corey Feldman, and Jerry O'Connell. They fully inhabit their characters. While the story leads to a stand-off with bully Ace Merrill (Kiefer Sutherland), the journey is the point. The four boys walk along the tracks, get into fights, dream big, and pick each other up after they fall. The film reminds me of days spent biking with friends, in a little town called Carroll, from one edge of town to the other, down gravel paths and along back alleys, until we got home as the sun set and as the fireflies began to play. Those were days when life was so full and invigorating that our inability to realize so was a mercy.

Alright, But Is It a Good Halloween Flick?

Nothing to see here, move along.

Kingwatch 2012

As mentioned above, the kids' hometown of Castle Rock was moved to Oregon, which takes away any associations with other Castle Rock stories. The closest reference to King or King's other works is that the main character is a writer, and King's hinted in interviews past that this is one of his more autobiographical stories. Of course, all stories are autobiographical in some ways...

But You Know What Sucks?


5. Dreamcatcher
(Lawrence Kasdan, 2003)

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King wrote Dreamcatcher after a car hit and nearly killed him in 1999. It was great therapy for him, but the novel lingered so much on suffering that he wanted to title it Cancer. The movie is true to the book in terms of incident, but with less room to build, the whole thing just feels goofy. The first time I saw Dreamcatcher, I deluded myself into liking it, on account of the remarkable talent involved. Jason Lee, Timothy Olyphant, Damian Lewis, and Thomas Jane as the heroes? Lawrence Kasdan supervising? How can you lose? By ending the first act with one hero getting his face chomped off by an alien "shit-weasel" that just jumped out of a toilet. The sheer volume of incident in Dreamcatcher is a big problem (a helicopter/rifle face-off is both ridiculous and weightless), but the biggest problem is how abruptly the flick switches from drama into sci-fi weirdness. A flashback reminiscent of Stand By Me ends with a mentally challenged kid gifting the four heroes with psychic powers. Oh, and the mentally challenged kid is really an alien sleeper agent, deep undercover. Go home, movie. You're drunk.

[D_Davis]

Dreamcatcher is a fantastic novel that simply doesn't work as a movie. Never should have even been attempted. It's a perfect example of something that is great on paper and in the imagination, but absolutely rubbish on screen. Still can't believe he penned that ~1000 page novel by hand, while propped up on one elbow, in bed. Crazy.

I hope they never make Insomnia into a movie, because I think it would suffer the same fate. I mean, old dudes doing psychic kung fu against demonic midget surgeons is awesome in my imagination, but on screen....probably not so much.

[Dead & Messed Up]

I hope they never make Insomnia into a movie, because I think it would suffer the same fate. I mean, old dudes doing psychic kung fu against demonic midget surgeons is awesome in my imagination, but on screen....probably not so much.

Also, those "lifeline" ribbons that change color.

I didn't love Insomnia, but imagination was not something it lacked.

[D_Davis]

Also, those "lifeline" ribbons that change color.

I didn't love Insomnia, but imagination was not something it lacked.

Yeah - I do love the novel, mainly because it's so imaginative and really weird.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Yeah - I do love the novel, mainly because it's so imaginative and really weird.

I know. Tsui Hark.

;)

[D_Davis]

I know. Tsui Hark.

;)

Now he could probably make it work. :)

[Skitch]

Insomnia may be my favorite novel from him, and yes, it doesn't seem like it would be possible to produce as a film. That being said, I would really like to see somebody try, preferably Frank Darabont, as I think he is the best at really nailing a King story.

Which reminds me, I heard his next project was a film version of The Long Walk (my absolute favorite King story). I haven't heard anything in a while. I should investigate...

[D_Davis]

There are a surprising number of Insomnia lovers on MC; I love that, seeing as how the book is so often dismissed.

[MadMan]

Stand By Me is a wonderful movie with a great cast. Its due for a rewatch, though.

[Skitch]

Its a ten, sir.

[Pop Trash]

The best thing Reiner did with Stand by Me was leave King's R-rated salty dialogue intact. That's some beautifully written teen language there. I'd seriously put it up with Catcher in the Rye.

That said, I might like the movie just a tiny bit more simply because of Phoenix. His later death makes the whole thing oddly prophetic and much more heartbreaking.

"I'll see you." "Not if I see you first."

[MadMan]

I just read Graveyard Shift, and it was a creepy and quite strange short story. I doubtful that the movie improved upon it, and they probably threw in a bunch of other stuff to flesh it out into a full length movie. I'll still give it a chance, but my expectations are low.

[EvilShoe]

Dreamcatcher, the last book of King I ever read.

Didn't care for it at all. Too reminiscent of earlier work, too silly.

I too deluded myself into thinking the movie was brilliant for a while. Told people it was ahead of its time, and would one day get praised as the new The Thing.

It's no good.

[Dead & Messed Up]

4. The Green Mile
(Frank Darabont, 1999)

Cold night air...blew down into our faces. A swirl of dead leaves came with it, and John Coffey caught one of them with his free hand. I will never forget the way he looked at it, or how he crumpled it beneath his broad, handsome nose so it would release its smell.

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The Long and Short of It

Paul Edgecomb (Tom Hanks) runs a smooth operation as the officer in charge of a death row prison in 1940's Louisiana. However, the arrival of a new prisoner named John Coffey (Michael Clarke Duncan) upends his entire life. This inmate is not only innocent...he might even be miraculous.

Adaptation Decay

Damn Near Flawless. King's original novel was released in serial form, with six volumes that featured modern-day bookends to ease in new readers. The only significant excision for the film is the loss of those intermediate wraparounds, needless now that the story's a single volume. That means that Frank Darabont doesn't include a sleazy retirement home worker that reminds Edgecomb of Percy Wetmore (Doug Hutchison). I assume it's due to the cult veneration of Darabont's The Shawshank Redemption that he was allowed license to make The Green Mile a bladder-busting three-hour event. With the extra time, Darabont honors King's juvenile sense of humor, his increasing sense of whimsy, and, most importantly, his eye for human behavior. This film includes coulda-been-dropped scenes like Wharton pranking the guards, or Percy Wetmore emptying out a closet in pursuit of a mouse. However, it's because of those sharply observed scenes that we can believe in the magic.


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Forget All That - How’s the Movie?

I've noticed I often speak of casting when I'm praising these movies. I think that's because Stephen King's best works are founded so completely on his skill at character. The Green Mile is full of Darabont's craft, and who knows, we might hear more about his skills later. But I have to point out that this is an insanely good cast that perfectly matches the material. Tom Hanks grounds the flick with his effortless leading-man skills, but character actors like Jeffrey DeMunn, James Cromwell, Bonnie Hunt, Barry Pepper, Patricia Clarkson, Sam Rockwell, and Doug Hutchison embody their roles. As for the late Michael Clarke Duncan, who died earlier this year, there is no other actor that could've done what he did. None. His John Coffey is a wellspring of emotion, a man so earnestly felt that the term "magic negro" floats away almost immediately; it doesn't hurt that he's more a source of misery and doubt than a source of white empowerment. I'm still convinced that Duncan was robbed of an Oscar for this role. The little statue instead went to Michael Caine for a performance no one remembers in a film no one remembers. Screw you, Alfred.

Alright, But Is It a Good Halloween Flick?

Nope. Once again, King, you've screwed us by inspiring a superior motion picture that has nothing to do with vampires or ghosts. Dammit man, you can't abandon us like this!

Kingwatch 2012

Like most of the "classy" King movies, this one exists on its own terms, and King is nowhere to be seen.

But You Know What Sucks?


4. Children of the Corn
(Fritz Kierstch, 1984)

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Children of the Corn is an unholy mess, its single redeeming factor an ironically awesome red-headed villain who constantly shouts, "Outlandaaaah! Outlandaaah! We have your woman! Outlandaaaah!" That's pretty funny, but like Maximum Overdrive, it's a couple minutes of awesome stuck inside dull, dull dull, dull dullery. The flick's nothing more than an extended chase sequence between an out-of-town couple and a community theater cast of Lord of the Flies. The kids chase, the adults flee, the kids chase, the adults flee and then there's eventually a confrontation between the kids, the adults, and, unless I'm mistaken, the evil pollution monster from Ferngully. The ending of the film is a brain-dead wrap-up with the heroes flashing the type of idiot smiles reserved for cows and local political candidates. What a relief to know that this ghost town full of dead parents and homicidal children hasn't dampened their spirits in any way.

Memorably spoofed in the South Park episode "The Wacky Molestation Adventure."

rJ-CQ8OSivY

[MadMan]

Children of the Corn is awesome, goddamnit. DaMU must have had a bad experience with gingers :P

My review, btw (you'll have to scroll down): http://madman731.blogspot.com/2012/04/down-dark-alley-horrorfest-80s-style.html

And I'll be reading the short story soon enough, but unfortunately I had the ending of that spoiled for me. I haven't seen the South Park spoof, but I imagine its hilarious.

[Dead & Messed Up]

3. The Shining
(Stanley Kubrick, 1980)

Dear God, I am not a son of a bitch. Please.

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The Long and Short of It

Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson), his wife Wendy (Shelley Duvall), and their son Danny (Danny Lloyd) are now stewards of the enormous Overlook Hotel. Snowbound for months, with little to do, it makes sense that they might go a little stir-crazy...

Adaptation Decay

Controversariffic. Stanley Kubrick adheres to the overall premise of King's book, but he upends much of the tone. King's book was a thinly-disguised look at his own struggles with alcoholism, and the book gives off a heartfelt quality. Kubrick has no time for such things. In the con column, his version of Wendy Torrance is more passive and abused, and his version of Danny is too mannered a performance, and significantly overshadowed by Jack Nicholson's work as Jack Torrance, which is either totemic or too much too fast. In the plus column? The novel goes for a happy ending, while the movie adds a disturbing, eerie coda. Additionally, the novel assumes what's happening is real, while Kubrick's treatment adds a healthy splash of unreality. Finally, Kubrick ditches King's hedge monsters and opts for a hedge maze, which smartly parallels the ominous hotel hallways. It ultimately comes down to preference.


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Forget All That - How’s the Movie?

Taken on its own, The Shining is an iconic entry in the horror canon, unforgettable images cascading from it like so much blood from an elevator. The dog-man. The twins. The woman in the bathtub. Jack grinning through a broken door. Remember how the shots are always perfectly centered, and how often they tunnel into the frame? How Kubrick's 4:3 aspect ratio literally boxes the people in? Or the sound of Danny's trike whirrrrring on carpet and thunking on wood floor? In a way, the film plays like a horrific version of 2001, so confident and ambiguous that that it pulls you into its mysteries. Indeed, the film's so ambiguous that a new documentary called Room 237 features five different ideas about just what in the hell the film's saying. The first time I saw the film, ten years ago, I disliked its deviations from King's work, but my respect has grown, both begrudgingly and respectfully (it helps to see more of Kubrick's films). Over the years, it's become clear to me that Kubrick's film, while a somewhat dishonest adaptation, vibrates with its own peculiar energy. Taken together, the two works bristle; they feel irreconcilable. Separated, they're fantastic.

Alright, But Is It a Good Halloween Flick?

Only if you like things that are scary.

Kingwatch 2012

No coy intrusions, but the original novel came from a very honest place. King did take a job like this, he did battle with alcoholism (it expanded in the eighties to drug use), and he did injure his son, although not to the degree Torrance hurt his child prior to visiting the Overlook. The book is both a work of serious horror and a quiet confession.

But You Know What Sucks?


3. The Langoliers
(Tom Holland, 1995)

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sGNJhODwuEA/UItJ57QCsdI/AAAAAAAABgU/jlXvBOIoNHM/s1600/Langoliers+Stefon.jpg
(for maximum effect, please read in Stefon's voice)

If you're in the mood for good family fun, look no further - Stephen King's hottest new story is called The Langoliers. Filmed on a dare by peeping Dutchman Tom Holland, this movie has everything! Missing pilots, northern lights, blind psychic girls, buzzsaw Pac-men, and is that a jacked-up homeless man on the tarmac? No, it's Bronson Pinchot, and he's late for a business meeting!


http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FnvUt1ZhFMI/UItL2jyUrpI/AAAAAAAABgc/RXeYI7K8vh4/s1600/The+Langoliers+Monsters.jpg
(okay, back to normal)

This TV movie exposes the problem with Stephen King's less successful sci-fi tales: King is an intuitive writer, and he doesn't jive with heavily plotted stories. With something simple like The Mist or "The Jaunt," he's in good shape. With The Langoliers? Hoo boyah. Holland's film is a disaster, with its floodlit non-atmosphere, its bizarrely chipper cast, and its awful CG effects, but it's not like he botched Hamlet. Besides, I have questions, dammit. Why does this rip only take sleeping passengers? If the people are walking around on a past day, isn't it the present to them? Why would the universe shed human days? Isn't that a little arrogant of certain Earthbound authors? The plot in The Langoliers is so difficult to sort out that King basically writes himself into the story as mystery author Bob Jenkins. It's on Jenkins to mumble vague crap like "Now we know what happens to yesterday!" Forget yesterday. I wanna know what happened to the last three hours. Because I could've sworn I saw Balki outracing flying turds.

[MadMan]

I'll never be able to explain why I liked The Langoliers. ** 1/2 out of **** is about right to me.

That said, I love The Shinning. I've never seen the TV movie, or read the book, but I'll get around to those sooner rather than later.

[Gizmo]

I liked The Langoliers the book, one of the few King's I've read, but the movie was pretty bad.

Madman, you really haven't seen The Shining? You should.

[megladon8]

Similar to you, DaMU, The Shining is a film that took a few viewings for me to fully appreciate.

That being said, I have never found it frightening.

It's one that Jen and I have literally spent hours discussing and dissecting, trying to figure out what things mean, what was real, and how it all worked.

It's a fascinating film and one of Kubrick's best.

[Winston*]

Watched The Shining at a packed cinema showing a couple of months ago. Wasn't a fan before, but seeing it on the big screen, and particularly with theatre sound, you can't help but be impressed.

Don't think its given enough credit for how funny it is. Jack Nicholson's performance is hilarious.

[Pop Trash]

I loved "The Langoliers" story, but yeah, the TV adaptation was horrid. I chalked up DAMUs complaints about the logic to it being just a Twilight Zone/Donnie Darko situation that has no logic.

[Irish]

As for the late Michael Clarke Duncan, who died earlier this year, there is no other actor that could've done what he did. None. His John Coffey is a wellspring of emotion, a man so earnestly felt that the term "magic negro" floats away almost immediately; it doesn't hurt that he's more a source of misery and doubt than a source of white empowerment.

I liked the write up, agreed with what you said about the cast, but choked a bit on this.

I'm almost posititive it was this movie (and Baggar Vance) that caused Spike Lee to start throwing around the term "magic negro" in popular media.

I have not seen the film in years, but afaik there are no other significant black characters, and John Coffe spends all of his time helping white people. Doesn't the entire plot climax revolve around Coffe healing the warden's wife or something?

Duncan was great in it, but in no way does his performance eliminate or even minimize the larger implications of that character.

[megladon8]

Spike Lee is a tool.

[Derek]

And yet he makes a very valid point.

[Pop Trash]

Its been years since I've seen it, but I think The Green Mile is way too high on this list.

[Dead & Messed Up]

I liked the write up, agreed with what you said about the cast, but choked a bit on this.

I'm almost posititive it was this movie (and Baggar Vance) that caused Spike Lee to start throwing around the term "magic negro" in popular media.

I have not seen the film in years, but afaik there are no other significant black characters, and John Coffe spends all of his time helping white people. Doesn't the entire plot climax revolve around Coffe healing the warden's wife or something?

Duncan was great in it, but in no way does his performance eliminate or even minimize the larger implications of that character.

Yeah, this was one of the films that set Spike Lee off, and I can understand why he'd be upset. And you're right that

the film leads up to him healing the warden's sickly wife.

As to my point about how his power isn't really all that joyous a thing.

His power is seen as a good thing, but he sees it as a terrible thing - a way for him to feel and experience an almost endless amount of pain and suffering, "like glass in my head." And when he accidentally gifts Edgecomb with the power of his vision (so Edgecomb can see Wharton murder the girls), it ends up being an awful curse that gives him a prolonged life of watching all his friends die.

This doesn't invalidate the charge that he's a magic negro, but I think it adds enough nuance that the trope doesn't feel offensive, and, as mentioned, it also helps that Duncan does such a good job with the role. He feels like a living, breathing person, and not a device.

[MadMan]

Madman, you really haven't seen The Shining? You should.I've only seen the Kubrick version, not the TV version that aired on ABC in the 90s.

The term "Magical Negro" is a bit tired and overused. We don't go with "Magical White Person," for the record.

[Gizmo]

Ah, missed the word TV in there originally. I think I've seen parts of that one, but definitely not all.

[Winston*]

We don't go with "Magical White Person," for the record.

Good point.

[Derek]

Good point.

It's about time someone stated it for the record.

[MadMan]

http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_luybajEfvf1qmozq4o1_500 .gif

[EvilShoe]

I don't see how the #1 worst can be anything but Trucks.

[D_Davis]

I liked the write up, agreed with what you said about the cast, but choked a bit on this.

I'm almost posititive it was this movie (and Baggar Vance) that caused Spike Lee to start throwing around the term "magic negro" in popular media.

I have not seen the film in years, but afaik there are no other significant black characters, and John Coffe spends all of his time helping white people. Doesn't the entire plot climax revolve around Coffe healing the warden's wife or something?

Duncan was great in it, but in no way does his performance eliminate or even minimize the larger implications of that character.

King relies heavily on the magical negro archetype - see also The Talisman and The Stand.

I think it's a staple in the traditions of pulp horror, a vestigial of the fear of the other trope/convention used in the pages of Weird Tales et al.

[Dead & Messed Up]

I don't see how the #1 worst can be anything but Trucks.

Halfway through the month, I learned this film existed, and I couldn't find any method of finding the film. I'll have to settle for seeing 53 of the 54 Stephen King film/TV adaptations inflicted upon the viewing public.

[Dead & Messed Up]

King relies heavily on the magical negro archetype - see also The Talisman and The Stand.

And Hallorann in The Shining.

To his credit, I think he creates plausible and compelling black characters with Mike Hanlon in It and Susannah Dean in The Dark Tower.

[Dead & Messed Up]

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wdB7ZoytJdM/UItia6zwWUI/AAAAAAAABhU/mDBBEsQoEa0/s1600/Shawshank+Redemption+Clancy+Br own+Tim+Robbins.jpg

2. The Shawshank Redemption
(Frank Darabont, 1994)

...somehow that graymeat son of a bitch managed to bring in something else as well. A sense of his own worth, maybe, or a feeling that he would be the winner in the end...

The Long and Short of It

Ellis "Red" Redding (Morgan Freeman) resides in Shawshank Prison with a small clutch of friends. He's found a way to survive - by becoming a salesman who works both the prisoners and the guards. One day, a new inmate named Andy (Tim Robbins) asks Red to get him a rock hammer.

Adaptation Decay

Improvement. King's collection of novellas called Different Seasons was a watershed for King, demonstrating his ability to shift outside the horror genre. Apt Pupil was more thriller than horror, The Body was a coming-of-age memoir, and The Shawshank Redemption was the most dramatic departure. It's a hopeful story about a prison inmate named Andy Dufresne, who battles the prison system despite his double life-sentence and the "fresh fish" bullseye on his back. The film takes the story, revises, consolidates, and emerges as a stronger piece of work. In the film, there's only one warden instead of a shifting roster, and, played by Bob Gunton, he devolves as Andy inspires the men around him. In the film, Andy's protege Tommy (Gil Bellows) is shot, but in the novella, he's transferred to another prison. The biggest change is that "Red" was written as an Irishman and is played by Morgan Freeman (who lampshades the switch with a joke early on). This would start Mr. Freeman on a long, rewarding career of narrating the lives of really super white guys.


http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-76hLsRI5FcY/UItibZc5u8I/AAAAAAAABhc/FEFkXvFXvPM/s1600/Shawshank+Redemption+Morgan+Fr eeman.jpg

Forget All That - How’s the Movie?

A modern classic. Its appeal lies, I think, in its effortless storytelling and its unwavering hope. We see the system beat up Andy, we see how Andy learns the weaknesses of the system, and, at the film's conclusion, we see him beat that system. It's easy, classic, satisfying. Darabont finds ways to make his craft support the story dynamics. An example: one scene features Andy nearly tossed over a roof, the camera high above, emphasizing how far he could fall, but as he explains himself to a guard (Clancy Brown), the camera dips down until it sees Andy eye-to-eye, just as the guard starts to see him that way. As to the "hope," I've heard complaints over the years that the film whitewashes prison. I suspect this has less to do with the events of the movie and more the tone. After all, Andy suffers rape and solitary confinement with some regularity. But the film is presented - through music, through Freeman's nostalgia, through the lighting - as a positive story. This film believes in the hope of its premise. This may be a naive belief, one not necessarily suited to reality. But I think that's the power of great stories: their ability to bend the rules so we can be renewed and rejuvenated, be it through screams or laughter or tears. The Shawshank Redemption is one of those stories.

Alright, But Is It a Good Halloween Flick?

No, but it's a good any-other-damn-time-of-the-year flick.

Kingwatch 2012

Although there's no sign of King directly, Shawshank Prison is a location he mentions in passing in many other books, and, in a detail I forgot earlier in the month, Dolores Claiborne threatens her husband with the prospect of a one-way ticket to the 'shank.

But You Know What Sucks?


2. Graveyard Shift
(Ralph Singleton, 1990)

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kkWeNS8oKh8/UItlCcvczcI/AAAAAAAABiE/WP4sUD0rO9g/s1600/Graveyard+Shift+-+Brad+Dourif.jpg

Were it not for Brad Dourif, this would be number one, and given that it's still only number two, you may have some idea of how little he's given to work with. Graveyard Shift plunks him on the sidelines and focuses on the "heroes," who are less interesting than the giant mutant rats they have to fight. Another one of King's short stories that functions best as a quick sick joke, Graveyard Shift might be an easy film to hate, but, like most of the truly bad movies I've mentioned, its biggest crime is that it's deathly boring. David Andrews is a dull hero, Kelly Wolf is a non-written heroine, foreman Stephen Macht lacks the balls-out weirdness of Robert Englund in The Mangler, and the rats? They may be inspired by Lovecraft, maybe inspired by Stoker, but that doesn't make them inspired. The flick adds a giant flying rat. Or maybe it's just a big bat. Let's check in with Brad Dourif. What? Fell down a sinkhole and died? That's a shame.

[Watashi]

And Hallorann in The Shining.

To his credit, I think he creates plausible and compelling black characters with Mike Hanlon in It and Susannah Dean in The Dark Tower.
Don't forget Shawshank.

The Green Mile is one of the few films that absolutely destroys me. I love it very much, primarily for Duncan's performance.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Don't forget Shawshank.

That was incidental. King's character was Irish, not black.

[Watashi]

What did you think of The Majestic, DaMU? I haven't seen it since its release, but I admired it as a Capra-lite exercise. I always thought it was a King adaptation for the longest time.

[Dead & Messed Up]

What did you think of The Majestic, DaMU? I haven't seen it since it's release, but I admired it as a Capra-lite exercise. I always thought it was a King adaptation for the longest time.

I think it's more cloying than Darabont's other works, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. I thought Carrey did a good job, I loved the supporters, I liked how naked Darabont was about the Capra flavor. It kind of completes a loose trilogy of salvation-through-cinema for the D, with Andy watching Gilda and getting an idea, Coffey watching Top Hat and finding peace, and Peter realizing the truth during Sand Pirates. The projector is powerful.

[D_Davis]

And Hallorann in The Shining.

To his credit, I think he creates plausible and compelling black characters with Mike Hanlon in It and Susannah Dean in The Dark Tower.

For sure. And even his use of archetypes is well done.

[D_Davis]

I get the sense that King uses the magical negro as a piece of American mythology, and do not pick up any kind of overt or subdued, misguided racial connotations. The archetype is an interesting part of American mythology, and one that can definitely be troubling if used poorly. Remember the hoopla over the trailer for that recent Disney cartoon with the negro firefly? Or how about The Song of the South? There's a thin line between archetype and negative stereotype, and usually King is on the good side. And with Susannah from the DT, King used the character in a very interesting way - her split personality was the embodiment of the negative stereotype, of how she thought white people saw and heard her. She became the negative stereotype, and King used this for some interesting character building.

[Irish]

This doesn't invalidate the charge that he's a magic negro, but I think it adds enough nuance that the trope doesn't feel offensive, and, as mentioned, it also helps that Duncan does such a good job with the role. He feels like a living, breathing person, and not a device.

True. Similar to you, I've felt that the casts make these movies. Darabont and Reiner both lucked into great actors that elevated the material.

I'm not sure you can get away from the offensiveness, or at least the sheer stupidity, of the trope, though, no matter caster or other considerations.

It's not offensive because Coffeey is an Uncle Tom/ Jim Crow type. It's offensive because it's so competely condescending, and that's baked into both the character and the plot.


I think it's a staple in the traditions of pulp horror, a vestigial of the fear of the other trope/convention used in the pages of Weird Tales et al.

Great insight, although I think it's an odd thig to do this is a big book published in 1996.

I also think this my have been the kind of thing Lee was beefing about with Bamboozled.

[Irish]

I get the sense that King uses the magical negro as a piece of American mythology, and do not pick up any kind of overt or subdued, misguided racial connotations. The archetype is an interesting part of American mythology, and one that can definitely be troubling if used poorly. Remember the hoopla over the trailer for that recent Disney cartoon with the negro firefly? Or how about The Song of the South? There's a thin line between archetype and negative stereotype, and usually King is on the good side.

This sounds like you're conflating Jim Crow and Uncle Tom with "magical negro" and they're three different things (?).

Without going to far afield in a horror thread, I don't think there's anybody alive who could invoke a "magical negro" character and not have it play offensively, at least on some level.

Maybe Dave Chapelle. He could pull it off.

[Irish]

Re - Shawshank

Great movie. But I liked the original title better, and the way the novella puts more emphasis on the poster so that when the reveal comes, it has more impact. And I loved the more ambiguous ending, because it plays right into the book's main themes (understandable, though, that there was no way for the to end the movie that way).

The movie, from memory, does one thing better -- the subtext around Brooks and that line about becoming an "institutional man." The idea that where you spend your time, and with whom, effects, changes, and limits the kind of person you will be. I don't think many people realize that on a fundamental level, and the movie plays out a story-within-story to illustrate the idea beautifully.

[D_Davis]

I think it's an odd thig to do this is a big book published in 1996.


I don't think so. Archetypes and stereotypes have their purpose, especially in genre fiction; no different than a Chinese dude knowing kung fu, or an Italian mobster. I'd be interested in seeing a black author take the magical negro archetype and create something around it.

[D_Davis]

This sounds like you're conflating Jim Crow and Uncle Tom with "magical negro" and they're three different things (?).


I was just using various black stereotypes in genre as examples.

[Irish]

I don't think so. Archetypes and stereotypes have their purpose, especially in genre fiction; no different than a Chinese dude knowing kung fu, or an Italian mobster. I'd be interested in seeing a black author take the magical negro archetype and create something around it.

I was just using various black stereotypes in genre as examples.

I think the difference there is that those stereotypes (Italian gangster, Chinese kung fu master) work as a kind of lazy shorthand, and may or may not have direct bearing on the plot. They also don't tend to contain a lot of subtext.

The "magical negro" is tied heavily to the story being told, and has large implications about how white America relates black culture. It's just as ignorant and lazy as the other stereotypes, but also more troubling and more nefarious, mostly because the depiction isn't a completely negative one (see also: Powerful Female Characters(tm)).

[Winston*]

I'd be interested in seeing a black author take the magical negro archetype and create something around it.

Watch this:

http://vimeo.com/39116336

[Winston*]

Chinese kung fu master. They also don't tend to contain a lot of subtext.

Really?

[D_Davis]

Watch this:

http://vimeo.com/39116336

That is fantastic!

[Spun Lepton]

Halfway through the month, I learned this film existed, and I couldn't find any method of finding the film. I'll have to settle for seeing 53 of the 54 Stephen King film/TV adaptations inflicted upon the viewing public.

It's available on Amazon Instant for rental. If you're a masochist.

[Dead & Messed Up]

It's available on Amazon Instant for rental. If you're a masochist.

I'mma pass. Some other time.

[Morris Schæffer]

Still no The Running Man. Could it be #1? :lol: I'm trying to think what else is left of the great ones.

[MadMan]

I just read the short story Graveyard Shift, and after reading it I realized there's very little chance of the adaption being any good whatsoever. Maybe I'll watch it for the LOL factor.

The Shawshank Redemption is a great film. I don't really have much else to say about it beyond what's been said. I'm wondering what your #1 is going to be.

[EvilShoe]

Halfway through the month, I learned this film existed, and I couldn't find any method of finding the film. I'll have to settle for seeing 53 of the 54 Stephen King film/TV adaptations inflicted upon the viewing public.
It's for completists only. There are absolutely no redeeming aspects to it whatsoever. Not even so bad it's good, just neutered made-for-TV dreck. It does make Maximum Overdrive look better in comparison, though.

[KK2.0]

I got an urge to rewatch The Shining now, i've only seen it once and i was conflicted, but like Damu said, Kubrick's films often give you different things from every time you watch them.

[MadMan]

The Mist was fantastic. And really bleak. Someday I'll view it in black and white, but I didn't have a problem with seeing it in color. The cast is superb, and there are both creepy and disturbing moments. Also I think its funny that three actors who ended up starring in The Walking Dead popped up in this film, with two of them being main characters.

I'd like to read the story, now, and I'm sure I will at some point. A shout out goes to William Saddler, who I'm glad to see is still finding work. He's one of my favorite B-movie style actors.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Jesus watches from the wall
But his face is cold as stone
And if he loves me - as she tells me -
Why do I feel so alone?

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HBb7G2h-oDE/UItkbf96ZnI/AAAAAAAABhs/pvqNizOEL_M/s1600/Carrie+Betty+Buckley.jpg

1. Carrie
(Brian De Palma, 1976)

The Long and Short of It

Carrietta White (Sissy Spacek) struggles through school, constantly taunted by her classmates, unable to express herself due to a domineering mother (Piper Laurie). Even if she really did have telekinesis, who could she tell? Who would believe her?

Adaptation Decay

Honorable. The biggest switchup from page to screen is the loss of Carrie's terrific destruction of her entire town - in the movie, her reign of terror is mostly limited to the high school. I have no problem with that. The book constantly refers to papers, interviews, and anecdotes surrounding the Carrie White "incident" - the movie strips out those journalistic asides and focuses on Carrie. I have no problem with that. The book makes Carrie out to be a frumpy, homely sort that almost invites the insults thrown her way - the movie makes her somewhat attractive and plays up her pariah status as a side-effect of her mother's uber-Christian upbringing. I have no problem with that. A few of these changes are deeper than cosmetic alteration, but none of them dilute the vivid core of the story: a powerful outcast whose revenge is as inevitable as the torment she suffers.


http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-E8kue6lS_qg/UItkatT1UBI/AAAAAAAABhk/GuTSzMBJt2U/s1600/Carrie+Amy+Irving.jpg

Forget All That - How’s the Movie?

One of the most horrifying moments in all of cinema is right before the bucket falls. When we see Carrie reduced to tears, realizing that all it could take to stop the pain of living her life is a single helping hand. When we see Sue (Amy Irving) watch in mounting horror, realizing that all it could take to ruin Carrie forever is a firm grip on a rope. At that moment, both of them lack knowledge the viewer has. Carrie doesn't know about the bucket, but we do. Sue doesn't know about the power. We do. The approaching death and destruction horrifies, shot with a flamboyant sense of technique by De Palma that matches the barely-contained energy of King's lightning-in-a-bottle debut. The kaleidoscope of mocking faces, the split-screens that allow us to witness Carrie's revenge without ever leaving her face. This is all superb, terrifying stuff. But what sinks my stomach and leaves me emotional is right before the bucket falls. When, for a brief moment in time, Carrietta White had a chance. Great horror is great tragedy. Carrie is one of the greats.


http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8ZhWpK5jgGQ/UItkcmLycGI/AAAAAAAABh8/kPWEO8vo5NU/s1600/Carrie+Sissy+Spacek.jpg

Alright, But Is It a Good Halloween Flick?

Oh yeah. Oh hell yeah. Carrie's also become a big hit during high school dance seasons.

Kingwatch 2012

Nothing this time. King's first novel, King's first feature, none of the connections that would eventually suggest an entire universe of characters. Sticklers will note that De Palma gives Carrie's school the name "Bates High," and he uses Herrmann-esque strings to emphasize Carrie's power, similar to what Cronenberg used for Johnny Smith's visions.


http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-l6YUR1PqeIY/UItkb-5UkwI/AAAAAAAABh0/1leltYNibHQ/s1600/Carrie+Bucket+Blood.jpg

But You Know What Sucks?


1. Children of the Corn (TV)
(Donald P. Borchers, 2009)

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UiIRaHQjkW4/UItiHciZQdI/AAAAAAAABhE/N6B2HphCS78/s1600/Children+of+the+Corn+Remake.jp g

Oh Lord. This unrated version of a Syfy TV movie is awful in profound ways. Awful in its style, given to speed-zooms. Awful in its acting, with nine-year-old Preston Bailey mumbling awkward line readings under a ridiculous hat. Awkward in its story, which includes some Vietnam flashbacks, because why not? All this is awful, but the film gets the lowest spot for a wildly misconceived sequence in which the children gather to watch two eighteen-year-olds have sex. As the bodies slap against each other, the kids shake corncobs up and down (think about it) and shout encouragement, and it all feels disgusting. I believe that horror shouldn't limit itself, but I also believe that it's best to find reasons to break taboo and go far. Movies like The Toxic Avenger and Dead/Alive find a way to go so far they loop back into triumphant comedy. Movies like Audition and Martyrs mitigate their excesses with sharp craft and meaningful context. It's possible that the scene in question could work in a different kind of film. But it does not work here. Children of the Corn does absolutely nothing to earn its exploitation, and I find that reprehensible.

[MadMan]

I'm watching Carrie right now, and so far its a great adaption of a fantastic and utterly terrifying novel. The book, as I noted after reading it months ago, is a shocking and unflinching portrait of religious fundamentalism mixed together with the horrible intolerance of young people driven by awful group mentality.

The worst part of both the movie and the book though is that goddamn prayer closet. WTF, man.

I actually anticipate the forthcoming 2013 remake, just for the cast alone.

[Grouchy]

I'm sorry if it was mentioned earlier in the thread and I missed it, but how do you feel about Apt Pupil?

GREAT reading, although I've never been able to understand what is it that people find awesome about Shawshank Redemption. Spent my childhood watching that movie on TV all the time and it never seemed more than OK to me.

[MadMan]

I actually prefer The Mist slightly over The Shawshank Redemption when it comes to King adaptions. And based on what I've seen tonight, I think that DaMU might be right about Carrie being better than both of those.

Which brings me to the fact that all 70s horror movies have a requirement where nice people have truly awful and nasty things happen to them. I know that many horror movies follow this formula, but 90% of the 70s horror films are really brutal in following through with that. Modern day 2000s horror seems to have brought that back, with mixed results.

[Irish]

Great pick for #1.

Interesting that you focused on the bucket, at least for me.

I watched this movie once with a roommate who was a phlebotomist -- he spent all day working with blood. When the bucket came down, he said, "Pfft! I hope those highschool kids put anti-coagulant in there."

And now, many years later, whenever I see this movie, or a still from that scene, I can't help but think about that. It's totally trivial, but it takes me out of the movie every time.