10. Creepshow (1982)
There’s a special vibe when you crack open an EC Comic like Tales from the Crypt or Vault of Horror. It’s a naughty act of rebellion, preciously celebrated by children who went out of their way to hide their reading from their decency-obsessed parents. Simply stashing these comics under your mattress or in your sock drawer would not do. There, they could be discovered. Instead, you had to probe further into the nooks and crannies of your bedroom, into the tight spots where your folks wouldn’t dare to consider.
George Romero and Stephen King would understand. Their Creepshow is an attempt to replicate that dangerous, psychotic energy bubbling between every EC Comics collection. The anthology film suffers as most do, some stories work better than others, but each one is a mood and delivers on its wicked sense of humor. Your dusty parents would balk at its madness and stupidity, but with every raised eyebrow and scowling dismissal, your enthusiasm for Creepshow’s perversion increases. It’s a film made for sickos, but more importantly, it’s a film designed to repel the squares. (Brad Gullickson)
9. Salem’s Lot (1979)
I’m realizing now that we neglected to include the 2004 miniseries adaptation of King’s classic vampire novel, and it’s a damn shame as that version is legit even with Rob Lowe in the lead. That said, Tobe Hooper‘s 1979 excursion into the terrifying world of King’s imagination remains a classic of televised terror. The scene where the dead boy scratches at the window still haunts my dreams, and Reggie Nalder‘s Nosferatu-inspired vampire is an unforgettable take on the creature. The story has been riffed on in other vampiric films since, but this miniseries remains one of the best in capturing the atmosphere, terror, and slowly engulfing nightmare of a small town under siege by evil. (Rob Hunter)
8. Cujo (1983)
Lewis Teague‘s adaptation of King’s dark and claustrophobic animal-attack thriller may have changed the ending — Teague pulls a reverse Frank Darabont and lightens the mood instead of ending on a devastating note — but it’s no less effective in the lead up. Dee Wallace plays a woman whose marriage is crumbling but finds something even worse when she and her son are attacked by a rabid St. Bernard. Trapped in a broken car, the heat of the sun baking the pair who are forced to keep the windows closed, desperation and terror settle in like inevitable dinner guests.
The dog is the “monster” of the film, but it’s made clear that the beast’s fate is well out of its own paws thanks to the bite of a rabid bat. It’s as much of a victim as the woman and her son, and while we cheer her efforts to protect the boy and save their lives it’s with the knowledge that poor Cujo is acting well beyond his control. The underlying terror of the film, albeit not to the degree that King’s novel takes it, is the disintegration of the family. It lacks some of the book’s punch, but the themes remain effective. Now, who do we talk to about that remake that was announced back in 2015 with the modified title C.U.J.O. – Canine Unit Joint Operations? And no, I’m not joking. (Rob Hunter)
7. Gerald’s Game (2017)
If you’re a dyed-in-the-wool horror fan, you probably feel like you’ve seen it all. After a while, the blood and guts of grisly murders can start to feel redundant. All the various ways to tear flesh from bone have been done, well, to death. But if you want to find something that truly gets under your skin, Gerald’s Game is the film to do it. If you’ve seen the movie, you know what I’m talking about. And if you haven’t, you will. But more than just delivering a sequence of show-stopping gore, Gerald’s Game is a truly chilling take on trauma.
Centering on Carla Gugino’s Jessie as she lies tied up to the bed in a remote lake house while her husband lies dead of a heart attack, the film delves into her repressed memories as her greatest fears manifest before her. Director Mike Flanagan brilliantly conveys a shifting narrative timeline and interweaves terrifying visions with realities too dark to face. Anchored by Gugino’s masterful performance, the film is gut-wrenching and enrapturing, often unfolding like a car accident that you can’t bear to watch but also can’t tear your eyes away from. On top of all that, the film is also a handy litmus test. If someone tries to tell you the ending is bad, you know not to trust their taste. (Anna Swanson)
6. The Mist (2007)
Like many who saw The Mist when it was first released, I was absolutely floored by that finale. In a sparsely sold screening, I gripped the back of the seat in front of me, shocked that a movie would cross a line we so rarely see crossed, even in a horror film. It’s a heaping helping of nihilism that we hadn’t yet become accustomed to in 2007, especially in a widely released adaptation of a Stephen King story. Frank Darabont uses King’s archetypal every-person hero to show the futility of man in the face of an unthinkable threat that felt all too real in the immediate years following 9/11.
As we watch a cloud of mist filled with horrifying monsters descend on a small town, the nihilism of the film feels all too familiar. It’s difficult not to see that wall of mist overtaking the supermarket parallel the smoke and ash that plumed on lower Manhattan during the 9/11 attacks six short years before. Through the lens of post-9/11 horror, the ending feels like an inevitability, rather than a cynical subversion of expectations. Before we could look back on this moment of cinema and scrutinize it, Thomas Jane crying in shame and rage was a startling volt of electricity on audiences in 2007. That undeniably visceral experience is why the movie has stayed with us all these years later, and why it has since become one of King’s greatest cinematic adaptations, even as the film’s effects show their age with every passing year. (Jacob Trussell)
5. The Dead Zone (1983)
“The ice is gonna break!” screams Christopher Walken’s Johnny Smith as he swings his cane across the old man’s table. It’s an explosion of rage and frustration, years of foolishly ignored prophecy erupting from his gut and out his throat. It’s a volcanic purge I hear every time I perceive some simple truth being disregarded by those around me. Climate change! Systemic racism! You idiots, please just listen to reason. David Cronenberg’s take on The Dead Zone only becomes more prescient and passionate as time races toward oblivion. Johnny can see the end in sight, and he can do something about it. He couldn’t stop Hitler before he marched on Poland, but he can eradicate Greg Stillson before his itchy presidential trigger finger drops the bomb. The Dead Zone is plump with sorrow, but you’re compelled to watch its hero rise to his death, leaving a fraction of hope for us to carry forward. (Brad Gullickson)
4. Christine (1983)
Arnie (Keith Gordon) is a nerdy kid just trying to make it through high school. He has one good friend in football star Dennis (John Stockwell), but outside of that he’s routinely picked on and his parents don’t seem to understand him. One day Arnie stumbles upon Christine, a beat-up 1958 Plymouth Fury for sale. Despite Dennis advising against it, Arnie uses all the money he has to buy the rust bucket. As Arnie begins to restore the car his life starts to change. He starts to dress like a ’50s greaser, gets a girlfriend (Alexandra Paul), and becomes a bit of a dick. Arnie is soon caught up in a game of fast and murderous and he realizes Christine is no normal car. This cult classic that pairs horror titans John Carpenter and Stephen King together is a marvel in practical effects and one of the best King adaptations to ever hit the big screen. (Chris Coffel)
3. Misery (1990)
Stephen King loves to write about being a writer, and Misery is no exception. But here, the threat is not something supernatural, but rather those who consider themselves a writer’s greatest supporters. Rob Reiner’s 1990 adaptation of a writer’s worst nightmare casts James Caan as novelist Paul Sheldon who, after a car accident, becomes the prisoner of Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates), who declares herself his number one fan. She especially loves his romance series about the character Misery Chastain but is thrown into a rage when he reveals he’s killing Misery so he can start a new phase of his career. So, she decides he must correct the series ending while under her supervision.
To ensure his inability to escape, Annie commits the act of hobbling in a scene more nauseating than any piece of Cronenberg’s body horror. She takes a sledgehammer to Paul’s ankles as they’re propped against a cinder block. The image of his ankle crumbling under the head of the hammer is forever burned into the back of my eyelids. Bates and Caan both deliver career-defining performances as a duo wrapped in a chaotic and violent power dynamic. (Mary Beth McAndrews)
2. Carrie (1976)
Carrie might not have taken top spot on this list, but it still feels safe to classify it as the peak of King’s style when melded with film form. In the delightfully sleazy hands of patron saint of the uncouth, the one and only Brian De Palma, the film embraces all the terribly sad and viciously cruel potential of the source material. Sissy Spacek’s Carrie is a meek high-schooler whose merciless bullies, even on their best day, couldn’t come close to matching the brutality of Carrie’s hyper-religious mother. But Carrie’s recently discovered telekinetic abilities are about to take them all by storm.
Remembered best for its bloody show-stopper of a finale, the film has well earned the legacy of its most iconic scene. But when all the dust and pig’s blood settles, it’s the despair of the film that lingers for me. Carrie is, at its core, a film about someone desperately isolated who desired so many of the connections that those around her took for granted. The film is legendary for its frights, effective in its savagery, but ultimately most impactful for its terribly warped heart. (Anna Swanson)
1. The Shining (1980)
Some of you probably predicted that Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining would nab the top spot. And while I’d love to congratulate you all on demonstrating some truly Danny Torrance level prescience, it must be said: The Shining is a masterpiece. What is there to say that hasn’t already been said? Kubrick’s The Shining isn’t just the best Stephen King film, but one of the best films, period. Through nightmarish insinuation, Kubrick instills a resonant sense of dread into the Overlook Hotel; a space that is as much an open wound as a tuning fork for fragile psyches.
Jack Torrance drags his wife and son along with him to his new position as the hotel’s off-season caretaker. But even before Jack hits the road for “five months of peace” it’s readily apparent that he is fraying at the seams; host to a simmering darkness that bubbles up in the cavernous hallways of the Overlook. The Shining doesn’t base its horror fully in the supernatural; in skin-sloughing hags, bloody twins, and murderous visions. Rather, The Shining haunts because of something far more tangible, and horrifying; an imploded family unit, pushed over the edge by booze, solitude, and each other. (Meg Shields)
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