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These are movies of Stephen King books, or based on characters created by him. There are links to external sources such as the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) for movie information, as well as Amazon.Com for you to buy the movies directly. Links are also included to both the book or short story that the movie is based on, as well as lists of mistakes in the movies.
Description: Based on the short story, this movie faced many problems in it's production, especially one scene in which the boys shower nude in front of the camera. Directed by Bryan Singer, it stars Ian McKellen as Kurt Dussander, and Brad Renfro as Todd Bowden. Neighborhood boy Todd Bowden discovers that an old man living on his block named Arthur Denker is a wanted Nazi war criminal. Bowden confronts Denker and offers him a deal: He will not go to the authorities if Denker tells him stories of the concentration camps in WWII. Denker agrees and Bowden starts visiting him regularly. The more stories Bowden hears, the more it affects his personality. This thought provoking movie asks, and answers, the question 'How did the Nazis become who they were'. Released: 2006? Description: Based on the novel Bag of Bones, this movie was written by David Veloz and was rumoured to be produced by Bruce Willis.
Description: Based on the short story in Night Shift, this movie stares Michael Read as Lester Billings and first time actor Bert Linder as Doctor Billings in a fairly poor, low budget college movie. The three children of the separated family father Lester Billings are dead... And all seem to be killed by the Boogeyman. The worst thing for Billings is he knows he is powerless to stop the killing. Suspicion turns to firm belief, but just how can a mythical creature kill? Now he believes, that the Boogeyman will take him too, and is afraid to open his closets at home. His psychiatrist understands him quite well, too well in fact...
Description: The first Stephen King adaptation still holds up as one of the best owing to it's close following of the book. Both Sissy Spacek as Carrie White and Piper Laurie as her mother, Margaret, were nominated for Academy Awards for this film. Spacek makes us truly believe she IS Carrietta White, and the powerful imagery makes us feel her incredible torment and the tampon-throwing scene at the start retains almost as much power of the book's (I honestly thought this would have been cut). The special effects leave a bit to be desired, but considering we are talking about a movie over 20 years old, it is still quite good, and keeps you interested for the whole movie. Carrie was a low budget film, costing only $1.8 Million, and was filled with unknown talent like Sissy Spacek, John Travolta, William Katt, Amy Irving and Nancy Allen (Ironically, she was married to director Brian DePalma). This led a lot of people to believe it would only cover costs in a quick run in theatres. Instead it grossed $30 Million in the USA alone. Sissy Spacek wasn't considered for the role of Carrie until her husband, Jack Fisk, convinced director Brian de Palma to allow her to audition. Her audition so pleased De Palma that she got the lead role. The name of the high school is Bates High, a reference to Norman Bates of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960). After Carrie (Sissy Spacek) had the "pig's blood" dumped on her, she slept in it for two nights so that it would appear the same in every scene. Because of it's success on the big screen, Carrie was converted into a musical production on Broadway. Alas horror is not something that successfully survives the transition, and the play failed after only 16 performances, loosing over $7 Million, and making it the most expensive flops of the time. Carrie 2
Description: This was an interesting idea put on film. Some of the Night Shift short stories were combined along with a common theme (The Cat), and put into the one $6 Million movie. Apparently a few scenes were cut from the original, making it harder to follow the Cat's progress through the stories, but on the whole, it it a fair movie adaptation. There's a tennis pro who's forced to play a deadly game, when he is caught fooling around with the mobsters wife based on The Ledge. And a stop smoking clinic that really gets results, based on Quitters. Inc. Drew Barrymore plays Amanda and James Woods plays Morrison in this interesting movie.
Description: A fairly uninteresting movie with Linda Hamilton (Terminator) and Peter Horton (thirtysomething) playing along with a young cast and making us believe that there is something supernatural living behind the rows of corn. The film just does not have the impact it should, stretching a short story into something about 4 times too long. About the most enjoyable bit of this movie is the fact that is on the dashboard of Burt and Vicki's car is a copy of Night Shift, the Stephen King short story collection in which Children of the Corn originally appeared. This story was also made into a university film in the movie "Nightshift Collection" with about as much impact (i.e. None) Children of the Corn II: The Final Sacrifice
Description: Based on Characters in Night Shift - Children of the Corn. A belated sequel to the 1984 film. 8 years after the first, authorities discover the mutilated bodies of adults in the secluded town of Gatlin, Nebraska and children hiding in the corn. Enter John Garrett (Terence Knox) & son Danny (Paul Scherrer) who head for Gatlin on a story and get caught up in this mess when an orphan named Micah (Ryan Bollman) is possessed by He Who Walks Behind The Rows.
Description: Two young Gatling residents are orphaned after the younger brother kills their father. So, the terror of Gatling goes urban when the two boys are placed in the custody of two foster parents. The evil younger brother brings some corn seeds along and plants them in the courtyard of an abandoned warehouse. He Who Walks Behind the Rows enters the city and winds up possessing his high school peers, and soon his older brother feels called to stop him. Daniel Cerny is Eli, Ron Melendez is Joshua, Jim Metzler is William Porter and Nancy Grahn is Alice in this James D.R. Hickox film based on Characters in Night Shift - Children of the Corn. I'm afraid I'd have to give it about 2 out of 10 and class it as a waste of tape. Children Of The Corn IV: The Gathering
Description: All the kids in a town over night become feverish and have convulsions. The next day they start to become evil, change their names for those of kids killed long ago, and then start killing any adult in their path, in vicious and mysterious forms. A young woman who has just returned to town tries to find out what is happening, while trying to protect her transformed young sister. However, the kids are starting to revive their leader... Based on the characters from Stephen King's short story Children of the corn this film stars Karen Black, Kay Bower and Stephen Earnhart in fairly ordinary roles directed by Greg Spence. Children Of The Corn V: Field of Terror
Description: Stephen King's deadly cornfields of yore beckon still more unaware out-of-towners, this time road-tripping college kids who misnavigate into a backwater town populated only by children controlled by a mysterious power. The movie seems to rely on blood and gore to make it scary, rather than real thrills and mystery. Stacy Galina is Allison, Alexis Arquette is Greg, Ahmet Zappa is Lazlo and David Carradine is Luke Enright in this Ethan Wiley written and directed movie. Children Of The Corn 666: Isaac's Return
Description: On a trip to find her mother, Hannah Martin picks up a stranger who kicks off a mysterious chain of events. Little does Hannah know that her journey may help fulfill a sinister prophecy made 19 years earlier by Isaac, the cult's original evil leader! It's a hair-raising movie event you don't want to miss as Isaac makes his terrifying return and the frightening Children Of The Corn achieve their ultimate destiny. (Description from Amazon.Com) Children Of The Corn: Revelation
Description: Yet another innocent girl, this time named Jamie, enters Omaha, Nabraska she awakens an evil force that wants Jamie dead! This movie is actually very scary and fairly well written, and is totally out of place in the Children of the corn series of movies. Alas if it continues we will be watching the great-grandchildren of the first series af actors within a few years. Unlike most other series of movies, how about letting this one end on a high note!
Description: Many people say this movie is basically poor, but I have to disagree. The film version really brought Christine to life for me, and did a reasonable job of transporting me to the location. Although Christine is not a true 1958 Plymouth Fury (in the movie a car-double was used), even she plays a great part, making the audience truly believe she is indeed alive and has Arnie firmly in her grasp. The final scene, with Arnie touching the emblem on Christine's grille before he dies, is one of the most touching in the early films of King's books, and also underlines the fact that he never escaped her grasp. Keith Gordon is Arnie Cunningham, John Stockwell is Dennis Guilder, Alexandra Paul is the lovely Leigh Cabot and Robert Prosky is Will Darnell in the lively film directed by John Carpenter.
Description: This is one of the few movies that I have not seen for years owing to it's age. Directed by George A. Romero, it is an episode based horror movie that has the short stories "Father's Day", "The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill", "The Crate", "Something to Tide You Over", and "They're Creeping Up On You". The show is very well made, and includes a stellar cast including Stephen King in his first movie appearance based on his own work. Joe King, Stephen's son, is the boy at the start of the movie, and the cast also includes Hal Holbrook, Adrienne Barbeau, Fritz Weaver, Leslie Nielsen, Carrie Nye and E.G. Marshall Stephen King is supposed to have carried a toy figure of Greedo from Star Wars (1977) on the set for good luck. Seeing that this $8 Million movie was a moderate success, I think it worked. Out of interest, Rice Krispies were used as as maggots on the corpse's eyes in the first story, "Father's Day", and the ashtray from the first story appears on the set of all 5 stories.
Description: In another of the non-connected story films "The Raft" is based on King's Skeleton Crew story and it's the only one that really works well in this movie. The other 2 are not King's works (George A. Romero), and do not seem to match the Raft in style and basic feel. The movie was a financial nightmare, grossing only $15 Million from the Box Office, but it really is not that surprising. Lasckluster acting, poorly written scripts, and sets that look more in place in a childrens school play seem to be the norm for cheaply made short-story-to-horror-flicks in the 1980's and early 90's. The Raft is a hard story to bring to the audience, but it sure could have been done better than this!
Description: A great movie, with full marks to Cujo for playing a great part! Actually Five St. Bernards were used, one mechanical head, and a guy in a dog costume, and to make the St. Bernards attack the car, animal trainers put the dog's favorite toys inside the car so the dogs would try to get them! Although not a star-packed movie, it does include Dee Wallace-Stone as Donna Trenton, Daniel Hugh-Kelly as Vic Trenton, Ed Lauter as Joe Camber, and a great job by Danny Pintauro as Tad Trenton.
Description: An interesting, and quite true to the story adaptation of the book, with many great special effects. Starring Timothy Hutton as Thad Beaumont and directed by George A. Romero, the movie captures audiences from the start watching the 'unknown' George Stark play havoc on the minds of everyone around. Well worth hiring or buying from your local store
Description: An old, and poor quality movie with little impact. This is exactly the sort of movie that has given Stephen King's movies a bad name. It's funny that King said that he liked the movie because it uses cinematic conventions to actually improve aspects of the original story, a rarity when it comes to filming books. I feel as though the stork was fine to begin with, and the changes actually detracted from the story. Starring Christopher Walken as Johnny Smith, Brooke Adams as Sarah Bracknell, Tom Skerritt as Sheriff Bannerman, Herbert Lom as Dr. Sam Weizak, Anthony Zerbe as Roger Stuart, Colleen Dewhurst as Henrietta Dodd, Martin Sheen as Greg Stillson and Nicholas Campbell as Frank Dodd. Director David Cronenberg had to reshoot the scene in which John Smith has his first premonition. It showed a little girl's room burning and a small E.T. doll could be seen on one of the shelves. The scene had to be reshot when Universal Pictures threatened to sue. Cronenberg also fired a .357 Magnum armed with blanks just off camera to make Smith's flinches seem more involuntary! Released: 2005 Description: En route to Lake Tahoe for a much anticipated vacation, the Carver family is arrested for blowing out all four tires on their camper. Collie Entragian is the arresting officer, the self-made sheriff of a town called Desperation, Nevada, and the quintessential bad cop. Unbeknownst to the Carvers, Entragian regularly murders passerbys on this stretch of road, and in fact has done in nearly every resident of his hometown. He can also change form and summon the help of creepy creatures, including scorpions, snakes and spiders. Theres a story here about a fire on the set during filming. Released: No ETA Description: Dolan's Cadillac was listed as pre-production, but apparently has been put on hold. Latest information states Gabriel Byrne will play Dolan and Freddie Prinze JR plays Robinson.
Description: Dolores Claiborne was one of King's more unusually written books and the movie does it justice. Quite a bit of time is spent thinking of the past and building the characters, but the story's clarity and ending requires it. A fire on the set in Nova Scotia, Canada, caused one million dollars damage, but it was more than adequately paid for by the box office takings of some $25 Million. Taylor Hackford directed this excellent movie, and the cast included Kathy Bates as Dolores Claiborne, Jennifer Jason Leigh as Selena St. George, Christopher Plummer as Detective John Mackey, David Strathairn as Joe St. George, Judy Parfitt as Vera Donovan and John C. Reilly as Constable Frank Stamshaw. Released: 2003 Description: Dreamcatcher was an interesting interpretation of the book. I found it a great show, but many of my friends were constantly asking questions about what is this, and what does that mean etc. I watched my pre-release copy a few times until I realised that the directors could have spent about 10 minutes in total and explained 99% of the questions that was asked repeatedly. Views after the release of the film seem to agree that some of the images were lost to non-King readers. Morgan Freeman as Col. Kurtz, Thomas Jane as Henry Devlin, with Jason Lee, Damian Lewis, and Tom Sizemore rounding out the cast. |
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