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.
Firestarter
 Released: 1984
Description: A good movie, with
fair special effects that have good impact even today. Andrew and Vicky McGee met while earning money
as guinea pigs for an experiment at college. The experiment was shrouded in suspicion and mystery, and
seemed to be related to psychic abilities. The two were married and had a daughter Charile, who has the
ability to start fires by merely thinking about it. Naturally, the government takes a great interest
in Charlie, and operatives from the secret department known as "The Shop" want to quarantine
and study her.
King reportedly hated the movie, and director Mark Lester commented many years
later that King had seemed happy with the production at the time. Much of the problem appeared to be
the reliance on a young and inexperienced actress - Drew Barrymore.
Expecting Barrymore to carry the movie may well have been too much to ask
as I believe that she lets the movie down in some scenes, especially the final climactic scenes where
she destroys The Shop. The same could be said for other actors in the movie. I really thought George
C Scott's character John Rainbird was cast totally wrong and let down the movie in almost ever shot he
was in. Don't get me wrong, I like Scott and Barrymore's other work, just that there would have been better
people to cast for these roles.
The cast includes David Keith as Andrew McGee, Heather Locklear as Vicky McGee,
Martin Sheen as Captain Hollister, Art Carney as Irv Manders and Louise Fletcher as Norma Manders.
Firestarter: Rekindled (Miniseries)
Released: 2002
Description: A 4-hour miniseries,
that was initially titled Firestarter: The Next Chapter, that begins about 20 years after the initial
Firestarter film. Charlene (Skye McCole Bartusiak) has stayed on the run from the government that killed
her parents when she was just a child. Now the Government are beginning to use new weapons against her
- human weapons, and her only hope is to find the answers to her own dangerous abilities before they
find her.
Ghosts
Released: 1997
Description: A Michael Jackson
short feature but King was involved in early story discussions. Once again Michael Jackson dazzles us
with an amazing short film. Every time he makes a piece of entertainment, we sit back and wonder how
and why he gets those ideas. Somehow he manages to get the top of the line to help him. This piece can
be watched again and again, and still be nothing else than a masterpiece.
It was written by Stephen King, Stan Winston, Mick Garris, Michael Jackson,
Stan Winston and directed by Stan Winston, it stars Pat Dade, Amy Smallman and the multi-talented Michael
Jackson.
Golden Years
 Released: 1991
Description: An explosion in
one of the most secret laboratories of the USA causes the old guard Harlan Williams to be contaminated
with totally unknown chemicals. Now he changes and becomes younger instead of older. The government is
interested in finding out everything about this changes and hunts the fugitive Harlan. A hunt across
the USA starts. King wrote this as a TV screenplay.
A good movie, but it looses some impact owing to the length - 4 hours! Stars
Keith Szarabajka, Felicity Huffman and Ed Lauter.
Graveyard Shift
 Released: 1990
Description: I liked this movie,
but it did not have the horror feel that I think it could have with better casting and a different director.
The overall movie was quite well done, with fair special effects and the basic line split from the story
very early in the movie.
A bunch of disgusting characters become rat-chow and only the audience wins
in the end. An adequate giant-rat movie: take that as you will. It takes the King short story as far
as it can go, and that's about all it manages to do.
Green Mile, The
 Released: 1999
Description: Like Frank Darabont's
first King feature film, The Shawshank Redemption, this movie is set in Prison in the 1930's, and is
about those that work on the Green Mile, their version of modern day Death Row. Tom Hanks plays the head
prison guard Paul Edgecombe, and shows us why he is such a popular actor today, dragging the audience
into his world, and sharing his emotions like few modern actors can do.
Michael Clark Duncan really steals the show on his appearance on the Mile.
Playing the slow, but lovable John Coffey, he captures the audience in such a unique way that he readily
appeals to young and old alike, and even though you know what is to happen in the end, you keep wishing
something will save him.
The special effects, done in part by Industrial Light & Magic, were excellent,
and the 3 executions were handled with care, trying not to make them too grotesque, but allowing them
to be included in the footage as they are an important part of the film.
This emotion packed film is one of the best King productions ever done, and
is a must for all to see.
Hearts in Atlantis
 Released: September
28, 2001
Description: Directed by Scott
Hicks, from a screenplay by William Goldman, this tells the story of the friendship between Ted Brautigan,
played by Anthony Hopkins, and young Bobby Garfield, played by Anton Yelchin. The movie also stars Hope
Davis, Mika Boorem, David Morse, Alan Tudyk, Tom Bower, Celia Weston, Adam Lefevre, Will Rothhaar, Deirdre
O'connell and Timothy Reifsnyder.
This adaptation of just one part of King's book by the same name is excellent.
Although not entirely true to the story, the changes make it an excellent stand alone movie which anyone
will enjoy, and King fans will find close enough. There are some really strong emotional parts played
by young Anton Yelchin and Anthony Hopkins that really show how great the two actors really are. Yelchin
will grow up to be a fine actor as he matures.
It
 Released: 1990
Description: Directed by Tommy
Lee Wallace, and containing stars such as John Ritter, Dennis Christopher, Tim Reid, Harry Anderson (I),
and a star performance by Tim Curry as Pennywise, this would have to be one of the hardest movies for
non-fans to follow.
The $12 Million movie is true to the book in both story AND format - it constantly
jumps back in time to remember when the 'loosers' were children. Although it may not seem like much,
many friends of mine that have not read the book, were a bit unsure of exactly what was going on, but
true King fans will really enjoy this excellent interpretation of the book.
Langoliers, The
 Released: 1995
Description: The characters
in this movie are not the thin, fake characters that often inhabit Kings movies.
Because the story was fairly short, there is plenty of time to build
on the characters, and end up with a great movie with good special effects at the end.
Stars Patricia Wettig, Dean Stockwell, David Morse, Mark Lindsay Chapman,
Frankie Faison it is directed by Tom Holland.
Lawnmower Man, The
 Released: 1992
Description: The credit was
removed following a lawsuit on Kings part. There is no connection to the book other than the title. How
King sold the rights to his so-so short story about a murderous satyr who mows lawns to the producers,
and how they turned it into this unrelated tribute to cyberspace/virtual reality, is probably a story
in itself worthy of a movie.
Directed by Brett Leonard, this movie stars Jeff Fahey, Pierce Brosnan, Jenny
Wright and Mark Bringleso.
Mangler, The
 Released: 1995
Description: A rather gruesome
story where the a machine gets a taste for human blood after a woman is tragically killed by the Mangler
in the Blue Ribbon Laundry (She is taken out of the laundry in what is basically a bucket!). Not recommended
for those with a weak stomach as the first 20 minutes are rather blood-filled and gory, but it gets better.
The choices of cast is not perfect, with some characters seeming a little
stiff and plastic, while others are just too strange to be believable, but overall Tobe Hooper directed
a good movie with Robert Englund as Bill Gartley and Ted Levine as John Hunton.
Maximum Overdrive
 Released: 1986
Description: This movie was
the first to be directed by Stephen King.
For his work he was paid $70,000, and found out the hard way that directing
movies was HARD work.
Costing $10 Million, the movie was a flop, returning only $4 Million in it's
initial playing.
Misery
 Released: 1990
Description: I rather enjoyed
this movie, and Kathy Bates played the perfect part - much better than her casting in Dolores Claiborne.
Kathy Bates can go from nice and cheerful to downright crazy like someone turning on a light switch.
While watching James Caan suffer through the torture that Bates puts him through, you can't help but
sympathize with the guy. Rob Reiner presents us with the problem, and he slowly escalates the tension
and the dread that creeps over the movie. The movie is close to the storyline, with some extra parts
that do nothing but increase the knowledge of the characters. An excellent job by director Rob Reiner
(Who makes a cameo as a helicopter pilot). The movie grossed over $54 Million.
Actually a video of When Harry Met Sally... (1989) (also directed by Rob Reiner)
is visible in the general store. There is a mention of the "guy who went mad in a hotel nearby" is
a reference to The Shining, a novel written by Stephen King.
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