Grace Smith is a film critic and writer with 21 years of formative film exposure under her belt – and a focused interest in horror, surrealism, and substantial Cinema. Grace is passionate about The Hollywood Insider’s mission towards thoughtful and innovative media that expands audience perspectives towards entertainment. As a young writer and film-lover, Grace hopes to inspire readers towards not only broadening their horizons when it comes to cinematic media, but also raising their expectations.
Sep 1, 2024
Table of Contents
A short but sweet history of some of the best King-adapted films throughout every decade, including ‘The Shining’, ‘The Shawshank Redemption’, ‘Misery’ and more.
WARNING: Stephen King spoilers ahead, of all sizes, genres, and decades.
The 1970’s: ‘Carrie’ (1976)
‘Carrie’ (1976)
As with King’s writing career, it all starts with ‘Carrie’. In 1976 – just two years after the book was released – Brian de Palma would craft the first King adaptation with ‘Carrie’. This story of a religiously repressed — teenage girl who comes to realize latent psychic powers after she experiences her first period. This story features the stark images of psychokinesis, trauma, and the turmoil of coming-of-age. It is a fitting signature that marks the beginning of his adapted Cinematic reputation.
The 1980’s: ‘The Shining’ (1980), ‘Stand by Me’ (1986), ‘The Running Man’ (1987)
‘The Shining’ (1980)
‘The Shining’ falls steadily in line among both the greatest books and horror films of all time. Jack Torrance accepts a winter caretaker job in the isolated Overlook Hotel with his wife and son from which, strange, sinister influences begin to take a toll on the isolated family. Stanley Kubrick,, shot and reshot takes as he played with the occasional psychological warfare with his actors, most notably Shelley Duvall and captured a truly horrifyingbut desired product. The adaptation denotes the supernatural relevance of the Overlook Hotel made prominent in the book and focuses on the neuroses of Jack Nicholson’s representation of Jack Torrance, which comes off as dry and sinister even from the beginning. ‘The Shining’ represents many themes of familial conflict and substance abuse that King struggled with, and he’s since denounced the film as feeling unrepresentative of his original work. Still, ‘The Shining’ undoubtedly stands as a Cinematic masterpiece with rich source material to thank for inspiration.
As one of King’s standout non-horror stories, ‘Stand By Me’ originally appeared as a coming-of-age novella titled ‘The Body’, where four boys stumble upon the body of a local missing boy while journeying on a casual boyhood hike. Directed by Rob Reiner and touting young heavyweights like Corey Feldman and River Phoenix, this film explores the nature of young friendship, growing up, and death through the lens of boys growing up. ‘Stand by Me’ remains as an evocative picture of youth – as many King works do – and has all of that tender charm and radiance of many other 80’s classics.
‘The Running Man’ (1987)
With undeniable cultural impact as a cult classic in the now saturated dystopian genre, ‘The Running Man’ depicts a “futuristic world” 2017 and 2019, now in the recent past with a corrupt, government-controlled game show. The film diverges from the novel in many ways, with the novel oriented around a game where the public chases a contestant for a bounty, the film focuses on a televised cops-and-robbers type of pursuit. Despite this difference, an 80’s action flick with Arnold Schwarzenegger seems like another kind of authorial Cinematic achievement for King.
The 1990’s: ‘Misery’ (1990), ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ (1994), ‘The Green Mile’ (1999)
‘Misery’ (1990)
With film director Rob Reiner at the helm, ‘Misery’ was destined for greatness from the beginning. At this point, Reiner had already created classics such as ‘This is Spinal Tap’ and ‘The Princess Bride’, and as mentioned before, ‘Stand by Me’. As with other King adaptations, his stories allow the vessel through which incredible artists like Kathy Bates can express their gift and embody a character to the fullest. Annie Wilkes is not just one of the greatest horror villains of all time she remains an iconic image of the obsessive and perverted. .
‘The Shawshank Redemption’ (1994)
Among the best of the adaptations is, ‘The Shawshank Redemption’. Based off of the short novella, ‘Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption’, this drama film written and directed by Frank Darabont is more remembered as a Cinematic masterpiece than a King adaptation at all. This is a dramatic adventure that takes place in Shawshank State Prison, and tells the story of a mysterious personality, Andy Dufresne, played by Tim Robbins, and his bond with Red, played by Morgan Freeman. Well-acted, well-written, and enjoyable every second, ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ is one of those movies that literally everyone will enjoy.
Also written and directed by Frank Darabont, ‘The Green Mile’ captures a similar dramatic tone from King in this adaptation of his 1996 novel of the same name. Starring Tom Hanks, David Morse, and Michael Clarke Duncan, this heart-wrenching tale where Hanks plays an officer on death-row who witnesses strange and unusual occurrences after the arrival of Duncan, who plays an inmate, John Coffey. This film is fantastical, toying with all of the themes of love, death, fear, and morality that are so ripe for literature and Cinema, and despite the loss of their four Oscar nominations, ‘The Green Mile’ still remains relevant in the minds of casual movie lovers today.
The 2000’s: ‘Secret Window’ (2004), ‘1408’ (2007), and ‘The Mist’ (2007)
‘Secret Window’ (2004)
This psychological thriller starring Johnny Depp explores a tumultuous stolen story within a story, where a recently separated writer – Mort Rainey – is pursued by an ominous character – John Shooter – who claims plagiarism of one of his stories. As his threat escalates to terroristic proportions, Mort’s state of mind spirals into confusion and despair as he struggles with not only his impending divorce, but his identity. This hidden gem is a personal favorite of mine, with a warmly insane performance from Depp and a compelling twist.
‘1408’ is another endeavor into the psyche and supernatural experiences of a writer, this time, the man is John Cusack as a skeptical attraction journalist who shoulders his way into the legendary 1408 hotel suite in New York City. With a supporting role from Samuel L. Jackson, this film explores the idea of a room that’s driven numerous guests insane in under the course of an hour. As a deeply psychological portrait of a seemingly well-adjusted man losing his grip on reality, anyone would be terrified by the induced mania of this alleged 1408. Cusack carries this adaptation on his back with a personal, funny, and tormented King character.
‘The Mist’ (2007)
In another outstanding Frank Darabont picture – who has proven now to be quite adept at visually characterizing the writing of Stephen King. ‘The Mist’ is a somber tale of townspeople driven together to a local grocery story by a weather emergency that turns into a fog-shrouded horror film of monstrous proportions. Darabont counters the unappreciated artistic disregard of the Kubrick adaptation of ‘The Shining’ through editing the ending of the story to be as fatalistic and despairing as possible. All I can say is: prepare yourself.
The 2010’s and Beyond: ‘It: Chapter One & Two’ (2017 and 2019), ‘Gerald’s Game’ (2017), and ‘Doctor Sleep’ (2019)
‘It: Chapter One & Two’ (2017 and 2019)
‘It: Chapter One & Two’ captured the excitement of the reimagining with this pair of star-studded films based off of the lengthy horror classic, ‘It’. With a brand new Pennywise (portrayed terrifyingly by Bill Skarsgård) and a host of new alarming visions of fear from the great evil force that pulses beneath the town of Derry, Maine, the new ‘It’ series is as fun as it is shiny and contemporary. While I have mixed feelings about the quality distance between the two films, they are, regardless, a warmly-welcomed exercise in committed adaptations of the current generation.
‘Gerald’s Game’ (2017)
‘Gerald’s Game’ is one of the best fresh, modern imaginings of a Stephen King story in ages, having never been done before. Carla Gugino stars as Jessie Burlingame, a somewhat timid wife on a retreat with her husband, Gerald, in their isolated vacation home. After their handcuff sex game turns into a heart attack for Gerald, Jessie finds herself tethered to the bed just a few feet away from his corpse. As the hours wear on and the situation grows more dire, she must peer within herself to find the will to survive her circumstances and the lasting effects of her past. With strong, macabre themes and a standout performance from Gugino, ‘Gerald’s Game’ represents another impressive raw, character-driven psycho-drama to remember from the mind of King and the vision of Mike Flanagan.
‘Doctor Sleep’ is the nearly forty-year sequel to ‘The Shining’, detailing the later life of Danny Torrance following his experience at the Overlook Hotel and his continued affinity for the shine. When a young girl with an astounding shining ability comes into contact with Danny, he must protect her from a mysterious cult vying to feed off of her youthful, magical powers. While some might think that ‘Doctor Sleep’ came too late, it is certainly a worthy contribution to the breadth of work that spans what could now be considered a whole genre.
Fans of Stephen King adaptations can look forward to an almost obscene amount of slated adaptations with TBA statuses, with some of the most iconic being ‘The Breathing Method’, ‘The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon’, and ‘The Long Walk’. All of these are dark short stories or novellas that, in the hands of the right screenwriter and director , could result in films just as legendary as the last few dozen. King has such an intimate and relatable style that it’s so easy to imagine his stories on the silver screen, and the best part is, we can only dream of what is coming next.
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Grace Smith is a film critic and writer with 21 years of formative film exposure under her belt - and a focused interest in horror, surrealism, and substantial Cinema. Grace is passionate about The Hollywood Insider’s mission towards thoughtful and innovative media that expands audience perspectives towards entertainment. As a young writer and film-lover, Grace hopes to inspire readers towards not only broadening their horizons when it comes to cinematic media, but also raising their expectations.
Grace Smith is a film critic and writer with 21 years of formative film exposure under her belt – and a focused interest in horror, surrealism, and substantial Cinema. Grace is passionate about The Hollywood Insider’s mission towards thoughtful and innovative media that expands audience perspectives towards entertainment. As a young writer and film-lover, Grace hopes to inspire readers towards not only broadening their horizons when it comes to cinematic media, but also raising their expectations.
Grace Smith is a film critic and writer with 21 years of formative film exposure under her belt – and a focused interest in horror, surrealism, and substantial Cinema. Grace is passionate about The Hollywood Insider’s mission towards thoughtful and innovative media that expands audience perspectives towards entertainment. As a young writer and film-lover, Grace hopes to inspire readers towards not only broadening their horizons when it comes to cinematic media, but also raising their expectations.
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