Worst of Stephen King's 10 favorite adaptations of his own fiction

I don't consider Friends cast comedians, even the ones who're brilliant comic actors (that'd be Kudrow only p'haps)

haha, misID'd thread!

the mist is weird, cuz while it's not a great film, it plays out like a better than average sci-fi channel flick for most of it's running time before finally delivering this AMAZING should-have-been-closing-shot of that massive cthuloid thing walking through the sky ... but then totally fucks itself over with one of the most senseless codas i've ever seen in an otherwise half-decent movie (crimson rivers competes for this honor). king loves that part, of course.

anyway, misery and cujo are probably the best films on this list, of those i've seen, and neither is all that great (admit i haven't seen stand by me, and that's sort of a "classic"). green mile, apt pupil and the crappy-ending-having mist are tied in badness. saw part of the storm of the century, and that looked like the very worst of all, but i can't say for sure, cuz i couldn't bear to watch any more.

Re: Schwimmer, the big problem with his casting was that he wore the SERIOUS ACTOR IS SERIOUS mustache that was generally played for laughs in "Friends" flashbacks:

He looks like he's about to audition for the "Sabotage" video!

Either that, or a John Stossel biopic.

i LOVE the ending of the mist!

I do too. I remember getting a lot of grief for liking the Mist here before.

me three

The Shining (Kubrick version)
The Dead Zone
The Mist (black and white version)
Misery
Creepshow
Salem's Lot (Tobe Hooper version)
It
Christine
Cats Eyes (for 'Quitters Inc' w/ James Woods)
Misery

― Ward Fowler, Thursday, February 5, 2009 8:02 AM (4 hours ago)

Yeah, this is basically my list of bests too, with a couple adjustments. Swap out Misery, Cat's Eye and, um, second mention of Misery for Carrie, The Woman in the Room and Dolores Claiborne.

Actually, now that I'm thinking about it, King did have one legitimate reason for feeling shortchanged: the descent into evil of Jack Torrence's character was symbolic of/parallel with the exterior "evil" of his alcoholism. King had written this as an outlet for and reflection on his own battle with addiction & felt that Kubrick had misinterpreted the character as someone who already possessed "evil" qualities & whose demonization did not arise solely as a result of exterior elements.
― Ricky Apples (Pillbox), Thursday, February 5, 2009 2:14 AM (10 hours ago)

This makes sense, though I think King had moved onto coke by the time Kubrick's movie came out.

I read The Shining in 9th grade so my memory might be faulty, but I thought Torrance was kind of a dick before he moves with his family to the Overlook.

In the book, he not only broke his son's arm, but also severely beat up a student.

yeah, kind of a dick

This makes sense, though I think King had moved onto coke by the time Kubrick's movie came out.

..which might explain this:

http://byfiles.storage.live.com/y1p5J6d8dn_oUjAXlpZjsPk6yOYHuzbzq8MYlwNBFsEwxgfJjDId-biDxMiZzAWLRwtJy_atXgtaIM

In the book, he not only broke his son's arm, but also severely beat up a student.

― Nurse Detrius (Eric H.), Thursday, February 5, 2009 1:58 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark

Yes, an underlying anger management issues exacerbated by chronic alcoholism.

stephen king,s

1408 is terrible, and I speak as someone who would cheerfully defend John Cusack in just about anything.

The DVD release of THE MIST includes a black and white version, which is apparently Darabont's preferred version - it certainly helps to disguise some of the dodgy cgi and generally gives the flick more atmos

I didn't love the mist but sorta wanted to see the B&W version just because I suspected the CGI wouldn't look as terrible and the mood would be improved, thanks for the confirmation

TS: The Mist vs. The Fog?

the mist is weird, cuz while it's not a great film, it plays out like a better than average sci-fi channel flick for most of it's running time before finally delivering this AMAZING should-have-been-closing-shot of that massive cthuloid thing walking through the sky ... but then totally fucks itself over with one of the most senseless codas i've ever seen in an otherwise half-decent movie

OTM

Folks, this is BY FAR the worst

http://www.impawards.com/2003/posters/dreamcatcher_verdvd.jpg

that cthuloid thing was the most memorable image from the story too, i was glad they put it in

OUTLANDER WE HAVE YOUR WOMAN

Is Children of the Corn the first film to feature a "spooky kid" who, with blissful ignorance, draws horrific & prophetic images of monsters/gruesome carnage?

In today's Publishers Weekly email:

"Both Rowling and Meyer, they're speaking directly to young people. ... The real difference is that Jo Rowling is a terrific writer and Stephenie Meyer can't write worth a darn. She’s not very good.... You've got Dean Koontz, who can write like hell. And then sometimes he's just awful. It varies. James Patterson is a terrible writer but he's very very successful." - Stephen King

http://www.journalfen.net/community/sparklefield/20002.html#cutid2

Shwmmer is great in that movie! He becomes that character, and 90% of that character is bad mustache.

tl;dr

Which could apply to Meyer's books as well.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

3 of the top 4 vote-getters from Darabont. Good job, ILX!

Okay, so I'm thinking of holding a movie screening night: "Stephen King's Cavalcade of Terrible". What flicks could I cram in to a single day's showing that wouldn't kill people?

Much as I dislike The Green Mile, I'd steer clear of the Darabont movies entirely. Too boring.

The Langoliers
Sleepwalkers
Maximum Overdrive
The Lawnmower Man
Thinner

That's a pretty solid list that will also keep folks entertained with the badness.

1. Children of the Corn
2. Children of the Corn II: The Final Sacrifice
3. Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest
4. Children of the Corn IV: The Gathering
5. Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror
6. Children of the Corn 666: Isaac's Return
7. Children of the Corn: Revelation

eric's list is good but i might sub in "dreamcatcher"

Yeah, that one's supposed to be the new classic in bad King. Sorry I missed it.

o u really must

I find The Langoliers to be a genuinely entertaining movie.

langorly??

This was prompted by watching Maximum Overdrive and Pet Sematary at 2am on Saturday night. Both movies have quite enjoyable bits.

The killer coke machine has remained lodged in my memory for 20+ years now.

http://www.nxfansite.net.au/movies/petsematary1.jpg

I'd take out Lawnmower Man since Stephen King successfully sued to get his name off it. Replace it with Creepshow!

creepshow is awesome, tho!

creepshow 2 would prob qualify for entertainingly bad.

making a distinction between "awesome" and "incredibly bad" seems foolish when dealing with stephen king.

just showing films he wrote himself might do the trick:

Sleepwalkers
Pet Sematary
Maximum Overdrive
Silver Bullet
Cat's Eye
Creepshow

"awesome" and "entertainingly bad," i mean

yeah, I feel you on that.

and now that I think of it, did king write anything for creepshow besides that redneck plant dude thing he starred in? prob one of the weakest segments in the film.

he wrote the whole screenplay, according to imdb/wikipedia

ah.

anyway, the best one has gotta be leslie neilson vs ted danson

http://www.best-horror-movies.com/image-files/creepshow-tide-you-over.jpg

The langoliers is good until the langoliers show up. That is some really bad CGI.

xxp: Graveyard Shift was one of my favorite King stories when I was a kid. As such, I have both always and never wanted to see the film.

Watching 'Christine' now. This is surprisingly watchable, due to John Carpenter knowing how to make a movie, doing the music, and the flick being filled with character actors(including Harry Dean Stanton!)

Saw Sleepwalkers, Secret Window, and Needful Things in the last few days.

Sleepwalkers is now on my list for my potential Stephen King viewing night.

And Alice Krige was hottttttt in it. And Madchen Amick.

And on a related note, the scene where house cats save the day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBeMZFjGYh8

What's the ceiling that dago painted?

partially eclipse inspired, i watched dolores claiborne tday for the first time. a bit overlong w some telegraphed beats & its crazy how many one-shot closeups there are but in general p decent and compelling