Top 10 Stephen King Reactions to Stephen King Movies

“Plot is...the good writer’s last resort and the dullard’s first choice.” Those words by Stephen King imply that there’s more to a great story than just the surface narrative. According to King, that idea backfired during the production of 1984’s “Firestarter.” Though the scenario remained basically the same as the novel, King commented negatively on the film’s nonsensical special effects. He likened the film to “cafeteria mashed potatoes” and thought that young Drew Barrymore’s hair, constantly blowing in the wind, looked silly. He’s also noted that Zac Efron’s performance in the 2022 adaptation was a refreshing upgrade. It seems there’s more to the recipe for great horror than just following a plot…just ask Gus Van Sant about that…

So you’ve decided to bury a loved one in a graveyard that’s notorious for supernatural resurrection. How could that go wrong? King considers “Pet Sematary” to contain some of his most macabre material. He actually penned the screenplay as a means of improving the story. King liked the end product, making a cameo and commending the performance by Herman Munster himself, Fred Gwynne. He was much more exclamatory about the 2019 remake, commending its “grown-up” nature. King even supported the film’s decision to change the cemetery’s unfortunate victim. He reasoned that the story still achieved the same emotional impact, like taking Route 301 to Tampa instead of Route 17. We guess there’s more than one way to reanimate a cat, so to speak.

Whether he’s stuck in a time-traveling hot tub, John Malkovich’s mind, or a haunted hotel room, John Cusack just can’t catch a break. “1408” ensnares him within the latter setting, as he portrays fictional author Mike Enslin in this film translation of King’s short story. Cusack is a fan of King’s work, which possibly helped motivate his electric performance in this critically and commercially successful adaptation. The feeling may be mutual, as the novelist himself called the movie “terrifying.” King confessed to the New York Post that “1408” met the standards of his writing: something he claims doesn’t happen very often. Cusack even hinted that he’d be interested in continuing the story. Mr. King, if you’re watching, how would you feel about a sequel?

Director Tobe Hooper, author Stephen King, Buffalo Bill and Freddy Krueger sure sound like a “fab four” of classic horror. When they’re compacted together by a possessed laundry machine…not so much. Hooper, previously responsible for the original “Texas Chain Saw Massacre,” guided Ted Levine and Robert Englund through this unintentionally cartoonish imagining of King’s short story. In his book, “Stephen King Goes to the Movies,” the eponymous writer selected “The Mangler” as a victim for criticism in one of the book’s prologues. In it, he wrote that “The Mangler” is “a mess,” and theorized that the story got lost in the “copious amounts of steam generated by the film’s mechanical star.” For King, the clunky production just didn’t clean the stains from those dirty sheets.

If there were ever a man destined to make Stephen King’s prose into great cinema, it’s Frank Darabont. Their first appearance on our countdown chronicles John Coffey, a wrongly convicted man whose execution left no tear duct undrenched. You might not think of pitching a movie about a death row inmate to the Hallmark Channel, but that’s exactly how King sees “The Green Mile.” He quips that it’s “a little soft” and the first R-rated production fit for the feel-good greeting card company’s “Hall of Fame.” A self-confessed sentimentalist, the horror writer was blissful about Darabont’s interpretation of his work, and we can happily add him to the many fresh vegetables on Rotten Tomatoes’ seventy-nine percent consensus.

The novel “It” wasn’t inspired by coulrophobia - a fear of clowns. Rather, it was King’s exploration of the journey from childhood to maturity that shaped this story of seven friends from Derry, Maine. Despite subterranean expectations, King was surprised that his novel’s conversion into the 1990 miniseries efficiently handled eleven-hundred pages of source material effectively. His expectations were even higher for the 2017 reimagining. The wordsmith admitted he was unprepared for “how good it really was,” expecting audiences to genuinely “care” about its characters and feel productively scared for them. Also a fan of “Chapter Two,” King noted that the newly added suggestion of romantic love between Eddie and Richie was “genius.” He seems to feel that director Andy Muschietti raised his Loser’s Club well.

From behind the typewriter to behind the camera, King made his directorial debut with “Maximum Overdrive.” Questionably classified as “comedy horror,” this tale of cosmically animated evil machines frequently makes “so bad they’re good” movie lists…including one of our own. The project was a regret for many, including star Emilio Estevez, the critics who saw it, and one injured cinematographer. King is most apologetic of all, calling it a “moron film” and admitting that the driver’s seat in his brain was operated by a chemically altered state of mind. He never put on an auteur’s cap again, but he did manage to work in a deliciously entertaining special appearance. Check and see if it made it in our “Top 10 Epic Stephen King Cameos” video!

Imaginative fiction is a tricky beast to conquer…not unlike venturing into a murky mist that’s teeming with interdimensional monsters. The most dangerous part may be crafting the ending, so you’d think that Stephen King would be hesitant for a director to change one of his. Not so: when Frank Darabont helmed the movie version of King’s novella “The Mist.” The spectacled storyteller feels that Darabont usually delivers something “extraordinary” from his work. [1] “The Mist,” “The Green Mile,” and “The Shawshank Redemption” all earn that stamp of approval. King declared that Darabont’s revised fate for these particular Maine survivors was “shocking.” We won’t reveal it here, as the author insists anyone who spoils this climax should befall an equally morbid fate.

Does anyone have friends like the ones when they were twelve? Stephen King sure hasn’t, as this contemplative line ends “Stand by Me,” a film that King assures us is autobiographical. The coming-of-age drama recounts four childhood friends as they search for a missing body. According to King, the “body” part of the account is the only element that’s fabricated. Director Rob Reiner’s “Stand by Me” brought its novella’s creator to tears. He was so touched upon seeing this authentically moving portrayal of his own life, that he hugged Reiner after the screening. “Stand by Me” is Stephen King’s favorite Stephen King movie, and it’s slotted as the most positively uplifting King reaction on our countdown.

At last we reveal the capital offender, and it’s Mr. Kubrick in the hotel with the motion picture camera. If you know anything about Stephen King’s feelings towards his movies, you’ve heard that he detests Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining.” Though his dislike may be exaggerated, King does vocally disapprove of some significant characterization changes. Specifically, he’s addressed an absence of character arc in Jack Torrance and a helpless, misogynistic portrayal of Wendy Torrance that doesn’t reflect the woman that he created. King did find some Shawshank-worthy redemption in “Doctor Sleep,” Mike Flanagan’s adaptation of King’s “Shining” sequel. The spirit of a story, not its plot, is what’s most important to Stephen King, and we hope for future adaptations that can get it right.