Stephen King had a bit of a renaissance in the movies and on TV since 2017, though he never actually disappeared. After quite a pause of King movies since, I think, the terrible mess that was Dreamcatcher (2003) there’s really nothing that stands out after that.
And suddenly several King adaptations popped up.
A remake of the 1990 movie It was released last year, based on his novel. It received a lot of praise, and marketing, and made Pennywise a Halloween sensation overnight. The sequel is already highly anticipated with fans online asking when they’ll get to see the trailer.
It came out just a few months after Dark Tower was released, based on his popular series of the same name. Dark Tower wasn't as well received unfortunately.
The Hulu series 11/22/63, based upon King's novel from 2011, was fantastic.
Gerald’s Game on Netflix was also a well done series (wow - two TV series with King’s name that are actually good! Has that ever happened before?) It seemed like it would be a difficult story to put on film. but it managed to do so pretty well.
The Netflix movie 1922 was enjoyable and entertaining. And the trailer for the upcoming remake Pet Sematary can be seen on YouTube, and it looks pretty King-tastic!
And to top off this mountain of Stephen King goodness was the cherry - an original series based on the fictional town common in King stories called Castle Rock wrapped up its first season with positive reviews. It's like a sort of King-y Sgt. Pepper album with all sorts of famous faces from King films gone by, and King-y Easter Eggs.
And in 2019, King fans got a remake of his darkest story, Pet Sematary - something to tide us over until It: Chapter 2 comes out in September.
The King is back! But, again. he never really went away.
There are so many other movies based off Stephen King novels, novellas, and short stories that have flown under the radar, have been forgotten about, or are just really obscure. So, I’m picking out 10 of those less-remembered movies from the king of horror to see if they deserve to be forgotten.
Creepshow 2 will not be one of them! Nor will the made-for-TV remake of The Shining- Stephen King's claim to Stanley Kubrick that he can do it better, but somehow didn't. I think they've garnered plenty of attention. Just throwing that out there.
Creepshow 2 will not be one of them! Nor will the made-for-TV remake of The Shining- Stephen King's claim to Stanley Kubrick that he can do it better, but somehow didn't. I think they've garnered plenty of attention. Just throwing that out there.
What are some of these hidden King movies? Well, there's a movie based on a story about a possessed laundry press. There's also the movie Graveyard Shift based on the story that King wrote before writing his first published novel Carrie.
Oh, speaking of Carrie, there are actually two - YES TWO - remakes of the 1976 classic film. And the second remake spawned a sequel. Gross, right?
There's a few of these obscurities trying to grab audiences attention by throwing Stephen King's name into the opening credits.
I've read some of the stories these movies are based on. But it really doesn't matter here.
Though I think movies should respect the source material, I'm not taking into consideration just how similar or not they are to their respective stories. For most of the movies, if not all, the screenplays were written by someone other than King. And like snowflakes that gently careen down from the frosty winter skies, no two stories are alike. Each movie title might as well say "as told by" because for any movie based on a book, that's exactly what it is. "J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit, as told by Peter Jackson."
So, here we go... let us dip our feet, or brush our teeth, or wash our hands...or whatever turns you on... in the pool of obscure King cinema! I'll be posting them at least once a month.
