Over a year ago, we decided to rank every Stephen King adaptation ever made. This proved a large task. So we put a few guardrails in place: We would stick to original films and made-for-TV movies. No television series or limited series. No remakes. This still left a very long list of films to watch — nearly 50, amounting to well over 100 hours of movie watching. Drew is old hat at long and meticulous viewing projects (look no further than her Letterboxd for evidence); Kayla is newer to the artform but gradually becoming similarly obsessed with assigning herself sprawling cinematic homework (just ask her how her #DemiMooreWatch is going). But what we thought was a month-long project quickly proved more unwieldy, so we turned it into a year-long project. From last October to now, we’ve both watched every Stephen King film adaptation featured on this list.

So: Why King? Why write this list at Autostraddle, a queer publication, when very few of the films featured on the list are queer and in fact are often oppressively heteronormative? Well, we’re both people who watch and read a lot of horror. Drew read King obsessively as a kid and has been rediscovering his work and reading more of his work with new eyes. Kayla married a dyke obsessed with Stephen King’s books (seriously, what was once a shelf dedicated to his books in her home has turned into a whole cabinet full of King) and then promptly became a King Dyke (lol), too. Honestly, we’ve both encountered loads of queer and trans readers of King’s work, which sure, could just be a numbers game. He writes bestselling books. Everyone reads King. But there seems to be something more to it, a little club of queer and trans readers compelled by King’s worlds and who sought refuge in them, especially when closeted. The horror genre speaks to so many queer people, and King is, well, one of the kings of the genre. Sure, his books and many of these films have queerphobic, transphobic, racist, ableist and otherwise offensive moments that range from dated to disgusting. We don’t divorce any of that from our experiences of his work, but problematic art is still worth engaging with and analyzing.

This exact list exists on just about every pop culture website on the world wide web. Everyone’s got a ranked King adaptation list. But the other lists around aren’t like our list, because our list was written by two lesbians from a distinctly queer and trans perspective. In fact, when we looked into other comprehensive ranked Stephen King film adaptation lists near the end of the project, we realized hardly any of them were written by women. Out of 20 lists, 13 were written by one man, and two were written by two men. The remaining five lists were group posts, and the breakdown was as follows for each: five men, one woman; eight men, three women; four men, two women; two women, one man (the only instance where women outnumbered the men). Are we the first daily pop culture magazine to publish this list helmed solely by women? It’s quite possible! We do feel confident declaring this the first published version of this list written by two lesbians.

Both of us are increasingly interested in criticism by queer and trans writers of art not considered textually queer. Even art considered extremely textually straight. In some instances, the work opens itself up to queer readings. But even when they don’t, why should we limit ourselves? Why should we let a whole bunch of men decide what the worst and best Stephen King adaptations are? Shouldn’t there be room for other rankings? Other ideas?

We’ve already explained most of our “rules” for this list, but here are a few more: The Dark Tower didn’t count, because we decided we weren’t doing anything based on a book series (The Shining and Doctor Sleep are more of a duology than a series). (And okay, the real reason we didn’t do The Dark Tower was because Drew wants to read the series spoiler-free.) As for how we approached rankings, while it’s a time-honored tradition to rank things by lesbianism here at Autostraddle, that’s not what we did here. We evaluated the films based on a range of subjective variables and did not care much for “faithfulness” of the adaptations, as we haven’t collectively read every book/story and also because that’s a boring way to judge adaptations. For instances where we do have knowledge of the books/stories, that does come into play on a more abstract level, like if the themes of the original work are just completely squandered by the film. We’re looking at all these films as judged against one another in the canon of King but also in the general canon of horror, especially 80s and 90s horror where a lot of them live. We made separate individual ranked lists, mathematically combined those, and had discussions when there were ties. You are welcome to fight us! In the spirit of this being a list intended to expand and queer the canon of Stephen King adaptation LISTS, we welcome dissent and different ideas.

Here it is! Two lesbians ranking every Stephen King film adaptation — all 48 of them.

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48. Apt Pupil (1998)

dir. Bryan Singer
based on the 1982 novella Apt Pupil, featured in the collection Different Seasons

People have been tricked by Ian McKellan’s undeniable acting prowess into praising what amounts to little more than Bryan Singer apologia. It’s not just the plot point where a teenage boy threatens to falsely accuse his male teacher of molestation — added to the story by Singer. The entire dynamic between the Nazi-obsessed teen boy protagonist and the older former Nazi he befriends is one where the teen boy holds more power than this older male figure. (Who I remind you is a LITERAL Nazi!)

What’s on-screen is gross, but the behind the scenes is even worse. Singer was sued by three minors who were extras on the film for being forced to disrobe completely during one scene and years later another extra would describe his experience of being assaulted by Singer on-set. Imagine all of the future abuse that could have been avoided if the producers and the studio cared more about protecting children instead of releasing this shitty movie. — Drew

47. Mr. Harrigan’s Phone (2022)

dir. John Lee Hancock
based on the 2020 novella Mr. Harrigan’s Phone, featured in the collection If It Bleeds

Another very bad movie about a teen boy befriending a bad older man except instead of a Nazi this time he’s just a billionaire. I cannot get over this teen boy buying his billionaire boss an iPhone. Like with his own money. Truly achieving new grounds of bootlicker behavior. — Drew

46. The Green Mile (1999)

dir. Frank Darabont
based on the 1996 novel The Green Mile 

All of King’s most racist impulses that hover around the rest of his work are consolidated here in one bloated, exhausting, miserable mess. There’s a reason why this movie is most people’s go-to example of one of Hollywood’s favorite tropes. The whole movie is awful, but the final moments where Michael Clarke Duncan’s character reassures Tom Hanks’ character that it’s okay to kill him so Hanks doesn’t get in trouble is beyond grotesque. More evidence for my argument that Tom Hanks and his filmography are a case study in Hollywood conservatism posturing as liberalism. I really hate this movie.

45. Creepshow 2 (1987)

dir. Michael Gornick
based on the 1982 story “The Raft”

Creepshow 2 pales in comparison to its predecessor. Like the first film, it’s an anthology horror movie inspired stylistically by horror comics of the 1950s. This one features three main stories and a wraparound mini-story, and only one of those stories (“The Raft”) is based on a King short story, the others written for the screen by George Romero. But for this sequel, Romero leaves the director’s chair and with his departure goes his distinct knack for visual storytelling. Gornick just doesn’t hold a candle! Also, while we aren’t grading these based on adaptation “faithfulness” to the original, one way to lose me quickly is to take a consensual sex scene from a story/book and make it suddenly nonconsensual. — KKU

44. Thinner (1996)

dir. Tom Holland
based on the 1984 novel Thinner

While deeply fatphobic and playing into the same tired stereotypes about Roma people, this movie gets a slight bump above some other offensive King movies for being bad enough that it almost starts to feel like camp. Major emphasis on almost. — Drew

43. Dolan’s Cadillac (2009)

dir. Jeff Beesley
based on the 1985 novella Dolan’s Cadillac, featured in the collection Nightmares & Dreamscapes

I do believe that Stephen King mostly has his heart in the right place. But he is ultimately a 77 year old rich white man who has lived his whole life in Maine. That is felt in this bad movie that tries to tackle the harsh realities of American immigration and immigration-related trafficking, but just uses those issues as props for an only mildly interesting white dude on white dude revenge story. — Drew

42. Hearts in Atlantis (2001)

dir. Scott Hicks
based on the 1999 novella Low Men in Yellow Coats, featured in the collection Hearts in Atlantis

I’m usually one to defend King against accusations of misogyny, but not this time. The way the mother character is portrayed throughout seems to suggest women with careers are callous and selfish toward their children. Then the movie goes one step further and punishes her with rape for having career ambition. On top of that, there’s a weird subplot where the violent bully’s behavior is explained by suggesting he’s a closeted trans girl.

Maybe I could excuse the film’s politics if the movie was interesting, but it’s basically just an Anthony Hopkins performance covering up a mediocre recycling of common King tropes. — Drew

41. Dreamcatcher (2003)

dir. Lawrence Kasdan
based on the 2001 novel Dreamcatcher

When they were young, a group of four boys gained supernatural abilities after saving another boy from bullies. The film centers on the four friends going on their annual hunting trip as adults. But what could be an interesting story of masculinity, friendship between men, and shared trauma instead is just…a snoozefest? The Native appropriation almost doesn’t even factor into this film’s low ranking, because it’s just not good for so many other reasons! It’s not a good thriller, and it’s not a good monster movie. There’s a strong cast that includes Timothy Olyphant, Damian Lewis, and Morgan Freeman, but the characters are all ultimately too flat for them to make much of them. If you’re gonna ask me to watch a film About Men, then please for the love of god make them interesting! — KKU

40. Cell (2016)

dir. Tod Williams
based on the 2006 novel Cell

I guess they’re not technically zombies since they’re not dead, but this is basically a zombie film in its beats and devices. There’s a world in which this movie could be timeless in its look at how becoming overly dependent on cell phones and personal tech is turning us all into mindless monsters, but it would probably have to be a much better movie for that to really hit. John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson both star here, but they’re much better together in their other King adaptation, 1408, which you’ll find much further down the list. There are occasionally some decent sequences here, but overall, it’s a lifeless thriller that could have been a poignant critique of how cell phones drive us apart more than they connect us. — KKU

39. Riding the Bullet (2004)

dir. Mick Garris
based on the 2000 novella Riding the Bullet, featured in the collection Everything’s Eventual

I’m not going to argue this is a good movie. But I will argue its horror moments are really well done. Since most of them end up being part of various dream sequences, they don’t have many stakes, and they certainly don’t connect into a cohesive story. Still, I love the effects and if we were ranking the best standalone King sequences, this would have a few toward the top. — Drew

38. It/It: Chapter Two (2017/2019)

dir. Andy Muschietti
based on the 1986 novel It

Points for polish and some good performances, but these movies are horrible when compared to the masterpiece of a novel. Splitting the timelines in two makes no sense when the fluidity of the timelines is essential to the story. Maybe this is why the horror sequences seem to follow one after the other in tedium rather than working toward any sort of deeper conclusion. There’s no attempt to capture the film’s thematic core about violence held within a place, opting instead for tired 80’s nostalgia. Can someone please tell about two dozen successful directors working today that “remaking Goonies” is not the definition of cinema?

I’m also in awe that the film managed to take two flaws of the original text and make them worse. The first movie may cut the plot point of Bev having sex with all the boys in the sewer, but Bev is still sexualized in a way that goes beyond the POV of the young characters. Even worse, without the internal life of the book, that’s all she becomes. And while I support the pivot away from Mike as the wise token Black character, they give his characteristics to Ben without replacing them with anything else. He’s just… there. He may not be the most nuanced character in the book, but he gets far more than he does here.

The second film is a bit better, because it has the two timelines to work with, but it still lacks any sort of momentum. The only good thing about these adaptations is their portrayal of Richie. — Drew

37. The Lawnmower Man (1992)

dir. Brett Leonard
based on the 1975 short story “The Lawnmower Man”, featured in the collection Night Shift

Beyond its title, this movie has very little in common with its short story source material. Its attempt to be Flowers for Algernon for the digital age is also cringe at best, ableist at worst. And, on top of that, it’s not a good movie. But but but Pierce Brosnan as a scientist flouncing around with his little earring? Dean Norris as an over-the-top evil government agent? When they go into the computer and it has the most 1992 special effects you can imagine? Sorry, I had fun. — Drew

36. Desperation (2006)

dir. Mick Garris
based on the 1996 novel Desperation

The first hour of this movie is unironically good. Ron Perlman is a power-hungry demon cop and it’s way scarier than any mid-2000s TV movie has any right to be. Unfortunately, Perlman goes away and the movie gets very boring and also weirdly preachy in its Christianity? It goes from Bad Lieutenant meets The Exorcist to Dawn of the Dead meets Veggie Tales. — Drew

35. Mercy (2014)

dir. Peter Cornwell
based on the 1984 short story “Gramma”, featured in the collection Skeleton Crew

The short story is a contained portrait of a child’s fears of illness and mortality. The movie turns that into an expansive demon story with overly complicated lore. It’s not awful, but it’s also not good, and the potential feels deeply wasted. Fun performance from Mark Duplass though. — Drew

34. 1922 (2017)

dir. Zak Hilditch
based on the 2010 novella 1922, part of the collection Full Dark, No Stars

Well, I suppose it technically tracks that a film based on a difficult-to-read novella would be…difficult to watch. But there’s something about an exceptionally bleak book that is easier to stomach than an exceptionally bleak film, especially because this one doesn’t offer much beyond deep, deep despair. A farmer decides to kill his wife because she wants to sell his farm, and he enlists their teen son to help him do so. Yeah! It’s brutal! We’ve got corpses eaten by rats, a violent miscarriage, and suicide here. The film pretty much never has any dynamism; it’s all just very one-note in its devastation, which makes for a slog. The performances are good. It’s not a horrible movie, just a kind of pointless one — and certainly the worst of the King adaptation subgenre I’m calling Corn Field Horror (which includes In the Tall Grass and Children of the Corn). — KKU

33. The Boogeyman (2023)

dir. Rob Savage
based on the 1973 short story “The Boogeyman”, featured in the collection Night Shift

Generic plot and bad dialogue, but have you considered Sophie Thatcher and Chris Messina are great actors who are fun to watch on-screen? Throw in some good scares and I had fun with this one even if it’s not exactly deserving of a better reputation. — Drew

32. A Good Marriage (2014)

dir. Peter Askin
based on the 2010 novella A Good Marriage, part of the collection Full Dark, No Stars

The worst offense of this film is that it’s a thriller that is…not very thrilling! Here’s one where I can admit some of my book-based biases come into play, because I am obsessed with this novella. It’s far more compelling and suspenseful in its examination of protagonist Darcy Anderson’s unraveling in the wake of discovering her husband of 27 years is a serial killer whose kills have been stumping law enforcement for years. The movie version of this story is stilted and full of spoonfed exposition. Not even Joan Allen can save this movie, which like its central marriage is something bad pretending to be good. — KKU

31. Salem’s Lot (2024)

dir. Gary Dauberman
based on the 1975 novel Salem’s Lot

I really did want to like this recent King adaptation more, and while I didn’t hate it, it just doesn’t all come together as well as it could have. There isn’t enough time to develop the characters deep enough to give stakes to their deaths, and while some scenes genuinely terrify, it’s guilty of showing a little too much where it would be scarier for us to not see the monster(s) head-on. There are a lot of better vampire films out there. And the moral of this story seems to be that Catholicism will save you? — KKU

30. In the Tall Grass (2019)

dir. Vincenzo Natali
based on the 2012 novella In the Tall Grass (co-written by King and his son, Joe Hill)

If In the Tall Grass had been 70-minutes long instead of 90-minutes long, I think it could have ended up even higher on the list. I enjoyed myself during this one! I’m always a fan of time-looping horror, and the time loop is established in super unnerving ways here. A pregnant woman and her brother wander into — you guessed it — some very tall grass in a remote rural area when they hear a young boy calling for help. They become separated, and then things start to get very weird. In the grass, they encounter the young boy, Tobin, as well as his father Ross (Patrick Wilson with a scene-stealing, bone-chilling performance). After a while, the characters realize they’re stuck in a violent time loop.

There’s some extremely fucked up stuff in this film! Including a cannibalism moment so disturbing that even I, known lover of cannibalism horror, was shocked! There’s some really well done and immersive camerawork too, including long, fluid shots and few cuts. It all adds to the destabilizing feeling of being lost in a field and caught in a time loop. It needed a tighter edit, but I do appreciate how off the rails it goes in its final act. — KKU

29. Secret Window (2004)

dir. David Koepp
based on the 1990 novella Secret Window, Secret Garden, featured in the collection Four Past Midnight

Revisiting this movie now, the scariest thing would probably be having to look at Johnny Depp for 90 minutes. But in 2004, I was obsessed with this movie and the novella it’s based on. I love the way King writes writers and David Koepp knows how to make a good time at the movies. John Turturro is also a great villain and while the twist is predictable now, it really hit twenty years ago. — Drew

28. Needful Things (1993)

dir. Fraser C. Heston
based on the 1991 novel Needful Things 

Now, I’m all for sex scenes in scary movies and for there to be eroticism mixed in with elements of horror, but why the hell does Gaunt (aka the literal devil) seduce Polly in this? It is so random? And doesn’t happen in the book! While I am all for adaptations making changes to the original source material, I think those changes are best executed when they’re 1. fixing a flaw of the original work, 2. building on or expanding an existing theme from the original work in new or imaginative ways, or 3. making use of the change in medium in meaningful ways, like a visual device in a film that wouldn’t be possible in a novel. But the Needful Things adaptation, while often harnessing the compelling narrative stakes of the original, injects stuff just for the sake of cheap thrills in a very made-for-TV movie kind of way, and that sex scene between Gaunt and Polly is a prime example.

But there’s still much to be entertained by here, the film zooming in on a town that descends into chaos when its people turn on each other in pursuit of their own greatest desires. There’s a fight scene in it that is easily one of my favorite action sequences in any of the films on this list. And the final act is pure chaos in a way that entertains, even if it’s ridiculous. It’s a shame this movie wasn’t great given its rich thematic potential and the quality of the novel, but while it isn’t great, it’s still fun! — KKU

27. Sometimes They Come Back (1991)

dir. Tom McLoughlin
based on the 1974 short story “Sometimes They Come Back”, featured in Night Shift

The fact that Stephen King was always making greasers into villains in things…doesn’t quite hold up past the 80s. I’m sure greasers were scary to little nerdy ass boys once upon a time, but come on, I can’t look at a Danny Zuko-looking motherfucker and be SCARED. Indeed, the monsters of Sometimes They Come Back are a gang of greasers returned from the dead to psychologically torment the protagonist and bring his traumatic past crashing back into his present. The emotional terror of the film is evocative, and on an intimate character level, the storytelling is solid, too. — KKU

26. The Dark Half (1993)

dir. George A. Romero
based on the 1989 novel The Dark Half

Stephen King loves a write as a protagonist, and this is one of my favorite depictions of an author in a King adaptation (aside from Misery and The Shining), because even though this movie gets goofy at parts, I think it’s actually a fascinating look at the push and pull between the art and the business of making art, the two wolves of literary fiction and commercial fiction at war within protagonist Thad Beaumont (Timothy Hutton, whose performance is wildly considered the best part of the film, and for good reason). What happens when the thing you make starts to haunt and possess you? The Dark Half considers this question in very literal ways, and it really feels like a writer’s film. — KKU

25. Maximum Overdrive (1986)

dir. Stephen King
based on the 1973 short story “Trucks”, featured in the collection Night Shift

Stephen King’s only work as a director never quite lives up to the moment early on when a vending machine starts pummeling a group of boys with soda cans. But I still think the whole movie is fun! While it’s not the deepest of King’s “I’m afraid of cars and machines” movies, there are some great, goofy moments and Emilio Estevez is a strong lead. — Drew

24. Graveyard Shift (1990)

dir. Ralph S. Singleton
based on the 1970 short story “Graveyard Shift”, featured in the collection Night Shift

This is about the horrors of capitalism! Jobs are hell!!! This film famously has a 0% on Rotten Tomatoes (Stephen King also hates it), which honestly makes me love it even more! The performances are good! It’s scary! I think about it any time I see a rat! — KKU

23. The Night Flier (1997)

dir. Mark Pavia
based on the 1988 short story “The Night Flier”, featured in the collection Nightmares & Dreamscapes 

Comparing the paparazzi to vampires is an easy leap, but what this lacks in complexity it makes up for with a committed Miguel Ferrer performance. He’s giving award-winning work in this silly movie and it makes the whole thing such a great time. It also has one of the scariest, most satisfying endings of any King movie or story! — Drew

22. 1408 (2007)

dir. Mikael Håfström
based on the 1999 short story “1408”, featured in the collection Blood and Smoke

John Cusack plays Mike Enslin, an author of supernatural books about haunted places who is nonetheless a skeptic about the paranormal, so he thinks he can totally handle staying in the haunted hotel room where people allegedly don’t last longer than an hour before meeting a violent death. While it sometimes feels like a cobbling together of other films, 1408 ultimately delivers a thrilling haunted house (or, more accurately, haunted room) story that’s sad, scary, and silly in turns. The “twist” is easy to see coming, but I didn’t care! I feel like I’m saying this a lot in these blurbs, but I had fun with this one. It follows a formula, but it follows that formula well. And Cusack plays Enslin as an asshole you can root for. — KKU

21. The Running Man (1987)

dir. Paul Michael Glaser
based on the 1982 novel The Running Man

This sci-fi action movie is very 80’s in a way that makes me yearn for contemporary genre cinema to let go of that very decade. There’s something so revealing about a movie being set in 2017 and being so indicative — stylistically and politically — of its era that is lost when filmmakers opt instead to grovel in nostalgia. Even Arnold Schwarzanegger’s bad one-liners feel of a time here and it makes the commentary on Reagan’s America hit even harder. Dear genre filmmakers: leave the 80’s in the 80’s and make your work reflective of NOW. — Drew

20. Creepshow (1982)

dir. George Romero
based on the 1976 short story “Weeds” and the 1979 short story “The Crate”

Is this film all style and no substance? Sure! But the style is so good you almost don’t care. This anthology horror film features five self-contained horror tales — plus a prologue and epilogue — including one in which Stephen King, inexplicably, plays the main character. King cameos are delightful! A full-on King performance? Maybe stick to writing, bud!

This visual and stylistic tribute to the serialized horror comics of the 1950s also marks King’s screenwriting debut. Two of the segments are based on earlier King work — “The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill,” which is based on “Weeds,” and “The Crate,” based on the short story of the same name — while the rest of the stories were written just for the film. The practical effects are delightful and indeed comic book-esque. The ensemble cast — which includes Ted Danson, Ed Harris, and Carrie Nye — are all giving fun, theatrical performances that play into that comic book aesthetic as well. But as far as the actual storytelling goes? About as two-dimensional as the pages of a comic book. — KKU

19. Doctor Sleep (2019)

dir. Mike Flanagan
based on the 2013 novel Doctor Sleep

Based on the novel that serves as a sequel to The Shining, Doctor Sleep dares to ask the question: Can a woman in a bowler hat be scary? And the answer is yes bitch! I like to call this movie “horror X-Men,” and I’m indeed always drawn to stories about groups of misfits coming together to use their special abilities as a collective — even when they’re super evil! The True Knot cult in Doctor Sleep are vampire-like beings who have become immortal by feeding off the “shine” of others. There’s an iconically terrifying scene in which they murder a young boy played by Jacob Tremblay that is the stuff of actual nightmares. Dan Torrance, all grown up now, teams up with Abra Stone, a young girl who shares his ability of the shining, so they can help bring down the True Knot. It really does play out almost like a horror superhero film.

Rebecca Ferguson is hot and delightfully evil as the aforementioned bowler hat baddie, and Ewan McGregor gives a compelling and sad performance as the alcoholic adult version of Dan, who grapples with his traumatic childhood experiences at the Overlook Hotel. This is a much different movie from The Shining on a lot of levels; it’s even a totally different subgenre of horror, leaning even more into the fantastical elements. And there’s a lesbian! Snakebite Andi! What a dykey name! — KKU

18. Children of the Corn (1984)

dir. Fritz Kiersch
based on the 1977 short story “Children of the Corn”, featured in the collection Night Shift

While not quite good enough to have launched an entire franchise — that I hear is filled with movies that are far worse — I do find it really effective. Killer kids? Scary! Fundamentalist Christians? Scary! Going on a road trip with your partner who insists they’re right even if they’re almost never right? Very scary!! — Drew

17. Silver Bullet (1985)

dir. Dan Attias
based on the 1983 novella Cycle of the Werewolf

The sweetest movie on this list! It’s a fairly classic werewolf story that never gets too scary but the brother/sister relationship is the true heart of the film. Corey Haim and Megan Follows are lovely together and I like the parallel of their fraught sibling relationship and the contentious relationship between their mom and wacky uncle played by Gary Busey. I also appreciate that using a wheelchair becomes an asset for the protgaonist (his uncle makes him a souped up chair that allows him to escape the werewolf) whereas most horror has characters use wheelchairs to suggest they’re trapped. Most Stephen King stories are about the evil buried deep within people, but here it’s about the depth of good — with one pointed exception.

16. Gerald’s Game (2017)

dir. Mike Flanagan
based on the 1992 novel Gerald’s Game

Gerald’s Game is my favorite King novel of those I’ve read so far (and I’ve read quite a few!). I tend to love his works of real-time horror, and Gerald’s Game is a prime example, never letting up in its intensity and suspense. Flanagan’s adaptation similarly never lets you look away, and Carla Gugino’s gives one of my favorite leading horror performances of the past ten years. Jessie becomes literally trapped but is also trapped by the abuse in her past, and while the metaphor there is obvious, it never feels reductive or like an over simplification. It works, and more than that, it’s horrific.

This could be a top 10 film if Flanagan had opted to cut out or significantly alter the epilogue, which plays into some ableist tropes but also just undermines a lot of the horror in the uncertainty from earlier in the film. The ending is the worst part of the book, too, and I feel like Flanagan became too concerned with being faithful versus delivering a better ending. Adaptations have an opportunity to fix flaws in the original work, and when they just reproduce them, it feels like such a waste. — KKU

15. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

dir. Frank Darabont
based on the 1982 novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, from the collection Different Seasons

This is a very well made movie, and it’s often in the top 10 of other Stephen King adaptation lists, and we’re not trying to be contrarian by ranking it lower here! It’s a good movie! The performances are outstanding! It’s a great example of how to tell a really big epic story in a tight space and without being overwrought or self-righteous. The emotions are genuine. The horrors of prison, if a bit understated, are very present throughout the narrative. But when I think about the things I’m drawn to in King adaptations, this film just feels a little…bland! It’s not taking a lot of big swings, and its messages are pretty feel-good and simple. But it does all of that sincerity undeniably well. And it’s in a whole different dimension than The Green Mile. — KKU

14. Cat’s Eye (1985)

dir. Lewis Teague
based on the 1978 short story “Quitters, Inc.” and the 1976 short story “The Ledge”, featured in the collection Night Shift

More films should comprise three stories all linked by a stray cat! I’m always saying this! As far as as anthology horror goes, I think the stories here are much stronger than those in the Creepshow films. There are three very different sources of horror here, but each segment still feels connected in little ways beyond the throughline of the cat. Drew Barrymore as a child was so good in King adaptations that I need her to be in one as an adult! — KKU

13. Pet Sematary (1989)

dir. Mary Lambert
based on the 1983 novel Pet Sematary

The only film on this list directed by a woman (!!), the original Pet Sematary is a devastating story of how impossible it can feel to grapple with death and the stubborn desire we humans have to try to thwart it, even at great cost. There are so many horror stories of bringing back the dead, but none are quite as affecting as Pet Sematary. It’s just so fucking sad, and Lambert captures that well without the film ever feeling like a slog. It’s hard to watch, but you also can’t look away. But the film’s mythology also appropriates Native culture in the same way the novel does, in an egregious example of a well worn trope in the horror genre, and that keeps it from true top ten material. — KKU

12. The Mangler (1995)

dir. Tobe Hooper
based on 1972 short story “The Mangler”, featured in the collection Night Shift

This film is at its best when operating on the very simple level of “poor working conditions as horror.” But I do appreciate that the rest centers around a cop grappling with the reality that his job is to reinforce existing power structures rather than bring about any sort of justice. Beyond its politics, Tobe Hooper just really knows how to make a great horror movie. And Robert Englund knows how to play a deliciously unhinged villain. — Drew

11. Cujo (1983)

dir. Lewis Teague
based on the 1981 novel Cujo

Cujo is my favorite Stephen King book. While I admire the ambitions of It and The Stand, there’s just something about the tightness and brutality of this novel. I also think it’s his most successful attempt at combining tangible terror with a more spiritual doom. The movie is… pretty good. It lacks the depth of the novel, but Dee Wallace’s central performance still makes it worthwhile. I do think it’s interesting that the movie kind of made Cujo shorthand for scary dog even though the book has a startling amount of empathy for his plight. The sections in Cujo’s perspective are some of my favorites. Okay I’ll stop talking about the book but I just really love it! — Drew

10. Stand By Me (1986)

dir. Rob Reiner
based on the 1982 novella The Body, featured in the collection Different Seasons 

This is easily one of my favorite films about boyhood. It’s very earnest and its premise is simple, but the kids feel like real kids (which is not always the case in King adaptations), and it taps into something very real about that sudden transition in youth when we suddenly become aware of our own mortality. — KKU

9. The Mist (2007)

dir. Frank Darabont
based on the 1980 novella The Mist, part of the collection Skeleton Crew

The Mist is a top-tier monster movie, because it so acutely revels in the monstrosity humans are capable of, which is more interesting and terrifying than tentacles with mouths. (Although, those are pretty damn terrifying, too, 2007-style special effects notwithstanding.) When a mysterious mist settles onto the small town of Bridgton, Maine, locals and out-of-towners trapped in a grocery store must come together to survive. But coming together proves difficult when people are hung up on their biases and assumptions about one another and their reluctance to prioritize the good of the group over personal safety. It’s a striking and often deceptively complex look at how individualism dooms us and collective action is the path toward survival, all executed within a straightforward and simple plot line and staging, mostly taking place within the grocery store.

The characters are all fascinating in their own ways, and Marcia Gay Harden’s Mrs. Carmody is perhaps the film’s real monster, her religious fanaticism as dangerous as those tentacles. Some King adaptations teeter into Christian-tinged moralizing, but The Mist instead shows the dangers of religious judgment.

It’s also a deeply sad film with a devastating ending. Like, the kind of ending that will put you in a weird mood for the rest of the day. But the worst part of that ending — which does diverge significantly from King’s novella — is that the U.S. Army swoops in to “save the day.” But I ultimately can stomach it because they prove otherwise worthless (and are the monster makers in the first place) throughout the film. – KKU

8. Sleepwalkers (1992)

dir. Mick Garris
plot twist: this one isn’t based on anything! King wrote it exclusively for the screen!

The moving story of a species who must turn to incest and murder in order to survive amongst humans! It’s kind of like Paul Schrader’s Cat People for anyone who prefers corny teen horror over arthouse, except instead of loving cats, they HATE them. I get if graphic mom/son vampire/werewolf sex isn’t your thing, but I do think this is the kind of movie that’s so bonkers any flaws get excused. Also Mädchen Amick plays the normie human love interest! And she works at one of the best movie theatres in the country! — Drew

7. Christine (1983)

dir. John Carpenter
based on the 1983 novel Christine

I’ll be the first to admit this one surprised me. A teen boy is in love with his CAR? And also the car is a MURDER? But I had so much fun watching this film (and promptly starting the novel) that I am now the proud owner of a custom handmade Christine (1983) shirt crafted by an Orlando local artist! Yes, I literally wear my Christine fandom on my sleeve now!

Sometimes King adaptations are “so ’80s” in a bad way, and sometimes they’re “so ’80s” in a good way, and this one falls into the latter camp. Yes, it is about a teen boy in love with his car who is a sentient killing machine, but it’s also about friendship (and pretty homoerotic in that regard) and . And sorry, I’m gonna say it: Arnie’s obsession with his car and the subsequent “concern” he receives from others along with his suddenly overhauled personality and self-absorption? That’s what coming out feels like IMO!!!!

Also, Christine is the Titane of King adaptations.

ALSO, King is kinda right every time his books are like Phones And Cars Are Killing Us??????? — KKU

6. Firestarter (1984)

dir. Mark L. Lester
based on the 1980 novel Firestarter

After having to watch a lot of movies for this project that feature sexually and physically abusive fathers, it was very refreshing to watch this film, about a genuinely sweet and loving father/daughter relationship. Drew Barrymore stars as Charlie McGee, the pyrokinetic daughter of Andy and Vicky, a couple who as college students participated in a government experiment that gave them both telepathic abilities. Vicky dies early in the film, tortured and murdered by the government agency trying to cover up its tracks and harness the very powerful young Charlie as a weapon.

Tormented children are a recurring trope across King adaptations, and Charlie is one of the best kid characters on this list, Barrymore’s performance heartbreaking and full of emotions that feel mature beyond her years and yet still so kid-like. Trauma has forced Charlie to act much older than she is, and Barrymore captures that so well. It’s easy to extrapolate an allegory for queerness here, Charlie a child who is “different” from others and whose difference is seen as a threat to society. But in order to survive, Charlie must embrace her difference, embrace her power.

The film loses points for George C. Scott playing a Native character, and I do wonder what a version directed by John Carpenter might look like (he was replaced as director when The Thing financially bombed), but Firestarter is great horror and a great story about family, the violence of the state, and a world designed to be inhospitable to kids who are different. It feels perennially relevant, especially through a queer/trans lens. — KKU

5. Carrie (1976)

dir. Brian De Palma
based on the 1974 novel Carrie

It’s not controversial to say the true villain of Carrie is Carrie’s mother. But what if I were to argue well-meaning Sue Snell and Tommy Ross also share responsibility with Carrie’s bullies for her torment? Every time I revisit Brian DePalma’s striking take on Carrie, the more it feels like it’s about pity. At first, pity can be perceived as kindness. It’s not. Like bullying, it’s seeing someone as less than.

While not abandoning his usual leering gaze, DePalma’s always sharp craft is at its best here. With slo-mo and split screens and a music cue borrowed from Psycho, he heightens the horror with style. But, ultimately, it’s the performances that ground this style in its characters’ — all of its characters’ — tortured humanity. — Drew

4. Misery (1990)

dir. Rob Reiner
based on the 1987 novel Misery

I’ve loved this movie since the first time I saw it, and it’s the only King adaptation to have won an Academy Award (which went to Kathy Bates for her indeed impossible-to-forget performance), so yes, of course it’s top 10 material. But I also think Misery is one of the best works of art ever made about the intense, sometimes dangerous dynamic between a devout fan and an artist. While King wrote the book in 1987 and the film was made in 1990, in many ways, it feels even more relevant now as social media and tech have made it even easier for fans to access artists or feel like they have access to artists.

When does a fan’s love become too much, inappropriate, toxic, violence? Between Chappell Roan’s recent plea with fans to not cross her boundaries and Billie Eilish writing a song from the perspective of her literal stalker, it’s clear we’ve only gotten worse about the ways we disregard famous people’s autonomy and normalize obsessive fandom. Misery is terrifying because it’s tapping into something very real and lasting

And as far as two-hander horror goes, this truly one of the best, the film so suspenseful that it disquiets even on your third, fourth, fifth, twelfth watch. I know every beat, and I still startle and clench. — KKU

3. The Dead Zone (1983)

dir. David Cronenberg
based on the 1979 novel The Dead Zone

It’s no surprise this novel and film were adapted into a TV show. A man can see someone’s past, present, and future via touch is ready made for a procedural. And yet Cronenberg’s film stays true to the complexities of the source material. It understands that this is not a story with mere subplots, but an intersecting narrative where each of its threads build to a perfect conclusion. A lesser film and filmmaker would’ve prioritized the serial killer plot, while this film — true to its 1983 release — understands the ultimate serial killer is a smooth-talking politician. — Drew

2. Dolores Claiborne (1995)

dir. Taylor Hackford
based on the 1992 novel Dolores Claiborne

Sometimes the scariest thing really is…family.

There’s a lot of handwringing about this film and whether it’s actually a “horror” film or more of a psychological drama or gothic tale, but no it is horror, full-stop. Kathy Bates and Jennifer Jason Leigh are a revelation as the central mother-daughter pair, who are reunited after Dolores (Bates) is accused of murdering the woman for whom she worked as caretaker. The film is ultimately about the deep, lasting impact of Selena’s (Leigh) father’s abuse; whether Dolores really is “guilty” or not doesn’t really matter.

My love of both this film and Misery (which was #2 on my own personal ranked list) indicates I tend to prefer the King adaptations steeped more in realism than in the supernatural/fantastic. But there is something almost supernatural about the way events unfold in Dolores Claiborne, Selena’s trauma so thoroughly repressed that she doesn’t remember it for so long. The movie reminds me of my beloved Yellowjackets in how it’s presented as a straightforward mystery but not actually about that at all. Discontent and dysfunction course throughout the film, amplified by its remote setting and gray-blue, always wet landscapes.

The only monsters in Dolores Claiborne are human ones, but Joe St. George is one of the scariest presences on this entire list. Dolores Claiborne could have easily been a run-of-the-mill procedural, but instead it’s quietly complex in its explorations of abuse and harm within a family. — KKU

1. The Shining (1980)

dir. Stanley Kubrick
based on the 1977 novel The Shining

I get it, Stephen. When I first watched The Shining the week after reading the book, I was also put off by the changes made to the source material. Even as a kid, I admired the undeniable craft and was affected by the undeniable scares, but I deemed it lesser Kubrick, and a bad adaptation.

With time not only has my appreciation grown for the film as its own work of art — I also view it as a stellar King adaptation albeit not a faithful adaptation of this one book. Thematically Kubrick’s film shares more with other King works like It or Cujo. It may be a bad movie about alcoholism but it’s a great movie about the violence held in a country, a place, a family, a man.

The hotel is not just a place for Jack’s descent into madness. The place is the madness. Through Kubrick’s lens (and with Wendy Carlos’ iconic score), The Shining becomes a portrait of white supremacist patriarchal violence. Whether inflicted through the far-reaching terror of colonialism or confined to the private moments between husband and wife, the horror remains in the soil. The horror remains in the soul. — Drew

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