Horror master Stephen King - who has published a total of 61 novels, five non-fiction books and about 200 short stories over the decades - has his own favorite shows and movies within the horror genre. King has, of course, seen several of his own works get adapted into movies and television shows over the years as well. The author - whose first book, Carrie, was published in 1974 - has collaborated on the writing and production of many of the screen versions of his stories. Over time, King has commented on his perception of several of these movies and shows, discussing why he didn't like some of them - famously, he hated Stanley Kubrick's The Shining - and why he loved others.
King's first novel, Carrie, was also his first to be adapted into a movie; it was directed by Brian De Palma, and came out in 1976. From there, as the author published more books, and adaptations of those works took off. In the 1980s alone, 14 of his stories were made into movies. The 1990s saw 13 adaptations, including Tales from the Darkside: The Movie, Graveyard Shift, and Misery. In the past two decades, about 21 King books that have been made into movies. Of course, many of King's stories were also made into TV shows or miniseries. Among the most popular TV adaptations are 1979's Salem's Lot, 1990's It, 1994's The Stand, 1997's The Shining, 2002-2007's The Dead Zone, 2013-2015's Under the Dome, 2020's The Outsider, and 2020's The Stand. Plus, some upcoming TV show adaptations include the highly anticipated The Institute and Sleeping Beauties. Some more film adaptations are also coming up, including a remake of Firestarter and numerous others.
As aforementioned, King has long been voicing his options on the screen adaptations of his novels and short stories. He's famously declared non-horror movies like 1986's Stand By Me, 1999's The Green Mile, and 1994's The Shawshank Redemption to be among his favorites. In terms of his horror stories, among King's favorite screen adaptations are 1990's Misery, 1983's Cujo, and both the 1990 miniseries and 2017 movie version of IT. King doesn't only watch his own horror tales unfold on the screen, however. Over the years, he has spoken out about what his favorite horror flicks are outside of his own work, and his statements have often helped those movies succeed, as a thumbs-up from the master of horror is often a huge boon for a new project.
In a 2010 reissue of his nonfiction book Danse Macabre, King included an introduction exploring his opinions on the state of the horror genre in modern cinema. Within that introduction was an essay on The Blair Witch Project, which was released in 1999. Here's some of what King had to say about the groundbreaking film:
"One thing about Blair Witch: the d**n thing looks real. Another thing about Blair Witch: the d**n thing feels real. And because it does, it’s like the worst nightmare you ever had, the one you woke from gasping and crying with relief because you thought you were buried alive and it turned out the cat jumped up on your bed and went to sleep on your chest."
King was clearly extremely responsive to the movie, which was was shot using a found-footage style. The movie was directed and edited by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez. It's based on what's said to be the true story of three student filmmakers who hike into the Black Hills near Burkittsville, Maryland to film a documentary about the "Blair Witch." In the end, the three students disappear - but their equipment and footage are discovered a year later.
Another horror movie King has highly recommended is 2004's Dawn of the Dead remake, which was directed by Zack Snyder and written by James Gunn. King notably called the flick "genius perfected," and stated that it encompasses one of the best opening sequences of a horror movie ever made. King commented that the zombies in the movie were terrifying, suggesting that their ability to move fast made the film scarier than the original one, as well as other zombie flicks.
Surprisingly, another one of the scary films King has praised over the years is the 1999 shark movie Deep Blue Sea. While this film was critically panned, and its CGI appears dated and not believable today, the movie did gain a cult following over the years and has gotten two sequels. King raved about the movie, saying: "...At the most unexpected point of the film, one of the surpermakos rears up and bites Samuel L. Jackson in half! Yessss! I screamed out loud, and I treasure any horror movie that can make me do that.”
To the delight of many a horror movie fan, King has supported the Final Destination franchise over the years. The first Final Destination movie was released in 2000, the second in 2003, the third in 2006, the fourth in 2009, and the fifth in 2011. Notably, King has commented that he thinks only the first installment of the franchise is truly scary, though he does enjoy them all. Each movie in the franchise centers on a small group of people who escape impending death when one person - the lead character of each film - has a sudden vision, and warns them that they will all die in a terrible accident. The first entry of the franchise stars Devon Sawa and Ali Larter, and was directed by James Wong.
2009's The Last House on the Left - a remake of the 1972 movie of the same name, directed by Wes Craven - also makes King's list of favorite horror movies. In fact, he said after watching it that it was "the best horror movie of the new century." King stated that what makes the movie scary is that it's brutal and uncompromising. The movie, directed by Dennis Iliadis, stars Tony Goldwyn and Monica Potter as parents who try to get revenge on a group of strangers who killed their daughter.
King has also dubbed 2008's The Strangers as a great horror movie. He tweeted that the movie is "an orchestration of growing disquiet and horror." King continued that the movie succeeds at being scary thanks to how it starts off slowly and builds from slight unease to total terror. Indeed, the movie - written and directed by Bryan Bertino - has an unusal pace that keeps viewers on the edges of their seats. The story focuses on a young couple (Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman) whose stay at a vacation home is violently disrupted by masked criminals who break into the house.
More recently, King tweeted that 2015's critically-acclaimed horror film The Witch "scared the hell" out of him. The author also called the movie tense and thought-provoking. The period supernatural horror movie was written and directed by Robert Eggers. The overall story follows a Puritan family who encounter forces of evil in the woods near their New England farm, and must contend with the devil potentially being among them.
Another on-screen horror tale King has raved about is the series Reckoning, which was released on Netflix in the spring of 2020. The show - which stars Aden Young, Sam Trammell, and Simone Kessell - explores the male psyche through the points of view of two fathers - one of whom is a serial-killer. Here's what King tweeted about it: "A pretty good 10-episode limited series. Fine mystery plot generates bursts of maximum suspense. As a bonus, it's a master class in how not to parent."
Another series King has recommended is Dracula, an adaptation of the classic Bram Stoker novel which came out on Netflix in early 2020. While the show garnered very mixed reviews from critics, King stated himself as a fan. The horror author called the show "smart, involving, and bloody terrific" in a Tweet.
This list is not exhaustive; there are certainly many more horror television shows and movies that horror icon Stephen King has tweeted about or commented on in recent years. However, horror genre fans can definitely trust the author's on-screen recommendations — after all, he's been in the industry for nearly five decades.
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