FILMS
OF STEPHEN KING
Probably no single man has had as much of an impact on the look, taste and feel of the splatter film genre—or upon the modern world of horror—as ultra-successful fiction writer Stephen King.
There are literally millions of people who would have no interest in horror whatsoever if it weren't for Mr. King. His novels, among the most suspenseful page-turners ever written, are churned out at a rate of nearly one a year. Naturally, many of his books have made it to the silver screen as splatter films, often with less-than-satisfactory results.
The first of them, "Carrie," was also based on King's first novel. Before becoming a best-selling writer with "Carrie," King was supporting himself as a laborer at an industrial laundry, while writing excellent horror stories in his spare time. Many of his short tales were published in Men's Magazines normally accustomed to only accepting "erotic" stories. But King's terror tales were so good, the magazines couldn't turn them down.
"Carrie" was accepted for publication in 1973 and a year later and became a huge seller. He followed it up with other classic horror novels, "Salem's Lot," "The Shining" and "The Stand," which would all eventually be translated to film.While his books spoke for themselves, it was a Hollywood movie adaptation of "Carrie" that helped make King a household name and propel his popularity to awesome levels.
Directed by Brian De Palma, "Carrie" is the story of a psychic high school student who, after being tormented by her peers, uses her powers to kill almost everyone at a prom.The film would redefine the horror genre. It was one of the first modern terror films that specifically dealt with teenage issues. "Halloween," "Prom Night," "Scream" and countless other films have all been influenced by it.
The film propelled a number of careers. In addition to boosting King's name recognition, it elevated the star status of John Travolta, Sissy Spacek, Amy Irving and director DePalma.
An adaptation of King's vampire novel "Salem's Lot" hit the small screen in the form of an effective TV miniseries directed by Tobe Hooper. But from there on out, both King and his fans have had a love-hate relationship with the film industry's handling of his work.
When it was announced that the great Stanley Kubrick was going to direct his vision of King's ultra-classic novel "The Shining," fans were thrilled. But many, including King himself, felt the film strayed way too far from King's novel.
Both John Carpenter and David Cronenberg took stabs at adapting King. Cronenberg's "The Dead Zone" is one of the best King films to date, while Carpenter's "Christine" is only above-average.
Most of the films fail to capture the spiritual significance of King's work. Perhaps only one adaptation, the 6-hour miniseries based on "The Stand," has truly done one of his novels justice. But even that miniseries had flaws, despite an excellent screenplay by King.
A string of turkeys bearing the King moniker (among them "Cujo," "Firestarter" and "Cat's Eye") actually led Hollywood to stop highlighting King's names on films, even when they were adaptations to his stories.King has also produced original work for Hollywood. He wrote "Sleepwalkers" and "Creepshow" specifically for the screen and directed "Maximum Overdrive." He even had a starring role in "Creepshow."
Some of the best King films were directed by other people, with King serving as the sole screenwriter. "Pet Sematary," "The Stand" and "Creepshow" stand out as classics in large part because he wrote them. Kathy Bates won an Oscar for her portrayal of the lead character in the big-screen adaptation of "Misery."
One god-awful franchise was spawned from one of his short stories. After 14 years since the first film debuted, "Children of the Corn" movies are still being made. King also sued to have his name removed from a film purportedly based on one of his stories, "Lawnmower Man."
In the past, a Stephen King movie was a major Hollywood event, but in recent years that hasn't been the case. Even as his book sales soar, movies based on his work sometimes wind up as direct-to-video releases. "The Night Flier," which was an excellent movie, is just one example. King's books continue being adapted for the silver screen, however, and often the writer makes cameo appearances in them.
At the time of this writing, the movie adaptation of his novel "Desperation" was already slated for a 2000 release.