I agree the length of King’s work does not translate well to movie formats. The better films seem to be mostly based on his medium length novellas. There’s also aspects of most of his stories that are hard to show on film. For example, a King trademark is using repetition of certain thoughts by his characters to indicate their increasingly fragile mental state, used in, well, most of his books. Hard to depict this in a film without looking super cheesy.
I liked Misery, The Langoliers, Stand by Me, Cat’s Eye, and the Shining, all of which were pretty faithful to the originals. It was pretty decent, especially given the huge amount of material they had to cover from the book. Evil Clowns rule! IMO, the Stand was faithful for the first half of the series, then got further and further away from the original book.
Not really looking forward to the Dark Tower as a series or movie. The difference in quality between the first few books in the series and the last few is disturbing. I remember looking up SK’s web site in the late 90’s, and he was saying how he would retire once he’d finished his contractual obligations (2-3 more books, I think). He was talking about how it was getting harder and harder to find that “hole in the page” and get into the writing, and admitted that the quality of his writing had really gone downhill. I don’t know what happened, but Steve should’ve kept his word and retired. I seriously think he was brain damaged when he was hit by that car. Although he started to suck with the Dark Half IMO. Didn’t the evil twin brother in that one wind up getting run over by a car? Karma, Steve, Karma. Anyhow, I don’t think I’ve ever been more disappointed in a series. I guess the upside is the HBO series doesn’t have to do much to exceed my expectations, they’re low enough that all it has to do is slightly not suck. [/rant]
Don’t duck. Anyone who looks down their nose at a Stephen King fan is a fool. Many of King’s novels are excellent.
, However, a seven-season adaptation of “The Dark Tower” has the potential to be genuinely awful. “The Dark Tower” was about three bad books packed into seven; the last three are certainly three of King’s worst books.
I hadn’t realized any of the stories in Creepshow were adapted, but now I look and see my favourite was (The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill) - although my second favourite (Something To Tide You Over) was original to the movie.
I’d like to see more anthology films/TV series of his short stories.
The Stand miniseries better have been good - King himself wrote the screenplay, as I recall!
The Green Mile, Shawshank, and Stand By Me (based on the novella The Body) were outstanding. Delores Claiborne was a good movie, but it reminded me of a lot of good movie versions of books - it took the names and an over-arching plot line, and converted it to something completely different from the book as written. I would have preferred it if they had changed the names, messed around with a few details of the plot, and left Stephen King out of it. Primary difference? The relationship between Dolores and her adult daughter, insofar as appears in the book at all, is entirely off stage. In the movie, it’s really the central focus of the entire movie.
On the other hand, I thought that the movie Carrie was far superior to the book.
The best of King’s books to be brought to the screen do not involve monsters. They’re the psychological thrillers. IMO, of course.
It’s because King’s greatest “strength” is his logorrhea; he assaults you and overpowers you with an avalanche of unnecessary verbiage. This has something of a hypnotic effect and makes the actual reading of his books the literary equivalent of being tube fed under general anesthesia. When they’re adapted to film, much of this padding is necessarily excised, making it easier to see how much Stephen King sucks.
* 1976 Carrie
* 1980 The Shining
* 1982 Creepshow (consists of five short films: "Father's Day," "The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill," "Something to Tide You Over," "The Crate," and "They're Creeping Up On You")
* 1983 Cujo
* 1983 The Dead Zone
* 1983 Christine
* 1984 Children of the Corn (short story from Night Shift)
* 1984 Firestarter
* 1985 Cat's Eye (consists of three short films: "Quitters, Inc.," "The Ledge," and "The General", the last of which is original)
* 1985 Silver Bullet (based on Cycle of the Werewolf)
* 1986 Maximum Overdrive (based on "Trucks" from Night Shift; directed by King)
* 1986 Stand By Me (based on "The Body", novella from Different Seasons)
* 1987 Creepshow 2 (consists of three short films: "Old Chief Wood'n'head," "The Raft," and "The Hitchhiker")
* 1987 A Return to Salem's Lot (sequel to 'Salem's Lot)
* 1987 The Running Man (novel written as Richard Bachman)
* 1989 Pet Sematary
* 1990 The Cat From Hell (short film that is part of Tales From The Darkside - The Movie)
* 1990 Graveyard Shift (story from Night Shift)
* 1990 Misery
* 1992 The Lawnmower Man
* 1992 Sleepwalkers (original screenplay)
* 1993 IT
* 1993 The Dark Half
* 1993 Needful Things
* 1994 The Shawshank Redemption (novella "Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption" from Different Seasons)
* 1995 The Mangler (story from Night Shift)
* 1995 Dolores Claiborne
* 1996 Thinner (novel written as Richard Bachman)
* 1998 Apt Pupil (novella from Different Seasons)
* 1999 The Green Mile
* 1999 The Rage: Carrie 2 (sequel to Carrie)
* 2001 Hearts in Atlantis (Adapted Low Men In Yellow Coats, the first part)
* 2003 Dreamcatcher
* 2004 Secret Window (novella Secret Window, Secret Garden from Four Past Midnight)
* 2004 Riding the Bullet
* 2007 1408 (based on the short story from Everything's Eventual)
* 2007 The Mist (novella from Skeleton Crew)
* 2008 (announced) Creepshow
* 2008 (announced) Remake of Pet Sematary
* 2009 (in development) From a Buick 8 (Director: Tobe Hooper)
* 2009 (in development) Cell (Director: Eli Roth)
* 2009 (in development) Bag of Bones (Director: Mick Garris)
* 2009 (announced) Black House
* TBA (announced) The Dark Tower (Director: J.J. Abrams)
Television
* 1979 Salem's Lot
* 1985 Word Processor of the Gods (episode of Tales from the Darkside)
* 1986 Gramma (episode of The Twilight Zone based on story from Skeleton Crew)
* 1987 Sorry, Right Number (episode of Tales from the Darkside)
* 1990 It (Miniseries)
* 1990 The Moving Finger (Monsters episode based on story from Nightmares & Dreamscapes)
* 1991 Golden Years (original tv mini-series)
* 1991 Sometimes They Come Back (short story from Night Shift)
* 1993 The Tommyknockers (TV miniseries)
* 1994 The Stand (TV miniseries)
* 1995 The Langoliers (TV miniseries based on novella from Four Past Midnight)
* 1995 The Outer Limits (TV series - episode "The Revelations of Becka Paulson" based on his story)
* 1997 The Shining (TV miniseries, a more King-approved adaptation of the novel)
* 1997 The Night Flier (HBO Movie)
* 1997 Trucks (TV remake of Maximum Overdrive)
* 1998 Chinga (episode of The X-Files)
* 1999 Storm of the Century (original TV miniseries)
* 2002 Firestarter 2: Rekindled
* 2002 Rose Red (original TV miniseries)
* 2002 The Dead Zone (TV Series)
* 2002 Carrie (TV movie remake)
* 2003 The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer (TV movie)
* 2004 Kingdom Hospital (TV series)
* 2004 'Salem's Lot (TV miniseries remake)
* 2006 Desperation (TV Mini-Series)
* 2006 Nightmares and Dreamscapes: From the stories of Stephen King
* 2008 (annuonced) Remake of IT
* 2009 The Talisman (original TV miniseries)
Short films
* 1982 The Boogeyman (Short film based on short story from Night Shift)
* 1983 Disciples of the Crow (based on Children of the Corn) (short film)
* 1983 The Woman in the Room (short film by Frank Darabont)
* 1987 The Last Rung on the Ladder (short film based on story from Night Shift)
* 1997 Ghosts (music video)
* 1999 Llamadas (Spanish version of Sorry, Right Number) (short film)
* 2000 Paranoid (based on a poem)(short film)
* 2001 Strawberry Spring (short film based on story from Night Shift)
* 2002 Night Surf (short film of story from Night Shift)
* 2002 Rainy Season (short film based on story from Nightmares & Dreamscapes)
* 2003 Autopsy Room Four (short film)
* 2003 Here There Be Tygers (short film based on story from Skeleton Crew)
* 2003 The Man in the Black Suit (short film)
* 2004 Luckey Quarter (short film)
* 2004 The Secret Transit Codes of America's Highways (short film based on All That You Love Will Be Carried Away)
* 2004 All That You Love Will Be Carried Away (short film)
Direct-to-video
* 1985 Stephen King's Nightshift Collection (consists of two short films: "The Woman in the Room" and "The Boogeyman" (and, in some editions, "Strangehold," that has nothing to do with King; only released on video))
* 1995 Stephen King's Nightshift Collection (consists of three short films, only the first of which has anything to do with King: "Disciples of the Crow" (based on Children of the Corn), "The Night Waiter," and "Killing Time;" some versions only contain two films)
* 1997 Quicksilver Highway (segment Chattery Teeth, based on story from Nightmares & Dreamscapes)
You do realize that quite a few of us actually read and enjoy that which you call unnecesary verbiage, and feel that there’s actually content there? Of course, many of us feel there’s value in books that offer more words than are found in your average graphic novel.
Doesn’t that fall within the old arguments about books vs. movies? The information we gather with the visual medium needs a lot of written description. Each conveys a different degree of empathy, for me.
I agree. But lissener is putting down King as an author specifically, saying that he is overly verbose, and that his wordiness is utterly without content. I don’t think anyone could possibly argue that King isn’t a wordy kind of guy, but those of us who enjoy him disagree that the verbiage has no value. But then, it’s declasse for a true student of lit’r’ture to actually enjoy King - he’s actually popular, don’t you know?
Easy enough to dismiss someone’s opinion with the *ad hominem *“he just hates it because it’s popular.” Unfortunately, he likes a lot of very popular literature, so it ain’t gonna cut it. My objections to King are King-specific and carefully considered; I’ve read 90% of his output.
Sorry, I was being snarky there. You happen to hit one of my buttons, which you couldn’t possibly have known. There are a fair number of people out there who do despise things purely on the basis of their being popular or accessible. My feeling is, if, say, the William Tell Overture didn’t have something pretty special about it, we wouldn’t all react to it quite the way we do. That makes it pretty darned good art. Same thing with the 1812 Overture, Frasier notwithstanding*.
I happen to think King is kind of the Dickens of today. Long-winded, perhaps. But almost every word to me is interesting. And, I’m sorry, lissener, but your post pretty strongly suggested that anyone of good taste couldn’t possibly think that. So I snarked at you and I apologize for that.
*There was an episode in which he and Niles laughed about themselves back in the days when they were children and thought the Overture of 1812 was “good music.”
IMHO, his greatest strength is, by far, his characterization. In his best works King creates characters as real and as complex as any author who has ever lived.
His verboseness is, IMHO, his weakness, and is the central problem with most of his worst work. (He’s beginning to find other weaknesses as he gets older and is running out of ideas.) His best works aren’t his long ones; “The Shining,” “The Dead Zone” and “Eyes of the Dragon” are all novels of modest to average length, and what words he uses he puts to good use. His short stories are excellent. His bad novels are the ones that drag on; “Insomnia” is a cure for its title, “It” is a great 450-page novel stuffed into 1100 pages, “The Stand” is a solid four hundred pages longer than it needs to be, “From A Buick Eight” has two hundred compelling pages among the 600 or so it technically lasts for, and the entire Dark Tower series is seven books when it should have been three or four.
But, you see, The Stand is, among real King fans, probably the most popular of King’s works, the last I saw. It and Insomnia are two of my favorites as well, and I absolutely love The Talisman, and The Dark Tower series.
Different strokes.
ETA: When I say The Stand is the most popular, I am basing this on what he claims to have been told, in the forward or afterward of one of his books, or in Danse Macabre, his non-fiction treatise on horror fiction in movies, tv, and film.
Based solely on numbers, perhaps. But Dickens wrote books–immensely readable and popular publishing phenomena–that examined and enlightened the modern (to him) human condition, and exposed and criticized important social issues. While King indulges and, what, incubates; massages; stimulates; feeds; celebrates at the very least–the very worst impulses of humankind and wallows in those impulses in a grottily masturbatory way that almost seems violative to me.
I read him voraciously through highschool and my twenties; reread most things several times. But over time I began to notice how spiritually sick he made me feel, even while he was so easily digestibly diverting. After expanding my reading horizons for many subsequent years, whenever I return to King (for the same reason that I occasionally watch a horror movie), I’m reminded by a distinctly visceral reaction how “bad” he is for me. He’s ill. And I’m glad the universe I live in is not the one he’s built in his head.
I meant it was his strength as a publishing phenomenon; as an addictive substance. Not as an artist. His strength as an artist (I disagree strongly about his characterization; his characters, when not cliche stock characters, are the same few from book to book to book, and they all talk like him) is his consummate skill in leading the reader on; breaking the chapter just at the most suspenseful moment and making it necessary to read the next chapter before you go to bed.
I think that’s unquestionably true now, but wasn’t when he was good. King is just repeating himself at this point; he’s xeroxing the same thing, over and over.
“Lisey’s Story” was the first novel I’ve ever started, as an adult, that I just couldn’t bring myself to continue.
