Dr. Venkman Presents: Top 10 Best Stephen King Films!

by Joey Paur

I am a huge Stephen king fan. The guy is one hell of a writer! There have been so many movies made that have been adapted from his books its crazy, about 68. Some of them are good, bad, terrible, amazing and brilliant. I have put together a list of what I think the best Top 10 steven king movies are. You may a gree you may disagree but its all part of the fun isn't it. I have provided movie clips and films trialers for you and also give you some really cool movie trivia for each film So check it out and enjoy!

 

 

  10. The Dead Zone


I think this movie holds one of Christopher Walkens best performances. This was just an incredible movie with so much depth to it. Here is a guy that can see the future of the people he comes in contact with. To see what a person like that would do with this ability. One of the best moments in the movie was when the main character Johnny tries to stop one of the kids he was tutoring parent from taking a bunch of kids to play hockey on the frozen lake, because Johnny saw that the ice would break. This idiot doesn't listen to him because he thinks he's a wack job. He takes the kids out anyway and guess what happens. This is a classic King movie.



 

Movie Trivia: Before the accident, Johnny instructs his class to read "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow". Christopher Walken would later go on to play the Headless Horseman in Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow (1999).

 

  9. Needful Things


This was a very evil movie. The devil comes into a small town to cause death and carnage by turning its residents against each other. One of the classic scenes of this movie was the knife and cleaver fight between Nettie and Wilma with the classical music going on in the back ground. The movie was not as good as the book but it was really good.



 

Movie Trivia: At one point during filming, director Fraser Heston (the infant Moses in The Ten Commandments), took Max von Sydow (Jesus in The Greatest Story Ever Told) aside to discuss how he would play the upcoming scene. One observer noted, "That's something you don't see every day -- Moses telling Jesus how to play the devil."

 

  8. The Mist


I loved the book, I loved the 3-D sound cassette tape that came out, Frank Darabont was directing, this was bound to be one of my favorite Steven King movies! Why is it number 8? They changed the freaking ending and depressed the hell out of me. Had the stuck to the original ending this would be in my top 3. Everything up to the ending was fantastic! Everything I could hope for. If you get a chance watch the special edition black and white version. It is very cool and gives that old school horror look.



 

Movie Trivia: Besides the Gunslinger illustration at the beginning of the film, The Mist shares another direct connection to the Dark Tower series of novels, written by Stephen King. This is the line "My life for you," spoken by Mrs. Carmody. This has been said by a number of villainous characters in the Dark Tower books, who had sworn allegiance to Walter o'Dim, one of the major antagonists. (Walter o'Dim made his first appearance in several earlier King novels, one the first being The Eyes of the Dragon, under the alias Randall Flagg, and the line is spoken there as well.) The Mist is one of the first short stories to refer to cross reference the Dark Tower. That same line, "My life for you," is used by Trashcan in The Stand movie as well as the book. This is also a reference made to Randall Flagg although in a different book.

 

  7. IT


How could you not like IT? Yes it was a made for TV movie but it was a great TV movie. Tim Curry will go down in history as one of the scariest clowns ever! He was amazing in that role! I loved the time period of the film when all the kids came together. All of those kids were amazing actors in this movie, much better than the adults that played the same characters. Just the thought of those kids banding together against that horrific monster that a whole town knows about but ignores is a great story. One of the best scenes is when they are all sitting together by the damn they built looking at old photos of the town and they discover the clown in a lot of the pictures. All of a sudden the picture comes to life and the clown gets right in their face to taunt them and his hand pops out of the picture and scares the crap out of all of them.



 

Movie Trivia: On the DVD commentary track, the actors note that Tim Curry's characterization of Pennywise was so creepy and realistic that everyone avoided him during the filming.

 

  6. Pet Semetery


This movie scarred the hell into me when I was a kid! The whole idea of this movie is crazy insane. Burying dead things in a Ancient Indian Burial ground to bring them back to life! Holy crap! This movie kept me awake at nights and gave me nightmares like no other movie had. Remember the sister Zelda with the crazy deformed face and body? I used to think she was crouched in the corner of my room in the dark waiting to grab me. Then with the little kids Cage coming back to life evil to kill his family. With his little kid voice, "First I play with Mommy, then I play with Judd, now I wanna play with yyyyyoooouuuuu." Gives me the creeps. For me it is one of the scariest movies ever made, because it effected me in a way no other horror movie had. It took 3 weeks for me to get that movie out of my system. "Sometimes dead is better."



 

Movie Trivia: The role of Zelda, Rachael's dying sister, was played by a man. The role called for her to look emaciated, and apparently there were no women skinny enough. AND:

Bruce Campbell was the first choice for the role of Louis Creed. Which would have been amazing!

 

  5. The Shining


Do I really need to say anything about The Shining? It is a classic horror movie that had a brilliant film director and an amazing cast. I love jack decent into madness. There is a scene where he is looking out of the window at his wife and son and the look on his face is terrifying and evil. Then you got this kid that has the ability to see the most horrific images. They is that scene where he was riding his bike around the hotel and turned a corner to find those 2 freaky twins standing their holding hands. "Come play with us Danny." And then the flash of them chopped up and blood everywhere. Holy crap! I would like to see a movie of what happened to Danny when he grew up and ended up in a mental institute.



 

Movie Trivia: During the making of the movie, Stanley Kubrick would call Stephen King at 3:00 a.m. and ask him questions like "Do you believe in God?"

Stanley Kubrick demanded 127 takes from Shelley Duvall in one scene.

Stanley Kubrick, known for his compulsiveness and numerous retakes, got the difficult shot of blood pouring from the elevators in only three takes. This would be remarkable if it weren't for the fact that the shot took nine days to set up; every time the doors opened and the blood poured out, Kubrick would say, "It doesn't look like blood." They had tried shooting that scene for an entire year.

 

  4. Misery


This movie was absolutely amazing. The whole movie was pretty filmed in one place, hell! In one room! With 2 amazing characters and 2 brilliant actors to portray them. Kathy Bates wom best actress for her role as Annie Wilks and it was well deserved. She was scarier than Jack Nicolson in The Shining. You may not agree with me but Jack would be a scary person to approach on the streets, Annie not so much she looks just like a normal woman. A normal woman that killed babies! Jack didn't kill himself any babies. The craziest scene is when she found out Paul was getting out of the room and she walks in with a wood block and a sledge hammer. She was so nice and sweet, as she proceeded to break his feet!



 

Movie Trivia: When Annie demands that Paul burn his manuscript, she lights the paper and we see a close-up of the words on the paper, an article about Cameron Crowe and how he is an amazing scriptwriter. It talks about his movies, but mostly offers praise for Say Anything... (1989).

Kathy Bates reportedly was disappointed that a scene was cut in which she kills a young police officer by rolling over him repeatedly with a lawnmower. Director Rob Reiner was afraid that the audience would laugh at it.

 

  3. The Green Mile


I am down to the top 3 and this is where it got tough because all of these movies are amazing. This is one of Tom Hanks best movies. He was amazing in this film. When He was first cast I wasn't sure if he was right for the part but he blew me away. Everyone is this movie was fantastic it was perfectly cast. I love the story and super natural element of this movie. A giant black man that has a gift from god that is put on death row for being falsely accused of killing two little girls. This is a film that pulled on my emotional cords. Especially when they show Barry Pepper crying his eyes out. Good grief. One of the best scenes of this film is when they pull Percy out of solitary confinement and John grabs him and infects Percy with what ever that was. Percy is then taunted by Wild Bill, Percy turns to him a tear is shed from each eye, he pulls out his revolver and shoots the bastard. Percy then got his transfer to Briar Ridge state mental hospital. Sweet justice.



 

Movie Trivia: Doug Hutchison (Percy) was given, according to the director, the squeakiest shoes he'd ever heard. He thought this was the greatest bit of fate, and a "perfectly wonderful, annoying character trait" that he kept it in the movie, and you can hear sometimes how loud his shoes are.

 

  2. Stand By Me


This was one of my favorite movies while I was growing up. What kid didn't want to embark on an adventure like theirs? To be with your best friends, and get away from the world that you are so familiar with. This is one of the best coming of age movies ever made. Every scene of this movie is executed so well. This is not a fairy tale movie. We all have ideas of what our lives end up like but most of us don't expect what we end up getting. Gordie said it best after they came back from their little adventure. He talked about when they started up school again and how each of them faded apart and eventually just became another face at school.



 

Movie Trivia: Corey Feldman and director Rob Reiner tested thirty different laughs before deciding upon the one for Teddy Duchamp. The laugh happens to be similar to that described in King's story.

To keep in character while off-camera, Kiefer Sutherland often picked on Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, and Jerry O'Connell.

 

  1. The Shawshank Redemption


This movie is in my top 10 favorite movies of all time. This is a movie that no matter how many times I have seen it is still incredibly amazing. This movie plays all the time on various TV and Cable stations and you know what? Every time I am flipping through channels, and I see its on, I stop to watch it no matter where it is in the movie. This movie effects me the same way every time I see it. There are very few movies that have the power that The Shawshank Redemption has. It is Frank Darabonts best film. One of my favorite scenes in the movie beside the awesome ending, is the scene where Andy locks himself in the Wardens office and put on that record for everyone in the prison to hear. And you have all those prisoners that stopped what they were doing and just stared up at the speakers and got lost in the music. What an amazing scene that was. This movie is amazing and one worth watching every time you wath it.



 

Movie Trivia: The role of Andy Dufresne was originally offered to Tom Hanks, who couldn't accept due to scheduling conflicts with Forrest Gump (1994). Hanks did, however, work on Frank Darabont's next film, The Green Mile (1999).Kevin Costner turned down the role of Andy Dufresne, a decision he strongly regretted later on.

Rob Reiner loved Frank Darabont's script so much that he offered $2.5 million for the rights to the script so he could direct it. Darabont seriously considered Reiner's offer but ultimately decided that it was his "chance to do something really great" by directing the movie himself. Reiner wanted Harrison Ford and Tom Cruise to play Red and Andy respectively.

 

Now Time for some Honerable Mentions:

I wanted to put 1408 in there but I was just not sure where to place it. I loved the movie and thought it was great! It would have been number 10 on the list but Dead Zone beat it out because it is a classic Steven King movie. It was a hard choice to make but I had to make it.

Children of the Corn would be concidered the best of the bad. But the idea of kids killing all the adults in a town is freaky shit. The movie was exectuted poorly though.

Dreamcatcher was a really good movie it had its moments but not one of the best.

Hearts is Atlantis was just a really good movie. I really enjoyed it but it dosen't have that edge to make it a classic. 

 
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