5 Must-See Stephen King Thrillers That Will Keep You Up All Night
These movies are so scary, you'll need to sleep with the lights on!
Christine (1983)
Unpopular nerd Arnie Cunningham buys a red 1958 Plymouth Fury, which he names Christine and develops an unhealthy obsession with, spending days on end fixing it up, to the alarm of his jock friend, Dennis Guilder.
After a school bully defaces Christine, the car restores itself to perfect condition, kills the bully that damaged it and then starts killing off all of his friends.
The film is based on a Stephen King novel of the same name, but the adaptation takes liberties with some of the details of the story and its timeline.
It does succeed, though, at conveying the original material's sense of mounting unease at the beginning and abject terror towards the end.
Cujo (1983)
After sweet St. Bernard Cujo gets bitten by a bat, he starts behaving oddly and becomes very aggressive. Before long, Cujo is terrorising a small New England town.
A stay-at-home mom and her son on a fateful errand get caught in Cujo's crosshairs and end up being stuck in their tiny car as the crazed animal tries to force his way in.
There is no paranormal activity or aliens in this movie, just a man's best friend turned into his worst enemy that keeps you on the edge of your seat throughout.
Several dogs were used in making the movie, as well as a mechanical dog head and an actor wearing a dog costume.
Misery (1990)
After a serious car accident, novelist Paul Sheldon is rescued by former nurse Annie Wilkes, who says she is his biggest fan.
She takes Paul to her remote cabin to recover, but her obsession takes a dark turn when she learns that Sheldon plans to kill off her favourite character.
As Sheldon tries to escape, Annie becomes more and more controlling and even violent, forcing Paul to change his writing to suit her twisted fantasies.
Kathy Bates won an Oscar for her role as Annie Wilkes, making Misery the only Stephen King adaptation to win an award.
It (1990)
In 1960 Derry, seven preteen outcasts gang up and fight a prehistoric evil entity that manifests as a child-killing clown.
They manage to beat it back but years later, the evil being residing in the sewers and caves under Derry goes on another killing spree and the main characters, now adults, have to go back and finish the job.
Both the book and the movie are action-packed and extremely suspenseful thrillers but can also be viewed as allegories about facing up to our childhood demons.
Pennywise the Dancing Clown is based on real-life serial killer John Wayne Gracy, who would dress up in a clown costume and crash children's parties where he would then abduct his victims.
Mist (2007)
The movie is based on a Stephen King novella of the same name. It is Director Frank Darabont's third Stephen King adaptation, the other two being The Shawshank Redemption and the Green Mile.
The movie follows David Drayton and his son who head into town to get food and supplies after a powerful storm damages their Maine home and causes a power outage.
Soon after, a thick fog rolls in and engulfs the town, trapping the Draytons and others in the supermarket, and the worst thing is the fog is teaming with terrible creatures that kill and dismember people.
Tension mounts as a Christian zealot in the store starts calling for a sacrifice, so the Draytons and some others decide to make a run for their cars and escape.
The movie features a different, darker ending than the original story.