8 Absolutely Worst Stephen King Adaptations You Shouldn't Waste Your Time On

Stephen King is a horror master whose books have inspired dozens of film and TV adaptations, but not all of them have been hits – or even worth watching. From poor scripts to awful direction, these are the movies you'd be better off avoiding.

1. 'Thinner', 1996

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 19%

Lawyer Billy Halleck is acquitted in court thanks to his connections after hitting a Romani woman with his car. However, all of these people are subjected to severe punishment in the form of terrible curses that turn their lives into nightmares.

Stephen King's novel Thinner is distinguished not only by its signature frightening atmosphere, but also by its black humor and allusions to mass insanity, faith in healers, and curses.

Tom Holland's movie retained the plot twists but lacked the suspense and the tension with which the writer held the reader's interest.

2. 'The Dark Tower', 2017

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 16%

Every influential author has a magnum opus that seems impossible to film. For Stephen King, it is The Dark Tower series, which blends several genres and features a multitude of characters.

Thirty-five years after the release of the first book, an unexpected adaptation appeared. It proved that the epic cycle is not subject to filmmakers, and that it would be better left alone.

Even the on-screen confrontation between Matthew McConaughey and Idris Elba, backed by decent graphics, could not save the movie from failure. The Dark Tower was supposed to launch an entire franchise.

3. 'The Dark Half', 1993

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 59%

Stephen King and George A. Romero seemed made for each other. Their first collaboration, Creepshow, was quite successful. The two masters of horror collaborated again on The Dark Half, but it would have been better if they hadn't.

The original The Dark Half is hardly one of King's masterpieces, and it was difficult to make something good out of it. Then there were the financial and organizational problems.

But the biggest problem was the disastrous miscasting. Timothy Hutton was supposed to play a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde type, but he couldn't pull off any of his character's incarnations.

4. 'Maximum Overdrive', 1986

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 14%

In the mid-1980s, the writer himself decided to make a movie based on his story. Maximum Overdrive was certainly memorable, but only as an example of how bad a King adaptation can be.

Sometimes bad cinema is so bad that it becomes enjoyable in its own right, but that's not the case with Maximum Overdrive.

5. 'Graveyard Shift', 1990

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 0%

Located near a cemetery, the dilapidated textile mill has become a haven for hordes of rats. A group of workers descended into the cellar to clear it out. An accident traps them.

Graveyard Shift is a movie full of cliches that lacks atmosphere, and genuine scares – let alone humor or plot twists. Many scenes seem improvised, and many were added to extend the short story to 90 minutes.

6. 'The Mangler', 1995

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 27%

Many thought the collaboration between Stephen King, creator of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Tobe Hooper, and Robert Englund, who played the iconic Freddy Krueger, would result in something great. Unfortunately, the opposite happened.

The Mangler is more reminiscent of a silly parody of horror films than a serious one. The outdated graphics coupled with a weak plot resulted in one of the worst screen adaptations of King's work.

7. 'Desperation', 2006

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 33%

The novel Desperation is unique in King's body of work – he actually wrote it twice. Desperation has a twin book, The Regulators, that mirrors the characters and events from Desperation.

Neither book is among King's best works, so it was difficult to expect anything incredible from the adaptation.

The acting is terrible, the plot twists are predictable, and the dialogue is ridiculous. From the beginning, the project was not desired, but it is still surprising how bad this film turned out to be.

8. 'Cell', 2016

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 11%

Tod Williams' Cell, based on the novel of the same name, retained only the names of the main characters and the foundation of the story.

Fans of the author hoped that the reunion of John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson, who previously acted together in 1408, based on a story by King, would result in something impressive. However, even these actors were unable to save Cell.

The novel's meanings were replaced by clichés, and the movie deservedly entered the list of the worst films of 2016.