The Adaptation Stephen King Hated the Most? Not The Shining – It's This 40%-Rated Bomb
Although The Shining received a lot of criticism from King, in an interview discussing The Shining and Firestarter, the author spoke much more warmly of the former – here's what he hated about the latter.
Stephen King is the most filmed modern author, so it's not surprising that a significant portion of movies based on his novels fail – it's a matter of percentage error.
The King of Horror also has his own personal list of adaptations he hates, including Stanley Kubrick's The Shining and Michael Glaser's The Running Man.
Firestarter Was Stephen King's Biggest Disappointment
And although it is generally accepted that Kubrick's film disappointed the author the most, King's comments about another movie, 1984's Firestarter made by Mark L. Lester, force us to change that opinion.
In an interview with American Film magazine, King had literally nothing good to say about Firestarter:
“Firestarter is one of the worst of the bunch, even though in terms of story it's very close to the original. But it's flavorless; it's like cafeteria mashed potatoes. There are things that happen in terms of special effects in that movie that make no sense to me whatsoever.”
When asked if he was disappointed with The Shining, the author replied that “there's a lot to like about it,” but that he would do it all differently. So it's safe to say that The Shining received more praise from King than Firestarter could ever dream of.
What Is Firestarter About?
Charlie seems like an ordinary eight-year-old girl until something upsets her or threatens her family. Then Charlie changes: her deadly superpower, inherited from her parents, immediately manifests – she can light up anything with her gaze.
Charlie cannot always control her power, and when she grows up, her ability will be dangerous to the entire planet.
The secret services want to use the girl and kidnap her, killing Charlie's mother in the process. Her father is unable to save his daughter, but Charlie will be able to take care of herself.
What Did Viewers & Critics Think of Firestarter?
Critics and viewers generally agreed with Stephen King, and Firestarter received mostly negative reviews. One of the most famous and influential film critics, Roger Ebert, gave Firestarter two stars out of four, saying:
“The most astonishing thing in the movie, however, is how boring it is. [...] There's not a character in this movie that is convincing, even for a moment, nor a line in this movie that even experienced performers can make real.”
- Firestarter has 40% from critics and 52% from viewers on Rotten Tomatoes.
- On IMDb, the movie has a score of 6.1/10.
