The Monkey Is Good, but These 5 Stephen King Adaptations' IMDb Scores Are Unattainable
Undisputed classics from the King of Horror that deservedly take their place among cinema's greatest achievements.
A new movie from Osgood Perkins, director of last year's most talked about horror Longlegs, has been released in theaters.
The Monkey, which has already been highly acclaimed – 82% by critics and 85% by viewers on Rotten Tomatoes and 6.8 on IMDb – is based on the story of the same name by Stephen King.
No matter how good The Monkey is, it seems that neither it nor any other upcoming film adaptation will surpass these five King masterpieces.
5. 11.22.63, 2016
IMDb Score: 8.1
A teacher of English and literature travels back in time – he finds himself in the back room of a bistro in the late 1950s. He decides to take the chance to change the course of history and save John Kennedy from Lee Harvey Oswald's bullet on November 22, 1963.
11.22.63 is not a perfect miniseries, but an exemplary adaptation of King's novel. Here, the relationship between literature and the language of cinema is based on love and mutual respect: King supervised the project but did not write the screenplay.
The chemistry between James Franco and Sarah Gadon is off the charts, and the dynamic of the wild genre mix keeps you following Kennedy's rescue until the end.
4. Stand by Me, 1986
IMDb Score: 8.1
Stephen King's nostalgic, sentimental and very personal novella The Body was brilliantly adapted for the screen by Rob Reiner and given the title of the ballad by Ben E. King that plays over the closing credits.
The film's cult status was due less to its Oscar and Golden Globe nominations than to the charisma of young River Phoenix and his four gang mates. It was after this movie that the 15-year-old Phoenix became a star.
The solid script also made Stand by Me a powerful tool of cultural influence. Tarantino-style dialogue about pop culture was heard here long before Tarantino's debut, and clearly influenced him.
3. The Shining, 1980
IMDb Score: 8.4
Stanley Kubrick's The Shining, though it displeased King, effectively ended the haunted house topic. Now, all movies in the subgenre are inevitably compared to the story of the Torrance family's unsuccessful winter in the Overlook Hotel.
As a result, the phrase "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy," which Kubrick inserted into the movie, decorates T-shirts and mugs in souvenir shops. Entire scenes from The Shining have been parodied and copied in animations, television shows, computer games, and music videos.
2. The Green Mile, 1999
IMDb Score: 8.6
A mystical story about the friendship between prison guard Paul Edgecomb and death row inmate John Coffey. After seeing a lot during his years working in the prison, Paul realizes that Coffey has a big, kind heart, and after learning about John's ability to heal people, he questions his guilt.
The Green Mile did not immediately become a masterpiece on par with The Shawshank Redemption, even though it was filmed by the same director. While the prison escape movie ends with an exclamation point of hope, the ending of The Green Mile is quite dark.
1. The Shawshank Redemption, 1994
IMDb Score: 9.3
The No.1 film on IMDB, seven Oscar nominations, and King's favorite adaptation along with Stand by Me. The Shawshank Redemption is officially, if not the best movie in the world, then the best one of King's adaptations.
Andy, an accountant, is accused of murdering his wife and her lover. Once inside Shawshank, he encounters the brutality that reigns on both sides of the bars. Anyone who enters these walls becomes their slave for life. But Andy finds a way to connect with both inmates and guards, winning their special favor.