The Best Stephen King Movie of All Time

Stephen King has worked, contributed to, or helmed 80 different film and television projects since his first project, 1976′s Carrie. If you’ve watched any of King’s projects, you know that some are incredible works of art, and some are clunkers that we’d rather all forget about.

Stephen King movies are usually terrific, must-own adaptations of his own literary work or embarrassing projects that make the mind wonder how any producer could have ever given money to this man. Let’s forget about the terrible stuff, shall we? Let’s instead figure out what is the best Stephen King movie of all time.

Here are three Stephen King movies, each a contender for the title of Best Ever, each from a different era of King’s movie career.

The Shining, 1980

Helmed by none other than Stanley Kubrick (arguably the greatest director of the second-half of the 20th century) and starring Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall, this movie practically begged for Academy Award attention. Unfortunately, it received none. An average showing at the box office didn’t stop King fans from making this film a true cult classic.

Nicholson’s iconic lead role put a jolt into his already stellar film career, and though Kubrick was snubbed by the Academy for the first time in his career after making this film, it turned him into a household name.

Misery, 1990
Another amazing acting duo, this time Kathy Bates and James Caan, and a cameo appearance by none other than Lauren Bacall–but this time, King’s work would be recognized by the Oscars. Kathy Bates won Best Actress as well as the same award at the Golden Globes. Considered by many to be King’s best film work, some King fans find the adaptation too loose and the story too muddied by its obsession with the Bates character. The book itself focuses more on the character played by James Caan.

The Shawshank Redemption, 1994
Nominated for Seven Oscars (including Best Picture and Best Actor) but not receiving any, the Academy snub curse that follows King around did nothing to drag down this powerhouse film. Any good King fan should have this film on their shelf–it is very true to the original, and is a shining example of how King’s work can translate easily to the screen.
In my opinion, The Shawshank Redemption earns the title “best Stephen King movie” if only because it received so much attention from the Academy.

The Best Stephen King Movie of All Time

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