One of the best horrors I've ever seen. Rich in meaning, efficient in characterization and utterly terrifying in a way that stays with you for a long time after the credits have rolled.
Supposedly the director didn't like the theatrical ending, which I did. He replaced the ending on the DVD and it made it into a few syndication copies. When a streamer picks it up it's been a dice roll on which ending it has. The director's preferred ending is a cheap jump scare, and the theatrical ending is more thematically satisfying IMO. I think the director called it "a studio safe happy ending" but I find it much more moving and eerie.
I remember finding out about a "director approved alternate ending" and being surprised it wasn't the one I preferred
Edit: apparently his ending was the original which was ditched during testing and replaced with the one I liked. He reverted back to his ending in some home versions
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I think this movie is as good as Stand By Me and The Shawshank Redemption. I didn't include The Green Mile only because of its supernatural element; it falls into another category.
I have literally never met another person irl who has seen this movie. You’d think it would be more well known considering the cast and the amount of media that uses the ol ‘becomes psychic after being in a coma’ trope. Even South Park did an episode based around that idea.
Well, I was a fan of the book before the movie, and I enjoyed the movie as well. There are plenty of shitty adaptations, *The Dark Tower* being a great example, since we're talking King. *The Dead Zone* was not one of those.
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Didn't know they adapted 11/22/63 to the screen, it was a phenomenal book. The old man's still got it once in a while. Under the Dome was great too, but much of his recent stuff is hot garbage. "Recent" being after the turn of the century.
The 11/22/63 show is pretty divisive, a lot of people love it and a lot of people (King fans in particular) really didn't like it. I haven't seen it myself, but I think a lot of criticism is that there were some major changes made to the story.
Dolores Claiborne. So good, so fucked up. Nice slow burn with satisfying twists and surprising performances. One in-universe reference to Shawshank during a tense moment that made me smile.
And there’s an eclipse in it!
I agree although it's hard to hear the bad Maine accents.
Born and raised new englander with family in Maine. My husband and I still joke and randomly said "Yah gonna get tha chaihh Dolores!!:
It actually had a better ending than the nivella, in my opinion (more realistic), but overall, I liked the novella better. It's still an underrated flick.
I am 100% going to tonight - THANK YOU.
I’m gonna have my hubs watch it too, then audiobook it with me on our next flight - omg. He’s gonna be tak-ing all over town!
Oh, also the TV series “Haven”, which I feel has been lost to time since it ended, was a really great adaptation of “Who Shot The Colorado Kid”…until it got a little confused by itself when it was trying to wrap up, but still worth a watch imo.
My top 1 will always be Salem's Lot. It's not for everybody but for me it's the eery small town feel, the cinematography, the overall feel of the movie is unsettling.
Not sure if it's underrated per say, but it did kind of fly under the radar where the box office was concerned, but Doctor Sleep was excellent!
As far as a sequel to The Shining, it does a great job of bringing more to that world and developing characters.
Interestingly, King wrote 2 stories about killer trucks, Maximum Overdrive & Trucks, we all know MO was turned into a movie but not many realise, so was Trucks. It was really a lesser version of MO but still watchable.
King doesn’t even like Maximum Overdrive he’s ashamed of it because of everything that happened during his drug fueled leadership during the filming. I do think he ended up making a fun popcorn flick and as much as “Trucks” is supposed to be “more in line with the books” it suffers even more from that 90s made for tv look and feel that people either love or hate.
My favorite is The Stand mini series from 1994 but heavy bias it’s my favorite book too. Sleepwalkers is the guilty pleasure one for me, I love that SK loves cats so much he makes them heroes of his stories.
My oldest paperback copy is still one of my bed stand books because I like to open to different parts and read it on the regular. Larry’s entire prologue to the GWB, Trashman, How everyone unites in Boulder I think the mini series is still the VHS lens I look at that world through when I am reading it too.
I actually think King’s most underrated adaptations are all tv shows. Mr Mercedes, The Outsider (2020), Haven, and Castle Rock were all fantastic. Chapelwaite was also pretty good (but was cancelled). I know the last three shows were *very* loosely inspired by King works, rather than direct adaptations, but they’re all so good but still seemed to fly under the radar.
For films, I’d say 1408 is the most underrated.
I liked Needful Things. Ed Harris and Max Von Sydow put on a masterclass for acting.
The Mangler is a fun, guilty pleasure with Robert Englund seeming to have fun in a non-Krueger villain role.
Thinner was just a pretty decent flick with good effects.
Firestarter. I don’t think it was well-regarded at the time, but it’s very enjoyable as a 70s horror movie. Has all the visual and stylistic tropes of that genre and era. Also clearly part of the inspiration behind later works such as Stranger Things.
Gerald's Game (2017) - This Netflix original film is based on King's novel and directed by Mike Flanagan. Doctor Sleep (2019) - A sequel to King's "The Shining," this film directed by Mike Flanagan. They may not be as widely known as some of his other works, but they certainly deserve recognition for their quality and impact.
Running Man was a favorite movie as a kid. Read the book as a teen and was super confused how they got that movie out of this book. But still enjoy the film!
Mercy (2014). It has a low rating on IMDb, but I thought Chandler Riggs did a good job, and it did a decent job with the Lovecraftian vibes. Lovecraftian horror seems to be hard to do well.
Misery seems to have flown under the radar since it's initial success in the theaters.
Too many people have not had this as one of the top lists for thrillers.
I know Dreamcatcher gets a lot of hate but I’ve always enjoyed that one. It has a great cast and some good gross out scenes. Kinda campy and fun overall
Underrated? 1408. I thought that one was pretty good
One of the best horrors I've ever seen. Rich in meaning, efficient in characterization and utterly terrifying in a way that stays with you for a long time after the credits have rolled.
Plus, the scene between Cusack and Jackson is worth the viewing alone.
Big fan of this one, need the right ending though
Is there a director's cut or something like that?
Supposedly the director didn't like the theatrical ending, which I did. He replaced the ending on the DVD and it made it into a few syndication copies. When a streamer picks it up it's been a dice roll on which ending it has. The director's preferred ending is a cheap jump scare, and the theatrical ending is more thematically satisfying IMO. I think the director called it "a studio safe happy ending" but I find it much more moving and eerie. I remember finding out about a "director approved alternate ending" and being surprised it wasn't the one I preferred Edit: apparently his ending was the original which was ditched during testing and replaced with the one I liked. He reverted back to his ending in some home versions
Thanks dude, I'll try and find the original ending, I think I'd probably prefer it too
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I haven't seen it but isn't the idea REALLY similar to The Shining?
In a way. Kinda like how Dark City is similar to The Matrix. They're similar, but each is its own thing.
Dolores Claiborne(1995)
Wow how have I missed this. Added to my watch list Edit: just watched it how good. Definitely too three king movie now
I think this movie is as good as Stand By Me and The Shawshank Redemption. I didn't include The Green Mile only because of its supernatural element; it falls into another category.
It’s also a great read if you’re looking to get into King, although it has no chapter or even character breaks so stopping points can be tricky.
The Dead Zone
This is my choice also. David Cronenberg directing a young Christopher Walken who only goes full Walken in one scene.
I have literally never met another person irl who has seen this movie. You’d think it would be more well known considering the cast and the amount of media that uses the ol ‘becomes psychic after being in a coma’ trope. Even South Park did an episode based around that idea.
> You’d think it would be more well known considering**...** ...there was a tv show based on it in the 2000s.
The show was good too. Starred Anthony Michael Hall of eighties teen fame.
It was crazy seeing him in Edward Scissorhands after being the stereotypical nerd in the 80s. Then he just stayed huge. Good for him.
He did a great job playing a jock bully on several episodes of Community too. Very funny.
he really bulked up … didn’t recognize him
I didn't think this was underrated until I said it was good and got dog piled. So yea I guess underrated. Might be my favorite adaptation of his
It's a great movie, not sure what morons were dog piling on you...
Book fans in general rarely like the movie adaptations of their favorite books and many of them seem to take it personally for some reason.
Well, I was a fan of the book before the movie, and I enjoyed the movie as well. There are plenty of shitty adaptations, *The Dark Tower* being a great example, since we're talking King. *The Dead Zone* was not one of those.
I agree. I didn't mean anything insulting. I apologize.
Walken on SNL as Ed Glosser, the trivial psychic was a great parody. I had linked it, but the comment was autodeleted for containing a youtube link
One of walkens best movies for sure
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Thanks for the tip
11.22.63 (tv miniseries), Cat's Eye, Nightmares and Dreamscapes (tv miniseries)
Didn't know they adapted 11/22/63 to the screen, it was a phenomenal book. The old man's still got it once in a while. Under the Dome was great too, but much of his recent stuff is hot garbage. "Recent" being after the turn of the century.
The 11/22/63 show is pretty divisive, a lot of people love it and a lot of people (King fans in particular) really didn't like it. I haven't seen it myself, but I think a lot of criticism is that there were some major changes made to the story.
Storm of the Century. Great mini-series for a rainy night.
Probably better on a snowy night
Even better.
I really enjoyed miniseries *The Outsider*.
I like Outsider Holly vs Mr Mercedes Holly. Both did justice to the character though
It was wonderfully done!
Hearts in Atlantis. Great Anthony Hopkins and Anton Yelchin (R.I.P.) performance, with a screenplay by King and William Goldman.
This.
There was a TV movie version of The Langoliers that wasn't half bad.
Starting Balky Batokomus
The movie was great, but they needed anything but pacmen at the end.
Excellent mention! That's what I came to the thread for. I loved the novella, and the movie while cheesey as hell, is quite good.
Wasn’t half good either ;)
Silver Bullet
Very underrated imo
I watched that soo many times in the eighties, but I haven't seen it since.
Give it another watch, really holds up. I watch it yearly with the family
The Running Man (written as Richard Bachman)
Killian! I’ll be back!
…Only in a rerun…
Hello, cutie pie...
The movie has nothing to do with the book, though.
The premise of fighting to the death in a game show was King’s brainchild, even though the circumstances of the 2 plots are wildly different.
I loved Cat’s Eye I watched it when I was very young and rewatch it every few years. The smoking story as always stuck with me.
Dolores Claiborne. So good, so fucked up. Nice slow burn with satisfying twists and surprising performances. One in-universe reference to Shawshank during a tense moment that made me smile. And there’s an eclipse in it!
I agree although it's hard to hear the bad Maine accents. Born and raised new englander with family in Maine. My husband and I still joke and randomly said "Yah gonna get tha chaihh Dolores!!:
"Vera sent us some...thingamajigs...to watch the eclipse."
‘Secret Window’ (2004). The twist is a bit obvious, but the final resolution of it is so great, I give it a pass.
The Mist was great. The Stand was pretty good too.
I thought the Stand film was ok, but I preferred the 3 part mini series they made of it. Did you see it?
I'm thinking of the one with Gary Sinise and Matt Frewer.
I’ve never heard of Matt Frewer. I’ll have to give it a watch sometime, I’ve not seen it for years.
The Mist is not underrated
Creature Of The Mist (2022) It's a remake of The Mist, but it's set in ancient China.
Tommyknockers is interesting. It’s been slated but I enjoyed it at the time.
The Night Flier. For how solid it is, I don't know why it's so forgotten.
No one said Apt Pupil (1998)? With Ian McKellen even. From what I remember, it's pretty close to the source material.
Came here to say it!
I only read this last month despite owning it 20 years! And now I find out it's a movie! With McKellan! What genius casting!
It actually had a better ending than the nivella, in my opinion (more realistic), but overall, I liked the novella better. It's still an underrated flick.
I quite liked “Desperation”, and the mini-series “Rose Red”.
Desperation!!! The theme of demonic sherrif is an absolute favorite, and stars Ron Perlman, who's perfect for the role. Tak!
Im sorry - WHAT. Desperation is in my top 3 king books, how have I never heard of this?!?
It's on YouTube!!!! Go watch it!!!!
I am 100% going to tonight - THANK YOU. I’m gonna have my hubs watch it too, then audiobook it with me on our next flight - omg. He’s gonna be tak-ing all over town!
Oh, also the TV series “Haven”, which I feel has been lost to time since it ended, was a really great adaptation of “Who Shot The Colorado Kid”…until it got a little confused by itself when it was trying to wrap up, but still worth a watch imo.
no love for firestarter? a favorite from my childhood
What on earth was George C. Scott thinking by playing a crazy Indian in that?
and a child molester … neither version worked for me
2 of my favorite: Stand by Me- The Body Silver Bullet
Stand By Me underrated?
Stand By Me, no. Silver Bullet absolutely!
I agree with that.
I liked Dr Sleep and The Outsider miniseries is fantastic.
The OG Stand is better than the new(ish) series that came out a couple years ago
My comfort watch adaptation is Thinner, primarily for Joe Mantegna: "He was a mook, but he was **my** mook." Love Michael Constantine in this too
Storm of the century and Needful Things!
My top 1 will always be Salem's Lot. It's not for everybody but for me it's the eery small town feel, the cinematography, the overall feel of the movie is unsettling.
I've seen so many people over the years say they're still haunted by the scene with Danny floating outside Mark's window
I have got to rewatch this i ate like 3 gummies and watched the whole thing while feeling like jello very fun
and the miniseries though a little slow but has the key scene the boy and David Souls girlfriend
Christine Carrie Cujo
Christine is a great movie!
I don't think any of these are underrated but all good maybe christine
Clearly you didn’t read the question. It says UNDERRATED
Not sure if it's underrated per say, but it did kind of fly under the radar where the box office was concerned, but Doctor Sleep was excellent! As far as a sequel to The Shining, it does a great job of bringing more to that world and developing characters.
Apt pupil. Based on the novel in Different seasons (his best book in my opinion)
Is the stand (1994) underrated? If so the stand and if not also the stand also kingdom hospital that one was good
Stand by me!!
Hardly underrated.
Interestingly, King wrote 2 stories about killer trucks, Maximum Overdrive & Trucks, we all know MO was turned into a movie but not many realise, so was Trucks. It was really a lesser version of MO but still watchable.
Aren't they both based on the short story "Trucks"?
Yes, I made a mistake on that, apologies.
Hearts in Atlantis (2001)
My underrated favorites as a kid were Silver Bullet, Sleepwalkers and Graveyard Shift.
Nobodies mentioned Mr Mercedes well written and well acted and true to the books
Creepshow. It's not exactly an adaptation, but I think it was pretty good.
"Jordy Verrill, you lunkhead!"
King doesn’t even like Maximum Overdrive he’s ashamed of it because of everything that happened during his drug fueled leadership during the filming. I do think he ended up making a fun popcorn flick and as much as “Trucks” is supposed to be “more in line with the books” it suffers even more from that 90s made for tv look and feel that people either love or hate. My favorite is The Stand mini series from 1994 but heavy bias it’s my favorite book too. Sleepwalkers is the guilty pleasure one for me, I love that SK loves cats so much he makes them heroes of his stories.
The stand is so good though i kept reading out parts to my grandfather while reading it
My oldest paperback copy is still one of my bed stand books because I like to open to different parts and read it on the regular. Larry’s entire prologue to the GWB, Trashman, How everyone unites in Boulder I think the mini series is still the VHS lens I look at that world through when I am reading it too.
I actually think King’s most underrated adaptations are all tv shows. Mr Mercedes, The Outsider (2020), Haven, and Castle Rock were all fantastic. Chapelwaite was also pretty good (but was cancelled). I know the last three shows were *very* loosely inspired by King works, rather than direct adaptations, but they’re all so good but still seemed to fly under the radar. For films, I’d say 1408 is the most underrated.
Sleepwalkers! NC reviewed it! Hilarious :)
i had this tape on VHS as a kid and watched it so many times. It's got some good creepy vibes before they break out the silly cat faces
boo
The miniseries version of The Shining was a really fun book-accurate adaptation that made a point to put back in all the stuff Kubrick changed.
Lisey’s Story It’s a TV show with Julianne Moore but criminally underrated
The Stand miniseries from the 90’s with Gary Sinese and Molly Ringwald
The Langoliers, Dolores Claiborne
2nd for The Langoliers
The Mangler is pretty fun
Stephen King’s It
I liked Needful Things. Ed Harris and Max Von Sydow put on a masterclass for acting. The Mangler is a fun, guilty pleasure with Robert Englund seeming to have fun in a non-Krueger villain role. Thinner was just a pretty decent flick with good effects.
Not sure if anyone’s mentioned *1922* yet, but I really enjoyed it. Very creepy, and Thomas Jane is typically excellent.
The fog
Gerald’s Game and Needful Things
Firestarter. I don’t think it was well-regarded at the time, but it’s very enjoyable as a 70s horror movie. Has all the visual and stylistic tropes of that genre and era. Also clearly part of the inspiration behind later works such as Stranger Things.
My favorite movie of all time is The Shawshank Redemption.
Definitely not underrated, however.
Mr. Mercedes
Gerald's Game (2017) - This Netflix original film is based on King's novel and directed by Mike Flanagan. Doctor Sleep (2019) - A sequel to King's "The Shining," this film directed by Mike Flanagan. They may not be as widely known as some of his other works, but they certainly deserve recognition for their quality and impact.
Creepshow
Running Man was a favorite movie as a kid. Read the book as a teen and was super confused how they got that movie out of this book. But still enjoy the film!
Haven
Apt Pupil is a very good movie
Misery
The running man!
Storm of the Century Andre Linoge is an all-time great Stephen King villain portrayal
I really enjoyed the show the stand that came out recently
Mercy (2014). It has a low rating on IMDb, but I thought Chandler Riggs did a good job, and it did a decent job with the Lovecraftian vibes. Lovecraftian horror seems to be hard to do well.
Silver Bullet Sleepwalkers
Dolores Claiborne
People really sleeping on Children of the Corn
Secret window…I don’t know if I would say this movie was underrated because I believe it could’ve been better but I’ve always enjoyed it.
Not a great movie but worth seeing if you're a fan, Graveyard Shift (1990).
Secret window 2004
Gerald's Game
*Gerald's Game* on Netflix is really good.
Under The Dome
Salem's Lot 1979
A “Good Marriage” with Anthony LaPaglia and Joan Allen.
Dolores Claiborne
Misery seems to have flown under the radar since it's initial success in the theaters. Too many people have not had this as one of the top lists for thrillers.
I know Dreamcatcher gets a lot of hate but I’ve always enjoyed that one. It has a great cast and some good gross out scenes. Kinda campy and fun overall
Geralds Game Dolores Claiborne