Garrett’s Grumblings – My List of Ten Best Stephen King Screen Adaptations Pt 2
Here we are again. If you missed the first part of this list, thereby missing the entire reason why I am doing this list to begin with, then click here and read it. Go ahead. I’ll wait.
Now that we are all caught up, it’s time for the conclusion of my list of ten best Stephen King adaptations. Without further ado, Constant Reader, let me lead you into the unknown. Or as I like to call it, sobriety.
5) The Dead Zone (1983)
Before I talk about the film, I just want to put this out there. I keep hearing the TV show adaptation of the same name starring Anthony Michael Hall, is just as good, if not better than this David Cronenberg take of King’s story about a man who goes into a coma and wakes up five years later with supernatural powers of intuition. But I hesitate to watch it just because it was cancelled short of finishing its main story thread. Let me know if it is worth delving into if you can.
Anyway, 1983’s version, the film in question here, has leisurely pacing that moves almost like a movie of the week, and Martin Sheen’s borderline cartoonish portrayal of Greg Stillson, the future elected official who will allegedly use his ‘red button’ to its full capacity, is at times laughable. Still, it’s Christopher Walken’s ability to play up to the film’s highest dramatic keys that makes it work (‘THE ICE, IS GUNNA BREAK!’). His realization of Sarah Brackneli’s (Brooke Adams) moving on since his accident five years earlier is tragic, as they made a great onscreen couple. The film’s final frames are chilling, and would probably be prevented from getting made today. Is Johnny Smith a misunderstood hero, or a villain who justifiably got what he deserved? It’s a question King was more than willing to ask at the end of the 70s, but would probably be crucified for asking today.
4) The Mist (2007)
Yes, I am able to get out of the 80s and realize that there were in fact good adaptations of King’s work this century. In fact, this won’t be the last time Frank Darabont’s name comes up on this list. On the surface, The Mist could probably be seen as a failure. It has the most escalated and cartoonish version of a Christian evangelist I have ever seen onscreen (played by Marcia Gay Harden) and some at times pretty bad CGI. Still, Darabont’s filming style is not accidental. In fact, the film comes off much better if seen in the black and white format which is on the special edition DVD.
Much like Pet Semetary, the small things don’t really matter in The Mist, as it is its dark and dire mood which makes it work. There are some chair grabbing, white knuckled moments here, and Darabont is very good at playing them all up to their fullest strengths. A little side story: The Mist was the first short story in a set of them called The Skeleton Crew. One summer day twenty or so years ago, it happened to be ‘Take Your Son To Work’ day. So my dad took me to his insurance office, and I needed something to keep me company while there. Complete with a cymbal playing monkey on the cover, I read this story in its entirety within my father’s office, almost gripped with fear. How Darabont was able to translate this to the screen is a talent very few have. Oh, and did I mention its ending?
3) The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
A criminally underlooked film at the time of its release -just check the year to find out the reason why- The Shawshank Redemption has grown some mighty fine legs in the last decade or so. Once again helmed by Darabont, Shawshank is another of King’s tales that is nary a supernatural quality. Instead, it is about the essence of man, as well as the ability of the strongest to survive and persevere. Shawshank is a story contained in what is widely believed to be King’s best set of short stories (or in this case novellas) called Different Seasons.
Indeed, the book has what are narratively his most successful stories. Character studies are not easy to do. But King’s ability to surprise with a gem like this is what makes him the successful author he is, and not so much the populist so many like to call him. Of course, Darabont’s ability to put these great words onscreen, along with what I would call the best performance of Morgan Freeman’s career, as well as Tim Robbins’ ability to make us suffer with him through every man’s nightmare, is essential in making The Shawshank Redemption work. Sorry The Green Mile. This takes the Darabont cake for me.
2) Carrie (1976)
Brian DePalma was once my third favorite film director. I don’t care what anyone says. This 70s era of DePalma has not been topped by anyone. Yes, within his work there are more than a few ‘callbacks’ to Alfred Hitchcock (though some would call them flat out thievery), but the man knew how to build a mood and make every scene work within it. Carrie is famously the casting session that ran at the same time as another one called Star Wars. DePalma, a friend of George Lucas’s, made his house the casting couch, and everyone read for the available parts of both films. Folks, you have no idea how close we were to having a William Katt portrayal of Luke Skywalker. Also, the roles of Princess Leia and Carrie White were almost swapped by the two actresses portraying them. That’s right. Carrie Fisher was almost, well, Carrie, and Sissy Spacek was almost Alderaan’s lost Princess.
Nonetheless, that’s ‘what could have been’ talk. What about what we got? There is something about Spacek’s portrayal of the film’s title character that makes me cringe, and not in a negative way. I want to rescue her. She looks sick, and she looks haggard. It is these qualities, on top of DePalma’s great direction, that make the movie work. We all know about the famous image of Carrie standing there covered in red pig’s blood. But it is the series of events that lead to this image, as well as its result, which makes it iconic. Pushed around by bullies, lied to by authorative figures, Carrie finally reaches her breaking point.
In my original review of the 2013 remake starring Chloe Grace Moretz, I said I did not have to wonder why they remade King’s original book. Reason being everything he outlined in that 1975 manuscript was just as, if not more, resonate today. Sure, you can knock the original movie’s goofy 70s music, the silly montages, and John Travolta’s ridiculous accent. But DePalma’s film speaks to everybody. Each and every time I watch it, I want to personally thank King’s wife Tabitha for rescuing it from the trash where King threw it. He, like his title character, had no confidence in himself to make the story work. All it takes is one person to tell you otherwise to make you a King.
1) Stand By Me (1985)
I will always remember my very first appearance on the BingeCast. On top of being nervous as hell, I had, hours before, gotten done watching Stand By Me for the first time in at least a decade. Immediately after the film ended, we were on our way to dinner when my girlfriend at the time asked me why I was crying at the movie. I said I had no idea. I had seen the movie many times in my younger years, but I did not believe that it could impact me as much as it did. This was a story that catapulted my appearance on the show that night, and from then on, it seemed I was almost destined to start writing and podcasting for Law and Moreno’s little venture here.
What is it about Stand By Me that works so well today? Sure, I enjoyed it when I first watched it thirty years ago. But I don’t think I understood it. I watched Lard Ass cause the world’s biggest ‘barfa-rama,’ Verne (Jerry O’Connell) get consistently ridiculed by Teddy (Corey Feldman) and just glimpse each passing moment of the film go by like that train on the tracks the kids barely avoid. You seriously watch this movie and yes, there is one narrative and destination for the story. But you are also getting little tidbits and hints at what each character’s main purpose really is.
THIS is what flew over my head as a youngster. Seeing these characters develop, and watching where they ended up, made such a bigger impact on me as an adult than it ever could on my ten year old self. The shot of River Phoenix fading from the screen as Gordy (Wil Wheaton) tells us through voice over (by an adult version played by Richard Dreyfuss) of his eventual fate was probably the film’s most impactful moment. Not just because that is exactly how Phoenix himself would end up eight years later. But also because I myself have had friends end up exactly like that.
Stand By Me is worth revisiting after driving many more miles in life than when you watched it last. It may have been filmed in the 80s and take place in the 50s. But its core story of growing up is timeless.
Did your favorite make the list? How many did I miss? Let me know either here in the comments section or on our good ol’ Facebook page.