Some of Stephen King's work does not translate well to the big screen. A good rule of thumb (for all novels, really) is the longer the original work, the worse the adaptation. The reason for this phenomena is that many of those hundreds of pages consist of important background, thoughts and feelings that typically get left out of screenplays.
As a result, we find that the worst Stephen King adaptations often cone from the best books. That said, a surprising number of Stephen King's novellas and stories have been translated fairly well to the big screen, and on occasion, the small screen as well.
Here, in my estimation, are the ten best such works, with justification:
The Dead Zone
The usual Achilles heel for a book-adaptation movie is changing major plot points. In this case, the story lends itself well to a continuing saga, but in the book, the protagonist is killed (King had this habit, especially in his early work). If one ignores the necessary alterations, one can enjoy the six-year USA series which follows Johnny Smith through his recovery, and his attempts to rebuild his life while coping with visions of an apocalyptic future that he make an ongoing mission to avoid. (There is also a movie based on the film starring Christopher Walken, I would rank it somewhere around eleven or twelve).)
The Shining (Original Theatrical Version)
Often, a single actor's performance can make a film something special. Love it or hate it (King himself hated it, by the way), Nicholson's crazed portrayal of Jack Torrence turned this film into a horror classic. The book's unsuitability is camouflaged to a great extent by good effects, and the performance of Nicholson. These deficiencies are further highlighted by the made-for-TV remake in the form of a mini-series.
Firestarter
Little kids are always scary. Say what you want about Drew Barrymore's early bouts with substance abuse and recent flirt with rom-com mediocrity, the chick was brilliant as “Charlie”, the title character in this film. Yes, a lot of background was left out, but this story plays out better as an action-packed thriller more than your average King novel.
Stand By Me
A lot of exposition can be taken care of with a good voice-over. Lots of folks don't even know that this story is an adaptation of a King novella entitled “The Body”. One of King's better “coming of age” works, Rob Reiner directs a stellar cast including Richard Dreyfuss, Jerry O'Connell (the fat kid), River Phoenix (pre-death) Wil Wheaton (pre-Star Trek), Corey Haim (pre-career-crash-and-burn), and Keifer Sutherland (pre-Jack Bauer). As a general rule: Rob Reiner + Stephen King = Box office Gold.
The Running Man
Very few King novels are meant to be a non-stop suspense/adrenalin-fest. This one is an exception, which allowed it not only to translate well into theater, but also lent itself well to be a shoot-em-up Arnold Schwarzenegger vehicle. The film dumped a lot of the social commentary that the book had, but folks don't line up for movies focused on social commentary anyway (Sorry, Al Gore, Sean Penn, etc.). Richard Dawson was a brilliant stunt-casting move as the evil game-show host.
Carrie
This one put King on the map both as an author and a source for the horror genre in movies. The film itself is fairly dated, but it remains the standard of GOOD teen horror. An excellent acting turn by Sissy Spacek and a solid anti-prom theme help lift this film into the top five.
Cujo
Frankly scarier than the book. The efforts to ramp up the action are forgivable, considering that two-thirds of the book takes place entirely inside the protagonist's Pinto. Dog-lovers will also be amused as the “killer, psycho-dog” WAGS HIS TAIL in a decidedly un-maniacal way during his attacks. Despite its faults, this movie continues to scare the bejeesus out of horror aficionados everywhere.
Misery
This is Rob Reiner again. Unless you were a really huge fan of the novel-within-a-novel that was featured in the book and ignored (in terms of content) in the movie, there is much to enjoy in this film. Kathy Bates scored a home-run (and an Oscar) in the role of Anne Wilkes, and the film conveys the so-crazy-it's almost (but not quite) funny atmosphere very effectively.
The Green Mile
Who said social commentary doesn't make a good movie.(oh, yeah, I did) A period piece focusing on the death penalty, with a healthy dose of theology (healer is martyred) this film was brilliantly acted by all involved. Despite its length, the narrative moves along quite well, and surprisingly little of the book is left out.
The Shawshank Redemption
Another one that people don't know is Stephen King, (it's from the same collection of novellas that featured “The Body”) this movie combines all the best aspects of the adaptations discussed herein: excellent voice-over, spot-on character interpretation (Making “Red” a Black guy was genius, and the way they explain the nickname in the movie is funny), following the book fairly religiously (except for the ending, which they extended, rather than altering), and excellent acting, directing and writing. Surprisingly, this film bombed at the box office, only to be hailed as a modern classic after its DVD/Video release. King fan or not, you should get busy watchin' or get busy dyin.
