Halloween is right around the corner, making it the best time of year to binge some of
our favorite scary movies.
However, no one does horror quite like the master himself, Stephen King, who has written
some of the most terrifying novels that still hold up today.
So today on Top 10 Beyond The Screen, I’m going to be counting down our list of the
Top 10 Scary Stephen King Movies You Need To Watch This Halloween.
And, of course, there are so many iconic adaptations to choose from that I unfortunately had to
leave some out.
So, Honorable Mention goes out to: The Shining, Cujo, and IT: Chapter 2.
Also, before we begin, be sure to stick around until the end of the video where I’ll be
responding to some of your comments.
And with that, let’s jump in.
10 The Mist Now, The Mist is a film that is a hit or miss
for most people -- but I absolutely love it.
And, in my opinion, it has one of the greatest endings of all time.
Quote me on that.
Released back in 2007, and based on the Stephen King novella of the same name.
The film takes place after a powerful storm that damages the homes of Maine, forcing David
Drayton and his young son to head into town to gather food and supplies.
However, not long after, a thick fog begins to roll in and engulfs the town, trapping
the Draytons and other locals in the grocery store.
However, terror quickly mounts when a deadly creature is revealed to be lurking within
the fog and killing off the residents.
Now, this is one of the more overtly sci-fi adaptations of King’s writing, and perhaps
one of the most suspenseful and riveting, with, like I said, the ending becoming infamous
all on its own.
Now, what makes this movie so effective, is expertly it mixes the supernatural with human
paranoia -- with neighbor turning on neighbor, and a haunting conclusion that will leave
you emotionally drained and distraught.
9 Christine Directed by John Carpenter, Christine is a
1983 horror based on King’s novel of the same name.
The film follows the changes in the lives of Arnie Cunninghame, his friends, his family,
and his teenage enemies after Arnie buys a vintage 1958 Plymouth Fury named Christine.
This horror is a warped and wicked tale, and on top of that it has one of the greatest
soundtracks -- I mean, John Carpenter movies always do.
Have you guys seen Escape From New York?!
Anyway, though a film from the 80’s, the visuals still hold up, with the tituar scene
which shows the car repairing itself becoming absolutely legendary.
The premise of the film may seem cheesy and ridiculous, but in practice it is truly horrifying
-- with the possessed car becoming one of the scariest villains to grace our screens.
Not only that, but the way King and Carpenter managed to turn the love a guy has for his
car into something horrifying and twisted, is what truly makes this film so effective.
8 Pet Sematary We’re talking the 1989 version here, not
the trash that was the 2019 remake.
It was truly horrendous guys, and I like I said in my review of the film, sometimes dead
is better.
Anyway, this supernatural horror is an adaptation of Stephen King’s 1983 novel of the same
name, and follows Doctor Louis Creed, who moves his family to Maine where he meets a
friendly local named Jud Crandall who introduces Louis to the Pet Sematary, and the supernatural
ground near it -- which possess the ability to bring the dead back to life, however, when
they return, they are never the same.
Now, Pet Sematary works, because it isn’t just a horror, it’s also a terrifying and
all too real depiction of grief.
Posing the question to viewers: if you could bring someone back from the dead, would you?
This is of course what goes down in the movie when Louis’s son Gage is killed, and comes
back as a murderous, soulless monster -- however, he’s still just a child right?
He looks the same.
It’s haunting, and terrifying, especially if you’re a parent, to watch an innocent
child become a monster, a monster that feels no emotional attachment to you, or anything
else for that matter.
All they know is to kill.
7 Gerald’s Game Gerald’s Game is one of the more recent
releases on our list, but it took me and a lot of people by surprise when it showed up
on Netflix seemingly out of the blue back in 2017, and I can safely say, there or some
moments of that film that I still think about today, and can’t help but grimace.
The film was directed by Mike Flanagan, the man behind Hush and of course, the absolutely
terrifying, the Haunting of Hill House.
The movie is based on Stephen King’s 1992 novel of the same name, and stars Carla Gugino
and Bruce Greenwood as a married couple staying in an isolated house during a holiday.
However, during a kinky game, the husband dies of a heart attack, leaving his wife handcuffed
to the bed without the key and with no hope of rescue.
Gugino’s performance is truly one of her best, if not the best, with her character
forced to battle her innerdemons while facing the facts that she may never be rescued.
The movie is incredibly smart, and that is in part due to Mike Flanagan, who manages
to make every small moment seem like an important piece of a puzzle.
Now, I don’t want to spoil too much of this film, because unlike the rest of our list,
not many know the ending, and it is the ending that will one day become so iconic, because
not only is it haunting, but also bloody, emotional, and incredibly powerful.
Give it a watch, you will not be disappointed.
6 Creepshow For those who don’t know, Creepshow is a
1982 anthology directed by George A Romero and written by Stephen King.
Quite the duo, right?
The film itself is a compendium of five short tales contained within a single full-length
feature -- and oh boy, is this film terrifying, and perhaps one of the finest horror anthologies
to ever grace our screens.
Now, the film is one part horror and another part comedy, inviting us to laugh while simultaneously
screaming from behind our hands.
Although hailing from the 80’s, the film still holds up, with the quality of all the
shorts consistent across the board -- with even Rotten Tomatoes giving the film a 73%
approval rating, with one review stating, I quote, “It’s uneven, as anthologies
often are, but Creepshow is colorful, frequently funny, and treats its inspirations with infectious
reverence.”
-- There you have it.
Creepshow.
Watch it.
5 Children of the Corn Now, it may be hard to believe me, but the
Children of the Corn is genuinely a well made and terrifying horror movie -- unlike the
subpar sequels that followed.
Released in 1984, Children of the Corn follows a physician and his girlfriend who drive across
the Midwest only to come to a sudden halt when they encounter the boy of a murdered
boy in the road.
The couple wander into a small town, only to discover it’s populated by children,
and only children who are followers of a sinister young preacher Isaac.
Now, the first half of the film plays out like any classic horror movie, however it’s
the homicidal children twist that makes this movie so fantastic.
Not only do the worship the aforementioned preacher, but also a deity known as He Who
Walks Behind the Rows, which in itself is enough to make any seasoned horror fan squeal
in terror.
If you enjoy cults and murderous children, this is the film for you.
4 IT: Chapter One Now, in the grand scheme of things, IT: Chapter
One is definitely unnerving, but compared to the top three numbers we have coming up
-- it’s not that scary.
Released in 2017, IT follows seven young outcasts in Derry, Maine who face the worst nightmare
of their lives when an ancient, shape-shifting entity emerges from the sewers to prey on
the town’s children.
Pennywise the Clown.
An entity that hails from the deadlights that emerges every 27 years to feast.
And feast it does.
IT is packaged as a coming-of-age story, but it’s so much more than that.
Bill Skarsgard in full Pennywise attire is perhaps one of the most unsettling things
to grace our screens, and although he’s no Tim Curry, I personally believe this depiction
is far more terrifying.
Not to mention, the film kicks off with a haunting start, when poor little Georgie is
chasing his paper boat to the street, only to watch it slip into the drain, and what
happens next will make you cry and scream.
Now, the terror of this film itself lies within our personal terror for the children -- innocents
who are forced to grow up fast in order to take down an evil entity plaguing their small
town.
3 Misery You may be surprised to know that only one
Stephen King adaptation has ever won an Academy Award, and is Misery, with Kathy Bates taking
home an Oscar for her role as the mentally disturbed nurse who kidnaps her favorite author.
Misery is absolutely terrifying, just because of the simple fact that Annie Wilkes, played
by Bates, could quite literally be anyway.
She is portrayed, at first, as endearing, naive, and good intentioned.
She appears to be a woman that would give you the shirt off her back, yet halfway through
the movie her true colours are revealed.
She is mentally unstable, with an unhealthy obsession, and will do absolutely anything
to get what she wants.
Even break a few ankles in the process.
Annie Wilkes could be your next door neighbor, and that’s what makes her so effective,
and to top it off, there are so many heart-stopping moments, that will leave you holding your
breath.
2 Carrie Perhaps my favorite Stephen King adaptation
of all time, Carrie, released back in 1976 is the very first Stephen King adaptation,
and is still regarded as one of the best.
The film follows a withdrawn and sensitive teen, Carrie, played by Sissy Spacek, who
faces unrelenting taunting from classmates at school and abuse from her religious mother
at home.
When strange things begin to occur, Carrie starts to suspects that she has supernatural
powers.
Now, in many ways, Carrie is just as said as it is scary.
With one of the most iconic scenes, not just in the film, but in cinema as a whole showing
Carrie gets pig's blood dumped on her at prom as she’s on stage accepting prom Queen.
It’s one of horror’s greatest sequences simply because it shows a young woman coming
into her power.
Carrie is utterly terrifying, and unique in the sense that you’re never quite sure if
you’re rooting for the hero or the villain, with Carrie blurring the lines between the
two.
1 Doctor Sleep Now, this is the only film on our list that
has not yet been released, with the movie hitting the big screens in the next few weeks.
However, many are holding it to a high standard already, especially considering the plot and
the people behind it.
Doctor Sleep is based on the 2013 Stephen King novel of the same name, and is a sequel
to King’s 1977 novel The Shining.
Yeah, that’s huge.
The film is set several decades after the events of The Shining, and combines elements
of the original film and novel.
Now, the film itself is directed by none other Mike Flanagan, who appeared earlier on our
list, and stars Ewan McGregor as Danny Torrance, a man with psychic powers who is struggling
with his childhood traumas.
Of course, any fan of The Shining will be excited for this adaptation, considering we
get to revisit one of the greatest and scariest movies ever made, and we get to hold on to
a beloved character who survived something truly terrifying.
Stephen King wrote Doctor Sleep since he wondered what Danny Torrance would be like all grown
up, and director Mike Flanagan stated that “Danny is so traumatized by what’s been
through, he has no idea how to deal with you.”
Personally, I think this film is going to be fantastic, and will bring to life some
of the lost souls we met all the way back in 1980.
Well, there we have it!
Do you guys agree with our list?
Were there any Stephen King movies that we missed?
Leave us all your thoughts and feelings in the comments down below.
Before I go though, I just want to respond to a few comments from one of our last videos,
Top 10 Horror Movie Actors You Won’t Believe What They Look Like In Real Life.
Terrance Olive said “Of all the great lists that you have hosted.
I believe this is my favourite.”
-- Wow, that’s a bold statement.
Thank you so much!
Lynne Belle said “Hey Lucy, I completely agree with you that Leatherface from 1974
is the best TCM movie.
I do have a question though: joce is in the opening sequence of every list, but you’re
not in it.
Why not?
You’re both awesome, so you both deserve your moment in the spotlight.”
-- I actually had no idea that Joce was in the spotlight, but now that I know, someone
has some explaining today.
Big time.
SilverzPlayz said “Lucy, love you.”
-- LOVE you.
Rob Christian said “Love the horror videos Lucy!”
-- I’m glad, we have a lot more coming your way.
And on that note, if you haven’t already, be sure to give this video a big thumbs up,
subscribe, and turn on notifications so you never miss another Beyond The Screen vid,
and until next time, see ya later!