here's johnny
hey everyone i'm rebecca and welcome to
watch mojo today we're counting down our
picks for the top 10 best stephen king
stories
book versus movie he's gonna laugh at
you
they're all gonna love
for this list we'll be determining which
version of a particular stephen king
story is better
the book or the movie we'll be analyzing
the qualities of both
and at the end of each entry we'll be
declaring which version
is the one worth experiencing and be
sure to let us know in the comments if
you agree with our picks
all right let's check it out number 10
the mist something in the mist
something in the mist cook john lee
stephen king and director
frank derebot are spiritually in sync as
their collaborations consistently result
in the best adaptations
king's novella the mist is certainly
worth reading but it suffers from a few
problems
primarily the short length of the story
and the open ending in which the group
heads out to hopeful sanctuary in
hartford
are we going just as david kept did for
secret window
darabont changed the ending to be much
darker having david euthanize everyone
including his eight-year-old son
literally seconds before help arrives
it's one of the darkest endings in movie
history and it really leaves an
impression
by changing the story for the better it
helps make the movie adaptation the
definitive version of the mist
winner movie
number nine cujo
this is by far one of king's most
popular works and like jaws did for
sharks
cujo effectively changed the reputation
of saint bernards forever
famously written on a massive coke binge
cujo is one of king's most relentless
and grounded novels
there are no supernatural creatures of
any kind just a rabid dog
out for human meat it's not a monster
as with the mist the ending for cujo is
changed
but not as effectively the novel's
ending is far
darker as tad dies in the car from
dehydration and heat stroke
for whatever reason this was changed for
the film and the story's impact is
lessened because of it
the movie is also dull with mediocre
acting and little visual flourish
this goes to the book a thousand times
over winner
[Music]
number eight the green mile again
showing off the unique darabont king
synergy is the green mile
a movie that took the world by storm and
made 287 million dollars in 1999.
what kind of game is this it's no game
see for yourself king released the novel
in a serialized format
releasing six novellas from march to
august of 1996.
it's a great book and it won the bram
stoker award for best novel
but derebons just has a certain energy
and filmmaking charisma that's hard to
ignore
i can feel it from here you can't go
wrong with either tom hanks or
michael clark duncan and the latter gave
a touching oscar-nominated performance
as the now iconic john coffey
don't put me in the dark
i was afraid the movie is also
wickedly faithful to the novel making
this one a toss-up
we'll give it to the movie but it really
could have gone either way
winner movie number 7. misery
this is one of king's most personal
novels he wrote misery as a means to
deal with his debilitating drug problem
using annie as a metaphor for the
imprisoning nature of addiction
i love you paul
[Music]
your mind your creativity
that's that's all i meant he was also
influenced to write the story after fans
vehemently rejected his fantasy novel
the eyes of the dragon
essentially chaining him to the horror
dirty genre how could you the 1990 film
adaptation is wickedly captivating
featuring two powerhouse performances by
kathy bates and james kahn
bates is simply spectacular as annie
wilks and her academy award win makes
misery the only king adaptation to have
won an oscar
the book is great there's no doubt about
that but
bates is magical winner movie
think of me as your inspiration number
six pet cemetery
while misery is king's most personal
work pet cemetery is his darkest
complete with the death and reanimated
corpse of a toddler matricide
and philicide it's fun stuff don't go on
doc no matter how much you may feel you
have to
do not go on to the place
pet cemetery has been adapted twice once
in 1989 and again in 2019
the 1989 film is good for a few scares
but mainly falls flat primarily owing to
the bland filmmaking
wooden acting and the goofy gauge scenes
it's quite difficult to make a
two-year-old look threatening
i buy you something mommy the 2019
version made some changes to the story
like killing ellie instead of gage
and altering the ending it was decent
but it was also
a little jump scare heavy neither
version is particularly good
making this a case of the book being
better than the movie twice
winner book number 5. carrie
king's first published novel carrie
remains just as effective and relevant
today as it was in 1974.
yo woman now why didn't you tell me mom
it's a thrilling and terrifying book
told through a unique epistolary form
two years after its publication it was
adapted by brian de palma
and what an adaptation it is while
certain parts of the movie are dated
like that now laughable final jump scare
it contains a fantastic cast
and one of the greatest climaxes ever
put to film the blood
the lighting the editing style and [ __ ]
spacex horrifying eyes
all combined to create one of the
scariest sequences in movie history
forget the 2013 remake
the 1976 film remains exceptional and it
barely squeaks above the novel winner
movie
number four the shawshank redemption i
guess it comes down to a simple choice
really
get busy living don't get busy die
king's novellas often make for the best
movies stand by me is based on the body
and remains one of king's greatest
adaptations not to mention the mist
which was previously discussed
but when it comes to novella adaptations
nothing will
ever beat the shawshank redemption his
first night in the joint and dufresne
cost me two packs of cigarettes
he never made a sound another king
derebont contribution to movie history
the shawshank redemption is widely
heralded as a classic
ranking for many years as the top-rated
movie of all time
on imdb and generating seven academy
award nominations
the most of any stephen king film
nothing against king's novella but
there's simply no arguing against that
kind of reputation
this one again goes to derebond winner
movie
you understand me you catching my drift
or am i being obtuse number three the
shining
here's johnny
this is a tough one not because
kubrick's adaptation is bad but because
it's so
wildly different from king's novel
the novel is more personal detailing the
debilitating effects that the haunted
hotel
the cabin fever and the lack of alcohol
all have on jack sanity
jack is also more of a loving and
protective figure in the book
and the haunting is more overt on the
other hand kubrick portrayed jack in a
far
colder and more negative light and he
introduced many ambiguous elements to
the story that were not present in the
straightforward novel
king famously dislikes kubrick's
iteration and it's easy to understand
why
for that reason it's impossible to find
a true winner
it entirely depends on what you're
looking for a straightforward and
personal horror story or stanley kubrick
come and play with us danny that said
the doctor's sleep movie is excellent
winner it's a tie
number two it hi georgie
what a nice boat do you want it back
despite being one of king's most popular
works it will forever remain
an inherently flawed story owing to one
glaring problem
the adults in both the miniseries and
the films
all sense of escalation and momentum is
killed in the second half when the story
shifts to the adults
i believe in the tooth fairy but i don't
believe in you
the miniseries contains some truly
dreadful acting and despite a strong
cast
the 2019 film fell disappointingly short
of its 2017 predecessor
yeah that's right let's dance
this issue isn't so glaringly obvious in
the novel as king's characterization is
stronger
and he structures the story in a more
palatable manner there's also a lot more
to the book owing to its unbelievable
length
which includes a lot of great character
work action and expanded lore
decent movie series but way better novel
winner
book see you in your dreams oh come back
anytime bring your friends by the way
it's partly my fault that we have the
shining as a tie because i much prefer
the book
but i will watch the movie a million
times if i can avoid the travesty of an
adaptation
that we have at our number one pick so
constant reader
let's look through some honorable
mentions before we name our best stephen
king story
and whether it's better as a book or a
movie gerald's game
winner movie carla gugino's incredible
performance pushes the movie over the
edge
who are you
i need help
thinner winner book not one of king's
better efforts but certainly better than
the movie
you mean you're putting the weight back
on well then that's wonderful today i
skipped lunch
instead of coming in three pounds
lighter when i got home from the office
i'm six pounds lighter oh
so you see heidi i have to eat this 1408
winner movie this movie expands on its
short source material in rich and
horrifying fashion
[Music]
sell winner book this one isn't even
close
good always conquers
evil i i i believe that
the dead zone winner movie you just
can't go wrong with christopher walken
you're gonna die i'm gonna die you wanna
know if you're gonna die tomorrow
is that right
you want to know why your sister killed
herself all right
keep going go it's not all right before
we continue
be sure to subscribe to our channel and
ring the bell to get notified about our
latest videos
you have the option to be notified for
occasional videos or
all of them if you're on your phone make
sure you go into your settings and
switch on notifications
number one the dark tower this is king's
magnum opus
but i saw your dreams deceived you boy
told you what you wanna hear not only
does the story span eight novels and one
short story it combines the lore of
king's other stories through his
so-called multiverse
while the series undoubtedly wanes a
little after wizard and glass
it remains king's most thrillingly
ambitious work and
it makes for some truly engrossing
reading the movie on the other hand
is horrible get ready tall dark and
handsome is about to crash the party
despicable stay far far away
treat it like the deadlights and don't
even look at it compression issues aside
it's just a poorly edited
incomprehensible mess of a movie it's
technically a sequel to the novels and
not an adaptation
so die hard fans may want to check it
out for closure's sake
don't winner books
shame
on you i know i have some hot takes when
it comes to stephen king
but i do not think that is one of them
so do you think we got it right
which do you prefer the book or the
movie and is there anyone out there who
actually liked the dark tower movie
come chat with me in the comments or
better yet come talk to me on twitter or
instagram
rebecca brayton or on my youtube channel
see ya