DVD TO THE RESCUE: THE MIST
When The Mist opened last year I wasn't much impressed. The version of the movie on the Two-Disc Special Edition DVD is way better and I'll tell you why. Disc 2 presents the movie in black-and-white, the way director Frank Darabont originally intended it, like a 1950s horror flick. Listen to Darabont's intro on the disc and you'll learn that studio beancounters freaked out over the idea that the blood would not run red. Have these idiots never seen The Thing (1951) or Them! (1954) or Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)?
The big fear was that gore in black-and-white would keep audiences away. Hell, audiences didn't come anyway (a $28 million worldwide gross qualifies as crumbs even on a paltry $17 million budget).
So what went wrong with The Mist? Some of the effects are truly tacky—those tentacles crushed by a garage door early on are Halloween plastic (loved the flying insects, though). Darabont's major screw up is the way he overstuffs a tight and terrifying Stephen King short story with an excess of political and spiritual allegory. Thomas Jane and his young son have to take on the creatures lurking in the mist and something worse, a bunch of crazy locals stuck in the store with them, the looniest being Marcia Gay Harden as a religious fanatic. At 127 minutes (at least a half hour too long—Them! came in at a trim 94 minutes), the movie drags its ass. But the ending works like like gangbusters. Even now, I'll never tell. Darabont says he extrapolated the final scene, not in the story, out of a single King sentence. And King couldn't be happier. It's a potent shocker.
All of which got me thinking about other King short stories that became movies. Not the novels, we'll save that for another blog. Darabont himself had previously directed and adapted two King stories, the solid The Green Mile and the sensational Shawshank Redemption. For me, Shawshank and Stand By Me rank highest among the movies made from King's short fiction. Among the worst is Maximum Overdrive, which King directed himself from his short story, “Trucks,” from the 1978 collection Night Shift. And curses on Apt Pupil and Hearts of Atlantis. Even Johnny Depp couldn't save Secret Window. Director Mikael Hafstrom did twisty things with 1408, the 37-page story from King's 2002 collection Everything’s Eventual. There is much to like in Creepshow and the first Children of the Corn (damn the six sequels). Your nominees, please, for best and worst movies adapted from a short story by Stephen King.
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Brenda Miller | August 28, 2009 8:38 PM
I love all of Stephen King's books and Movies. He is the best writer of his time.
James | April 4, 2008 1:59 AM
Slightly off topic, but you know which one deserves the best treatment? The pulp novel he did for Hard Case Crime a couple years ago, 'The Colorado Kid.' That ought to be shot in b/w from the get-go, and it should be handed to the Coen brothers, done up a la 'The Man Who Wasn't There.' That would be the coolest film noir flick since... well, since film noir died.
Maggie | April 2, 2008 12:30 AM
After reading many of the King books that were made into movies, there were very few that could live up to their literary partner. I think that 'The Shining' is great because unlike most of the other King adaptations, it stands alone. Kubrick did not try to make the film into a copy of the novel, but rather a completely different story. On the other hand, 'The Green Mile' was eerily similar to the novel collection and was a wonderful film. In the end, it all depends on the screenwriter, because, like many book authors, King's words do not always translate well into spoken dialogue.
ShakeSpeare | April 1, 2008 8:30 PM
There is no doub't that Stephen King's best short story adaptation was creepshow. Yet his best film adaptation of all time was Stanely Kubricks The Shinning.
poop | March 31, 2008 1:39 PM
o' shut up ,
Gabriel | March 31, 2008 1:43 AM
professor Horror got many things rights. There are many excellent films based on King's stories.
The 'Dead Zone' in itself is just amazing.
Horror fims and King stories are about tapping into psychological fears and this can be hard to show on screen. But showing the scizpoid type of brain that Depp had with the wall cracking is pure brilliance.
'Blood is not all that matters in horror'
Bart Johnson | March 30, 2008 1:41 AM
Creepshow is by far my favorite King adaptation. Scary and funny, and very creative. I remember being quite disappointed with Silver Bullet.
Pinworm | March 28, 2008 5:40 PM
I love taking many of my dvds and watching them in in black & white! Simply turn the color level all the way down and see all your color films in a completely different way. One of my favorites to watch this way is "Pulp Fiction" - it's great!
NoElleNo | March 28, 2008 4:33 PM
I actually mentioned "Thinner" and a couple others I didn't see....I don't know what happened to the post and OF COURSE it was one of those "off the cuff never to be repeated again" comments too! (?) =o( Shoot!
jared | March 28, 2008 4:23 PM
Nobody mentioned "Thinner"
that was a steaming piece of crap!!
I thought was awesome and the b&W version is even better (monsters don't look as fake).
NoElleNo | March 28, 2008 4:03 PM
BEST MOVIE ADAPTATION OF A STEPHEN KING BOOK- in no particular order.
#1-IT*** best and longest book ever, but I agree with Austin Reed-Tim Curry WAS the movie! HE actually scared me as Pennywise)
#1 until I saw IT-The Shining**
#4-Stand By Me &Rita Hayworth/"The Shawshank Redemption"** (Great collection-Different Seasons- Apt Pupil good story, movie sucked)
#2-Deloris Claiborne** (didn't read it but it was a damn good movie)
#3-The Green Mile**
Creepshow**(1)
Carrie**
Pet Sematary** (No FAIR!)
Dreamcatcher** (I dudits! LOVED this story)
1408- (had to watch it a few times...meh)
THE RUNNING MAN (hilarious!)
Thinner (first King book I read)
Cats Eye (get'im Gen'ral!)
The Dead Zone
oscar wild | March 28, 2008 2:40 PM
Its a shame the same Director of shawshank directed the terrible mist movie ....
crapola by Frank Darabont
fritta | March 28, 2008 1:44 AM
i personally love pet semetary, i think its a def. little horror classic. zelda still freaks me the f out.
there are some TERRIBLE king movies though. The Stand. The Langoliers. Silver Bullet. Dreamcatcher. The Tommyknockers. The list goes on and on...
Redrocket | March 27, 2008 4:45 PM
Funny, nobody has yet to mention the pile of crap that was "Pet Semetary..." Wait, nobody saw it to begin with.
C Jenks | March 27, 2008 3:00 PM
I know there was some pretty bad acting in The Stand, but I still thought it was a pretty good movie, far from the best adaptation of a SK story (that would be Shawshank) but it drew me in, and I have watched it several times since. Of his most recent adaptations, I like 1408 ( the scene where he was chased through the hotel duct system by a corpse was creepy; though it wasn't in the original short story).
I heard somewhere they are filming an adaptation of The Jaunt, that is one of my favorite SK short stories (fr Skeleton Crew) and I look forward to seeing that one. But the granddaddy of all SK stories that i hope to be made into a movie is The Dark Tower series, I doubt they would ever do that series justice on the screen, but just to see Roland, Eddie, Jake and co. on film is something i long to see!!
Niles | March 27, 2008 11:13 AM
The best is Stand By Me.
Shawshank Redemption is also pretty damn good, but a tad overrated (and why did no one ever age in that one?). I'd have to disagree about Children of the Corn.. that one sucked, as did Graveyard Shift. For whatever reason, the "human interest" stories seem to adapt better than the "bump in the night" ones.
timalex | March 27, 2008 12:10 AM
I was 8 years old in the summer of 1980 and I had an uncle who worked as an usher at a movie theater. He was able to let me see any movie for free. Of course I was intending to see "Empire Strikes Back". But I was mesmorized of the movie poster for "The Shining" and I went to see it, all by myself.To this day, I still have reoccurring dreams of Jack Nicholson swing that axe and Shelly Duvall screaming her head off.
But this also began my appreciation for great literature, via the books of Stephen King. And I would lke to present my favorite Stephen King adaptations into movies-
1- Shawshank Redemption
2- The Shining
3- Carrie
4- Salem's Lot
5- Stand By Me
anthony vieira | March 26, 2008 10:23 PM
The best Stephen King short story adaptations:
Stand By Me
(from the novella The Body)
The Shawshank Redemption
Children of the Corn
The Woman In The Room
(Frank Darabont's short film based on the King short story about being haunted by his mother, dying of cancer. It's brilliant.)
Secret Window (hey, I liked it... the ending's waaaaay better than King's kind of cop-out ending)
I always thought Cat's Eye was pretty cool. It strings together some nice stories from Night Shift with a great little original about a heroic cat tearing up this evil little troll in little Drew Barrymore's bedroom.
The Langoliers is as good as a TV movie gets, as is Sometimes They Come Back.
His treatment of the Blob - the story Gray Matter from Night Shift - still awaits its adaptation. (I'm working on it.)
Savon | March 26, 2008 7:37 PM
Shawshank Redemption is also my #1. Morgan Freeman should have won the Oscar for The Shawshank Redemption. I saw it at a movie theatre in Capitola, CA. I did not realize that a film with such a small theatrical audience would have a long-lived life beyond on video and DVD. Of course, I saw The Big Lebowski in the theatre in 1998, and I didn't have any idea then that the dude would continue to abide.
constant reader | March 26, 2008 6:38 PM
As much as I love King's books to pieces, most of the film adaptations don't work for me. Secret Window, Secret Garden is my fave short story of his, and I disagree w/Travers-it was turned into a pretty badass flick! Especially bc of Johnny!
The Stand is my absolute favorite book by anyone, but the tv movie version fell short. I'd say these are the best adaptations:
1-Shawshank Redemption
2-Misery
3-The Green Mile
4-The Shining (I agree w/King that Kubrick effed up story a bit, but his adaptation is genius. The TV version, directed by King was pretty stellar, too)
5-Cujo/Carrie...both are fantastic, esp in their 80's-ness
Laura | March 26, 2008 5:12 PM
"The Mist" has a surprise ending? I absolutely HAVE to rent it now!
Matt M | March 26, 2008 11:52 AM
St. Robinson, "Battleground" was actually one of the Nightmares & Dreamscapes stories that TNT did, and was, in my estimation, easily the best of the lot. The lead was played by William Hurt, and the entire hour was dialogue-free.
spook76 | March 26, 2008 11:15 AM
I have to say that I DID enjoy "Secret Window" with Johnny Depp. Not the best movie based on a King novel, but it had it's creepy moments---and it had Depp.
MrSean | March 26, 2008 2:19 AM
hands down;
'The Running Man'
Eric | March 25, 2008 11:52 PM
The Night Flier (the adaptation of the short story from King's Nightmares & Dreamscapes story collection) was pretty bad.
St. Robinson | March 25, 2008 11:19 PM
Well, allow me to actually answer the question and stick just to short stories:
The Nightmares and Dreamscapes TV movies made a year or two ago really were not all that great...Crouch End is among King's very very scariest, but I just didn't buy it on film. William H. Macy can do pretty much anything, but playing the archetypal (stereotypical) hard-boiled 40s P.I. from Umney's Last Case didn't fly for me, although it was funny.
The Langoliers was, for all its limitations due to technology and being on regular TV, pretty damned scary. So what if when they actually appeared they were borderline laughable? This doesn't happen until the final 20 minutes, and up till then their unseen (but certainly heard) presence is a great, terrible weight upon the story. I saw the movie on Sci-Fi just the other day and it creeped me out just as much as it did the first time I saw it when I was 14. David Morse, a King film veteran, was solid and believable as always, Dean Stockwell was fantastic as a pompous but still brilliant (and terrified) mystery writer and Bronson Pinchot had you forgetting who the hell Balky was maybe 60 seconds into fierce, fiery performance as Craig Toomey.
Travers curses Apt Pupil, but I thought it was at least saved from being awful by Ian McKellan and Brad Renfro, who tore up a badly scripted good story the best they could(which, considering their talents, ain't too bad).
I agree with Professor Horror-Woman in the Room is great.
I don't think whoever made The Lawnmower Man had even read the story. I need say no more.
I guess I'd say the best are:
Stand By Me
Shawshank
The Langoliers
Woman in the Room
I'd like to see Battleground as a movie, although it'd be almost impossible to make as anything but ridiculous.
I'd really like to see Ballad of the Flexible Bullet as a movie...its brooding paranoia would be awesomely creepy (not to mention you don't really have to see the supposed magical creatures in it, saving any potentially spoiling special effects nightmares).
I think From Dusk Til Dawn should get an honorable mention...King had nothing to do with it but director Robert Rodriguez and writer Quentin Tarantino both credit him as a major influence, and goddamn is that a great movie.
Mitch | March 25, 2008 8:01 PM
Here's my list of King greats.
Best TV movie: 'Salem's Lot
Best Feature Film (novel): Misery
Best Feature Film (novella): The Shawshank Redemption
Best Feature Film (short story): 1408
Worst TV movie: The new 'Salem's Lot (sorry Rob Lowe)
Worst Feature Film (novel): Firestarter
Worst Feature Film (novella): Really, unless I cheat and include The Langoliers (tv movie), there's not one.
Worst Feature Film (short story): Maximum Overdrive
There are a few King movies written for film, not based on his original work. These are typically pretty bad. King is one of the best writers of our generation, severely underrated in terms of quality (he's ten notches above the likes of James Patterson), but his "novels for television"... Uck. Sleepwalkers was awful. Rose Red, while decent, is still near the bottom of this pack. Kingdom Hospital (not King's original idea) was just plain goofy.
Storm of the Century is the only one I rank as honestly good. It's a nice mixture of some of the themes he's touched in his novels.
Gojira | March 25, 2008 4:19 PM
Why do I always get the impression that Travers is trying to be hip in his little reviews? Throwing in terms like "drags its ass" and "gangbusters" always strike me as desperate and forced attempts to spice things up. Maybe it's the pressure of working as an old film critic at the world's most "happening" magazine (right...). Just cut the "cool" lingo shit, Pete, and give us a little more substance.
White Elephant | March 25, 2008 4:13 PM
Peter Travers is a hypocrite. He hated Shawshank when it came out.
profesor Horror | March 25, 2008 1:43 PM
I love "The Mist" in B&W, Darabont proves early in his career that he is the best director for King adaptations, Does anyone seen "The Woman In The Room" short film? really scary.
TOP TEN STEPHEN KING ADAPTATIONS:
1-Stand By Me- One of best films of the 80's.
2-Salem's Lot- Hooper horrofic vampire tale, King's best tv movie!
3-Carrie- De Palma at his best.
4-Misery- crazy Kathy Bates!
5-The Shining- King din't like it couse Kubrick turn it in to his own surreal tale.
6-Shawshank Redemption-This one is easy.
7-Creepshow- super cool Romero tribute to DC comics.
8-Woman in The Room- Darabont early masterpiece.
9-The Dead Zone-David Cronenberg and Christopher Walken, Do i need to say more?
10-The Mist-Watch it in black and white, Darabont has done it again.
Austin Reed | March 25, 2008 1:14 PM
It's technically not a theatrically released film, but the two-part miniseries "Stephen King's IT" is a mixed bag.
Basically, if it weren't for Tim Curry's inspired madness as Penny wise the Clown, I'd have fallen asleep. Even John Ritter looked bored here...