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Between the tonally similar Stranger Things, Spike’s take on The Mist, and the upcoming reboot of IT, 2017 is a great time to be a Stephen King fan. However, that wasn’t always the case. Throughout his long career, King’s name has been attached to some truly remarkable pieces of cinematic garbage.
Of course, most of these aren’t completely King’s fault. From directors who threw out scripts written by the best-selling author himself to budgets that were so small, giant chunks of the project had to be cut, some of the worst King adaptations actually have some of the most interesting stories. Consider this your guide to the world of bad King. All of the below movies are available to stream, so if you’re a King completest or just looking for a bad movie night, you’re set.
‘The Dark Half’ (1993)
The ‘90s were a hot spot for King adaptations, both great and terrible. This one from director George A. Romero is one of the worse ones, but as far as bad King goes, it’s not completely terrible. Starring Timothy Hutton, Amy Madigan, and Michael Rooker, this movie follows a best-selling author of thrillers (sounds familiar) who decides to give it all up and retire his pen name. However, after he buries his alter ego, it comes back with plans to kill.
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 53%
‘Carrie’ (2013)
The recent Carrie reboot had a lot of things working against it. For one it had to compete with one of the most iconic horror films of all time, and it was a reboot that never really felt necessary. But it was made, by god. Starring Chloe Grace Moretz and Julianne Moore, this isn’t the worst King adaptation around, but it’s nothing compared to the original film.
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 48%
‘Children of the Corn’ (1984)
This is another mixed adaptation. While some critics though this adaptation of one of King’s most chilling short stories worked as an examination of cults and mob mentality, most thought it was over acted and a bit absurd. It probably didn’t help that this adaptation threw away most of King’s original screenplay to add more violence. The film bombed at the box office, but that didn’t stop this movie from developing a cult following. To date, Children of the Corn has produced seven movies.
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 38%
‘Creepshow 2’ (1987)
Though the first Creepshow performed well, its sequel was a bit of a mixed bag. The horror anthology movie focused on adapting three of King’s short stories as opposed to the five of its predecessor. Everyone basically agreed it was just a low budget and cornier version of King and George Romero‘s first anthology, and it was quietly ignored.
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 33%
‘Dreamcatcher’ (2003)
Dreamcatcher starts off as a promising movie. The film follows four friends who all acquired telepathic powers where they were kids. However, their reunion as adults is soured when they encounter an invasion of parasitic aliens. From there’s it’s all downhill in a movie that’s filled with talented people — Damian Lewis and Timothy Olyphant are in this — but a convoluted and rambling plot. However, it’s a movie that’s so bad, it becomes good again.
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 30%
‘Riding the Bullet’ (2004)
There’s poorly preforming films and then there’s Riding the Bullet. The movie follows a young artists who has several creepy encounters with people both living and dead as he tries to visit his dying mom in the hospital. Not only was it critically panned, but the movie made a little over $134,000 domestically.
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 27%
‘The Mangler’ (1995)
This Stephen King short story about a deadly and evil laundry press is one of those things that’s terrifying on paper but cringe-worthy to see in real life. Starring Ted Levine, the movie was repeatedly described as “silly” and “lackluster” by critics, and it didn’t do much better at the box office. Domestically, the film made roughly $1.7 million.
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 27%
‘Maximum Overdrive’ (1986)
Not only was Maximum Overdrive King’s first and only directorial effort, it’s one of the few King adaptations that was more of a black comedy than a strict horror film. The horror-comedy about truckers was so bad, it was nominated for two Golden Raspberry Awards, and King said that he would likely not return to directing anytime soon. King has also admitted that he thinks Maximum Overdrive is the worst adaptation of his work.
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 17%
‘Sleepwalkers’ (1992)
This King take on vampires is another movie that starts off well before diving into disaster. The movie starts as a grim story about the two last vampires who are willing to do whatever it takes to keep their species alive, even if that means having the son feed his mother energy through sex. The second half of the movie is even weirder than that. The movie made back about half of its budget and inspired a How Did This Get Made episode.
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 15%
‘Cell’ (2016)
Who would have thought that King’s worst adaption would be one of his most recent and would star Samuel Jackson? The movie takes place in a world where an evil electronic signal turns all cell phone users into rabid monsters. It was derided for its nonsensical plot and one-note acting, and it only made $735,000 in box office.
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 11%
