Stephen King Movies, Ranked from Worst to Best

by Jason Dietz, Metacritic Features Editor
and Joal Ryan, for Metacritic – August 2, 2017

Last updated May 2023 to add The Boogeyman

Recent releases It and The Dark Tower have been erected on the most fertile, if haunted, of Hollywood grounds: Stephen King territory.

While conventional wisdom says King's horror tales "don't translate well to film," a Metacritic look at his theatrical releases shows that the vast majority of them received, at worst, mixed-to-average critical notices. Nine films, or about one-quarter of the titles, are in the green.

10 of 49 photo by Home Box Office Home Video

36 #39: The Night Flier

This "derivative, predictable and crude" 1998 vampire tale played on fewer than 100 domestic screens, and grossed only about $125,000, per BoxOfficeMojo.

“Devoid of wit and only minimally suspenseful.” —Stephen Holden, The New York Times

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