Stephen King Movies, Ranked from Worst to Best
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.
The biggest box-office hit on this list, Frank Darabont's "touching," "cracking-good" 1999 retelling of the serial novel about a condemned inmate (Michael Clarke Duncan) with healing powers earned four Oscar nominations, including one for Best Picture.
“A reminder of just how good Hollywood storytelling can be.” —Jonathan Foreman, New York Post