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.

46 of 49 photo by Netflix

77 #3: Gerald's Game

Prior to creating the Netflix series The Haunting of Hill House, Mike Flanagan directed this 2017 thriller for the streaming service. Carla Gugino and Bruce Greenwood star as a troubled married couple whose vacation goes immediately awry in this surprisingly successful adaptation of King's 1992 novel, which was previously considered impossible to film (given that one character spends the bulk of the story tied to a bed).

“It’s a heightened, sometimes stagey take on a trashy exploitation flick, but it is mesmerizing.” —Tasha Robinson, The Verge

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