15 Best Stephen King Movies, Ranked
Paramount Pictures
Stephen King's 1983 novel "Pet Sematary" was adapted into a feature film in 1989, with the author tapped to write the screenplay. The cast of "Pet Sematary" didn't include many big names, but they turn in excellent performances and help to establish the horrific nature of the movie's plot, in which burying the dead in a pet cemetery (its name misspelled via a sign made by children) brings them back to life. Unfortunately, what comes back isn't what went into the ground, summarized by the classic line, "Sometimes, death is better."
The reanimated dead become homicidal monsters, and the film focuses on the reanimation of a toddler lost to a speeding truck on a dangerous highway. While he returns, little Gage Creed (Miko Hughes) is intent on slaughter, resulting in terrible fates for everyone involved. "Pet Sematary" was financially successful and, while audiences enjoyed it, critics were less kind. Regardless, King fans enjoyed the film and there was even a 2019 remake that was objectively worse.
Dale Midkiff, Fred Gwynne, Denise Crosby
Mary Lambert
R
103 minutes
Warner Bros.
Rabies is a serious viral disease that "Cujo" brings to life in the most horrific way possible. Like the book, the 1983 movie explores the dangers of rabies by infecting the title pet, a gentle and friendly St. Bernard. It takes some time for the infection to take hold, and when it does, it's not pretty. Cujo kills and mauls several people before trapping a woman and her son in their inoperable Ford Pinto.
The dog defies all reason and continues to attack the car, trying to get in and kill the two people he was formerly friendly with. The hot sun and a lack of water limit their options, leading to a daring escape that doesn't go according to plan. Ultimately, Cujo doesn't claim his prize, but it's close. "Cujo" received mixed to positive praise from critics, but according to Rotten Tomatoes, audiences weren't as sold on the rampaging doggie.
Dee Wallace, Daniel Hugh-Kelly, Danny Pintauro
Lewis Teague
R
93 minutes
Tri-Star Pictures
"The Running Man" is based on an early novel that Stephen King wrote under the pseudonym Richard Bachman. The 1987 film explores a dystopian future set in the far-off time of 2017, when reality television has devolved into the popular title program. While a TV show, it's also a state-sponsored means of pitting criminals called "runners" against an army of campy, 1980s, one-liner-spewing villains. The film is awash with terrible puns, odd dialogue, and cheesy costumes — but it's a classic.
Part of what makes "The Running Man" work is the presence of Richard Dawson and Arnold Schwarzenegger, who play off each other incredibly well. The movie, which didn't do well financially and only so-so with critics, is objectively cheesy — but that's also somewhat charming in retrospect, as "The Running Man" is a product of its time. While it didn't fare well upon release, it's since been reexamined and is now considered a cult classic that's representative of the sci-fi genre of the late 1980s.
Arnold Schwarzenegger, María Conchita Alonso, Richard Dawson
Paul Michael Glaser
R
101 minutes
Neon
The 1980 short story "The Monkey" is classic Stephen King that lands squarely in supernatural territory, as its focus is a cursed wind-up monkey — a popular toy around the time King wrote the tale. When the monkey's key is wound, it claps its cymbals together (it hits a drum in the movie), and a seemingly random person dies terribly.
The movie focuses on twin brothers, Hal and Bill (both played by Theo James), who attempt to stop the monkey from starting a new killing spree when it resurfaces in their lives 25 years after they thought they got rid of it. Their efforts only result in more death, as people die in gruesome ways reminiscent of the "Final Destination" franchise. "The Monkey" is a fun ride with unusual twists and turns that's a return to the full-on horror of King's earlier work.
Theo James, Tatiana Maslany, Christian Convery
Osgood Perkins
R
98 minutes
Dimension Films
Based on Stephen King's novella of the same name, "The Mist" takes place in King's usual setting of a small town in Maine, where a group of people become trapped inside a grocery store as a supernatural mist filled with deadly Lovecraftian horrors slaughter everyone outside. The monsters represent a constant threat, but the film focuses less on them and more on the survivors and how they interact with one another.
This makes "The Mist" more of a character study than anything else, as the creatures within the eponymous haze act as a MacGuffin to propel the story forward. Eventually, a small group of survivors escape the store in a car and attempt to flee. When their car dies and the mist seems to continue in all directions, they're left to carry out one of the most disturbing moments in "The Mist," as well as in any horror movie, resulting in a climax that's heartbreaking, understandable, and bleak.
Thomas Jane, Marcia Gay Harden, Laurie Holden
Frank Darabont
R
126 minutes
Warner Bros.
First adapted as a TV miniseries in 1990, Stephen King's "It" was more recently turned into a two-part feature film released in 2017 and 2019. The 2017 movie covers the novel's first half, which follows a group of children who take on a supernatural horror that kills and consumes kids every 27 years, most frequently in the form of Pennywise the Clown (Bill Skarsgård).
The kids defeat Pennywise, but decades later in the second film, the nightmare returns, as do most of the now-adult characters from the first half of the story. They take on Pennywise once more and ultimately finish him off with the use of an ancient ritual. The films take some liberties with the source material, and the first fared better than the second. Skarsgård's transformation into Pennywise is handled incredibly well, ensuring a whole generation of kids will fear him well into adulthood.
Jaeden Lieberher, Bill Skarsgård, James McAvoy, Jessica Chastain, Bill Hader
Andy Muschietti
R
135 and 169 minutes
The Weinstein Company
Stephen King crafted an interesting tale in his 1999 short story that was adapted into the film "1408." The titular hotel room draws in Mike Enslin (John Cusack), a skeptical supernatural writer who books a stay in the room despite the hotel manager's attempts to dissuade him, as nearly 60 people have died inside Room 1408 over nearly a century. Unfortunately, Enslin insists and makes his way to the room to try and stay for just one hour, which is the maximum time anyone has spent inside.
The room throws all manner of ghosts, manifestations, and horrific memories his way, and even makes him think he's escaped when he hasn't. Although several endings were shot — with one used for the 2007 theatrical release and two others that were more downbeat included in the DVD, Blu-ray, and broadcast editions of the film – "1408" remains a vivid horror story that takes the audience through an exploration of self-acceptance, trauma, and overcoming grief.
John Cusack, Samuel L. Jackson, Mary McCormack
Mikael Håfström
PG-13
104 and 112 minutes
Columbia Pictures
"Dolores Claiborne" is the second Stephen King adaptation to star Kathy Bates, in a role that the actor has called her favorite of her career. The 1995 film tells its story largely through flashbacks, exploring and exposing the emotional and physical abuse inflicted by Dolores' (Bates) now-deceased husband (David Strathairn). After the woman she's cared for over many years dies, suspicion falls on Dolores due to the town's widespread belief that she killed her husband years earlier.
Dolores' estranged daughter (Jennifer Jason Leigh) returns home after many years and comes to her aid, while flashbacks reveal what really happened with her father. Eventually the two women reconcile even as the detective (Christopher Plummer) who tried to pin her husband's murder on Dolores goes after her for the death of the woman Dolores cared for. The film has been widely praised by critics and audiences alike, not to mention its star, and remains one of the best adaptations of King's work that isn't a supernatural horror tale.
Kathy Bates, Jennifer Jason Leigh, David Strathairn
Taylor Hackford
R
132 minutes
Warner Bros.
"The Green Mile" is set during the Great Depression at a prison's death row, where the hallway to the electric chair features a green floor. The focus of the movie is on the lead guard, Paul Edgecomb (Tom Hanks), and a giant of an inmate named John Coffey (Michael Clarke Duncan), who possesses the supernatural ability to heal any ailment. He's on death row for killing twin girls, even though he is innocent. Despite this, he remains condemned to die, and touches the lives of everyone inside, including the guards.
The 1999 film explores themes of life, death, injustice, and suffering, with Coffey often interpreted as an allegorical representation of Jesus Christ. Coffey is walked down the green mile and is executed despite attempts to stop his demise. The ending of "The Green Mile" leaves the audience contemplative about the nature of sacrifice and the rare person who is fundamentally good at heart yet is condemned regardless.
Tom Hanks, David Morse, Bonnie Hunt, Michael Clarke Duncan
Frank Darabont
R
189 minutes
Paramount Pictures
Based on Stephen King's 1979 novel, "The Dead Zone" follows Johnny Smith (Christopher Walken), a schoolteacher who awakens from a five-year coma to find he has tactile-based psychic powers, by which he can see a person's past, present, and future simply through touching them. Through the use of his abilities, Johnny discovers "dead zones" — or psychic gaps in his visions — that enable him to change the future.
After he has a vision of a presidential candidate (Martin Sheen) starting a nuclear war, Johnny — who is dying of a brain tumor — steps in to stop him, even at the risk of sacrificing his own life. This central question — would you kill someone like Adolf Hitler when he was a baby to prevent the horrors he would later inflict? — is handled in David Cronenberg's 1983 film with aplomb, though it was only modestly successful upon release.
Christopher Walken, Brooke Adams, Tom Skerritt
David Cronenberg
R
103 minutes
Warner Bros.
Few films are as genre-transformative as 1980's "The Shining," and that's largely thanks to the inimitable skills of director Stanley Kubrick and star Jack Nicholson. The latter plays Jack Torrance, a recovering alcoholic who takes his family to live for the winter as caretakers at the remote Overlook Hotel. Jack grows increasingly psychotic as he's terrorized by the isolation, his alcoholism, and the supernatural influence of the hotel.
As he's driven mad, Jack becomes homicidal, leading him to attempt to kill his wife Wendy (Shelley Duvall) and son Danny (Danny Lloyd), who possesses a clairvoyant ability known as "shining." Kubrick takes certain liberties with the book and King himself is not a fan of the film, but he's in the minority, as "The Shining" is widely considered to be a classic due to its epic feel, eerie imagery, and Kubrick's cerebral approach. King later wrote a teleplay more consistent with his vision, which was made into a TV miniseries in 1997.
Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Scatman Crothers, Danny Lloyd
Stanley Kubrick
R
146 minutes
Columbia Pictures
Kathy Bates' first foray into the world of Stephen King came via 1990's "Misery," for which she won an Academy Award for best actress. As of 2025, this remains the only Oscar awarded to a King adaptation. The gripping psychological thriller follows romance novelist Paul Sheldon (James Caan), who is caught in a blizzard and saved by Annie Wilkes (Bates), a nurse who lives nearby. It's fortunate for both of them because Paul is injured and Annie claims to be his "number one fan," who promises to care for him until the storm passes.
Instead, she keeps him confined to bed and slowly increases her demands on him, torturing Paul and forcing him to write a new novel as she is displeased with the one he's just completed. Annie grows more menacing as time passes, ultimately planning to carry out a murder-suicide as soon as Paul finishes the new book. King based the story on his own experiences with certain fans, and it's a tense exploration of obsession and madness — with an outstanding performance from Bates — that keeps viewers on edge for the entire running time.
James Caan, Kathy Bates
Rob Reiner
R
107 minutes
Columbia Pictures
"Stand By Me" is based on Stephen King's novella "The Body" and is set in Castle Rock, Maine. The film is a coming-of-age story set in 1959, where four teenage boys band together to find the body of a missing local boy. They hope to be named heroes and set out along the train tracks. It's not a safe journey, as two of them are nearly run over by a speeding train. There's also a sickening incident in a pond with leeches, and eventually a confrontation with a gang of older kids over who discovered the body first.
Throughout it all, the film explores themes of grief, self-discovery, and nostalgia. Finding the corpse gives the boys their first real confrontation with death and helps them make perhaps the first adult decision of their lives. "Stand By Me" isn't a typical King story, as it's not a horror tale or supernatural thriller. Instead, it's a deeply personal story for the author, who loves the adaptation.
Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, Jerry O'Connell, Kiefer Sutherland
Rob Reiner
R
89 minutes
United Artists
"Carrie" is Stephen King's debut novel, and was also the first King book to be adapted into a film. The 1976 movie focuses on the titular teenage girl (Sissy Spacek), an outcast who is ostracized and bullied at school and constantly terrorized at home by her fanatical religious mother. When she's later humiliated at the senior prom, her latent telekinetic abilities manifest, leading to a massacre. "Carrie" has long been a fan-favorite King adaptation and holds a 94% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Film critic Roger Ebert was particularly positive about "Carrie" in his review, calling it "an absolutely spellbinding horror movie, with a shock at the end" that he compared to "Jaws." What makes the film so compelling is that it's less focused on Carrie's supernatural abilities than it is on the character and her development. The audience can easily understand her point of view, making this horror film relatable to the average viewer and one of the best adaptations of King's work to date.
Sissy Spacek, John Travolta, Piper Laurie
Brian De Palma
R
98 minutes
Columbia Pictures
"The Shawshank Redemption" often finds its way onto lists of the greatest films ever made, and for good reason. It tells the story of Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins), an innocent man imprisoned for the murder of his wife and her lover. Making both allies and enemies in prison — including his longtime friend Red (Morgan Freeman) — he is finally pushed to his limit by the corrupt warden (Bob Gunton) and escapes, setting up the downfall of the evil warden and his murderous guard.
Despite the bleak setting of Shawshank Prison, the film's central theme is hope. This is touched on throughout the film, leading to an uplifting and poignant finale. "The Shawshank Redemption" is an example of a King movie with near-universal appeal, making it easily the greatest of his adaptations. It received seven Academy Award nominations, and while it didn't win any, the movie remains a beloved classic that's as adored by fans of Steven King as it is by those who have never read his books.
Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, Bob Gunton
Frank Darabont
R
142 minutes
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