For all the books, short stories, and whatever else that Stephen King has written, there are almost as many movie and TV adaptations. Some of his books even have multiple adaptations at this point. The man is a machine. The latest in a long line of adaptations coming out is The Monkey. The film comes from Osgood Perkins, who directed Longlegs. If you’re looking for the original short story for “The Monkey”, it comes from King’s short story collection Skeleton Crew in 1985. Obviously adapting a short story into a movie requires some additions to the story to stretch to fit an entire feature-length film. That’s really the beauty of King and his adaptations. Every one has a significant feel of a King story, but then the filmmakers get to add their own personal touches to make it their own.
In the case of all of these adaptations (we’re only going through 5 because going through all of them would be a year-round job), they all combine that classic Stephen King feel with something else that makes movie or TV magic. These 5 adaptations are among the best that anyone has ever done with the work of King.
5. Carrie (1976)
We’ll start off with one of the best examples of King mixing with a great filmmaker. Brian DePalma’s 1976 adaptation of Carrie is an excellent mix where you know you’re watching a DePalma film, but also know that this is a King adaptation. Sissy Spacek does an excellent job performing as the misfit Carrie and giving audiences someone to simultaneously root for and also be terrified of. The unforgettable climax is one of the best bloodbaths in the history of film (somehow King has a lot of those…).
4. The Monkey (2025)
The Monkey 100% deserves to be in discussion with all of these other films. Osgood Perkins brings the blood, the dreamy-wonder, and his own personal style to the classic King story. The titular monkey toy is as terrifying as it gets, but really this is about the familial dynamic. Theo James brings the thunder in a dual role as the twins at the center of this story. It’s wild, bombastic, and one of the most fun times you’ll have in a movie theater or at home in recent memory.
Theo James stars in the lead role of The Monkey, along with Tatiana Maslany, Elijah Wood, and Christian Convery. You can catch “The Monkey” only in theaters on February 21.
Read our review of The Monkey here.
3. Christine (1983)
It took every fiber of my being to not mention Maximum Overdrive at some point in this list. It couldn’t crack this top 5 list, but when you combine Stephen King, huge trucks coming alive to kill people, and of course an entire soundtrack done by AC/DC, you get a fun film. That’s an article for another time, but Christine is a similar type story. It’s something that is relevant to us all. We might not have a red 1958 Plymouth Fury going around and murdering people in our lives, but we all have gone through adversity in our teenage years. The John Carpenter-directed adaptation brings his style and his excellent music as well. It’s horrifying at times, but one of the best adaptations of a classic King story ever.
2. The Shining (1980)
This might be a bit controversial, but the fact of the matter is that these top 3 films are all excellent in their own ways. Stanley Kubrick’s version of The Shining might not be Stephen King’s favorite adaptation of his work, but it’s undeniable that this film is excellent. Jack Nicholson and Shelly Duvall combine for some devilish work. The overall vibes of this film are quite simply, evil. It’s sequel in Doctor Sleep is also worth a mention because of how awesome that film is. It wasn’t enough to crack this list, though.
1. It (2017)/It (1990)
Is this cheating? Sure. But depending on what generation you’re in, you either think Bill Skarsgard as Pennywise or Tim Curry as Pennywise is the most terrifying thing out there. The 1990 miniseries might falter in the second half, especially in the effects department, but if you just take both Part 1’s of these stories, you get some of the best Stephen King out there. Whatever he does cultivating the childhood fears of growing up, clowns, and anything else that goes bump in the night, it’s smashing in both of these adaptations.
So, what is your favorite scary Stephen King adaptation? There are still some great ones that didn’t make this list like 1408, Children of the Corn, The Mangler, Pet Sematery, and The Boogeyman.
The Monkey releases in theaters on February 21st.
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