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When it comes to authors who have had their work adapted the greatest number of times, the most obvious answer is Stephen King. Whether it’s in television or film, the Master of Horror’s work has made its mark on audiences in one way or another. The medium of film, in particular, has always had a place for King and allowed different filmmakers to interpret his words, worlds, and characters in unique ways. But for every acclaimed success like Stand by Me or The Shining, there are others that miss the mark in almost every way. But that doesn’t mean that those failures are unwatchable.
The term “so bad it’s good” definitely applies to a lot of films either based on work by Stephen King, or that have had King involved in its production. Whether it’s the performances, the story itself, or everything in between, someone can usually have a blast either way when watching any of the movies below.
7 The Langoliers Is A Riot Thanks To Its Effects, Acting, And Ending
King’s novella The Langoliers was adapted into a two-part TV movie in 1994, starring Dean Stockwell, David Morse, and Bronson Pinchot as passengers on a red-eye flight who find themselves the only ones onboard as a result of passing through a rift in time that sends them a few minutes into the past. They are essentially in a dead zone in time and must find a way to get back to the present before Lovecraftian-esque monsters devour them and the dead zone with it.
A TV movie budget wouldn’t have had anywhere near the right budget to display the horrifying creatures King described in his story, but the film does so anyway, and one can’t help but get a kick out of the shoddy effects used to bring them to life. Some of the cast’s performances come off as enjoyably awkward, particularly Pinchot as the mentally unstable Craig Toomy. And an ending that sees the main characters have a celebratory jump in mid-air like out of a sitcom is just as delightfully bizarre as it sounds.
6 The Lawnmower Man Is Deliriously Over-The-Top
The Lawnmower Man follows a mentally handicapped gardener named Jobe Smith (Jeff Fahey) who becomes smarter and more powerful thanks to experiments run by Dr. Lawrence Angelo (Pierce Brosnan). But as it tends to happen in most sci-fi stories of this nature, Jobe soon becomes too powerful and takes his anger out on those around him.
What makes this film particularly enjoyable is how the film attempted to predict the rise of virtual reality, which while still present in modern times doesn’t have as nearly as big of an influence as the film thought it would. Thus, its visual effects haven’t aged all that well, but there’s a charm in how over-the-top and unself-aware they are. This is definitely the case with how it portrays Jobe’s God form in the virtual world, anchored by Fahey’s scenery-chewing performance. And any film with a scene that sees a lawnmower come to life and kill someone can’t be unenjoyable, can it?
5 Dreamcatcher Was Always Going To Be Insane
King has stated that Dreamcatcher is one of his least favorite novels that he’s written, as he wrote it while taking a lot of Oxycontin while recovering from a car accident in 1999. The 2003 film version certainly makes a case for its bad quality, but it’s made up of so many nonsensical plot points and decisions that it’s hard not to look away.
The film focuses on a group of friends who, as kids, gained psychic powers from a boy with Down syndrome. As adults, they go on an annual hunting trip and are soon set upon by aliens referred to as “sh*tweasels” because of how they infect a host before burrowing out through their anus. Adding to these events is an insane, bushy-browed US Air Force Colonel played by Morgan Freeman, who is willing to do whatever it takes to get rid of these creatures. What’s even crazier is that not only are all of those plot points played straight, but those aren’t even the most ridiculous things to happen in the film! It’s a movie that defies explanation and is all the better for it.
4 Arnold Schwarzenegger Brings His Brand Of Cheesiness To The Running Man
1987’s The Running Man stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as a helicopter pilot in a totalitarian future who is framed for causing a massacre and is forced into competing on the popular TV game show in which prisoners must fight against hired mercenaries in order to earn pardons from the government. As strong a premise as it is, it’s made even more fun by the outlandish sets, heightened attempts at satire, several bizarre performances, and over-the-top violence.
And that’s not even getting to the script itself; by the time he starred in The Running Man, Schwarzenegger had pretty much carved out an action film persona as a tough badass with a knack for delivering cheesy one-liners. The Running Man offers him several moments to deliver such lines with his usual charm: upon setting one of the mercenaries on fire, Schwarzenegger responds with “What a hothead!”
3 Maximum Overdrive Is A Laughably Nonsensical Ride
King’s directorial debut Maximum Overdrive was released in 1986 and to date, it remains the only film he’s ever directed himself. Based on his short story “Trucks”, Maximum Overdrive sees the Earth pass through the tail of a comet, which for some reason causes any previously inanimate machines or tools to come to life and start killing humans. A group of characters–led by Emilio Estevez’s ex-convict Bill Robinson–are held up at a gas station by several murderous trucks and must figure out a way to survive against the machines.
King has admitted that he was on a large amount of cocaine during the filming of the movie and that may have contributed to some of the gleeful insanity that made it into the finished project: one can’t help but howl with laughter at scenes that include a baseball coach being killed by a vending machine that shoots soda cans at him. That’s in addition to some spectacularly hammy performances from actors like Yeardley Smith and Pat Hingle playing Southern archetypal characters that would be right at home in some of King’s other novels.
2 Thinner Is An Enjoyably Bad Film Worth Savoring
Thinner stars Robert John Burke as Billy Halleck, a morbidly obese lawyer who accidentally runs over an elderly Romani woman but gets off scot-free from the crime thanks to his connections. The woman’s father, however, is enraged and curses Billy to get thinner no matter how much food he consumes, leading Billy to desperately find a way to reverse the spell before he’s a literal skeleton.
While the film suffers from too much filler in its runtime and a less-than-convincing fat suit worn by Burke, it’s worth watching mainly for the oversized performances. Burke in particular gives a demented and cartoonish performance to emphasize his character’s arrogance and desperation that one can’t help but chuckle at ironically.
1 Sleepwalkers Must To Be Seen To Be Believed
Sleepwalkers is notable among King’s films in that it is an original screenplay he wrote for the screen. The film focuses on a mother and son who are secretly werecats known as “sleepwalkers”, who sustain themselves by feeding off of virgin women for their life energy. The son poses as a student at a high school in California and starts a relationship with a classmate, only for her to discover his secret and fight for her life against him and his mother.
What sounds like an intriguing film at first soon collapses thanks to some hilariously strange plot decisions: the mother and son are in an extremely uncomfortable incestuous relationship and the main weakness to their race are normal cats. From there, things only get more absurd, with a highlight being a scene in which a cop is stabbed with an ear of corn. To say any more would take away from an immensely fun viewing experience that is sure to leave anyone either confused or laughing or both.
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