Stephen King, renowned for his horror novels, has seen over 50 of his books turned into films and about 28 adapted for television. But what about King’s own taste in cinema?
In an article for the BFI, King shared his thoughts on eight films, highlighting his top two and listing the others in no specific order. This week, UNILAD RANKED evaluated the median Rotten Tomatoes scores of his selections to create a top five list.
Starting appropriately with a psychological thriller, the fifth spot on the list is held by a film released in 1987, written by Donald E. Westlake and based on a story by Westlake, Carolyn Lefcourt, and Brian Garfield, with an uncredited rewrite by David Loughery.
Produced by Jay Benson and directed by Joseph Ruben, it features Terry O’Quinn (Lost), Jill Schoelen (The Phantom of the Opera), and Shelley Hack (Charlie’s Angels). Schoelen reportedly performed nearly all of her stunts.
The narrative follows a serial killer who takes on different identities to pursue his victims. Westlake reportedly based the character of Stephanie on his real-life teenage stepdaughter, with whom he had a strained relationship, according to IMDB.
With a Rotten Tomatoes score of 89 and an audience score of 65, resulting in a median of 77, “The Stepfather” is lauded by a Twitter user as “a deeply unsettling dissection of the American Dream with an all-time performance from Terry O’Quinn.” It is available for rental on Amazon Prime or Apple TV.
Horror enthusiasts, brace yourselves for more chilling scenes ahead…
The next film is a Canadian supernatural horror with a screenplay by William Gray and Diana Maddox, directed by Peter Medak.
Stephen King describes the film as featuring “George C. Scott (Dr. Strangelove) in perhaps his last great screen role.” Starring alongside Scott are Trish Van Devere (One is a Lonely Number) and Melvyn Douglas (Ninotchka).
The plot follows a man plagued by the ghosts of his deceased family after a road accident, with the protagonist determined to unravel the mystery of a young boy’s death.
Social media comments include one user stating, “This is one damn creepy film that still turns my blood cold,” while another calls it, “One of the greatest ghost stories on film.” Yet another commenter on Rotten Tomatoes declares, “This is a masterpiece!”
The film holds a tomatometer score of 85 and an audience score of 79. Available on Amazon Prime, it is described as an “underappreciated” release.
Next is another cult classic.
The 1971 classic, adapted by Richard Matheson from his short story published in Playboy, draws from his real-life experience in 1963 when a trucker cut him off on a California freeway.
Directed by none other than Steven Spielberg, the film is an action-thriller about a traveling salesman named David Mann, played by Dennis Weaver, who becomes the target of a menacing truck driver.
King commends the film as Spielberg’s “most inventive film,” and with a tomatometer score of 89 and an audience score of 84, culminating in a median of 86.5, it is celebrated by many. Originally aired on ABC in November 1971, it is now considered one of the finest TV films ever made.
Comments on Twitter include, “So many memorable moments and stylistic shots in this well-crafted film!” and “It remains one of my favorites and it still creeps me out and scares me to death.”
Duel can be rented on Amazon Prime or Apple TV.
Les Diaboliques, released in 1955, is based on the novel She Who Was No More by Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac, with a screenplay by Henri-Georges Clouzot, Jérôme Géronimi, René Masson, and Frédéric Grende.
Featuring “sublime” cinematography by Armand Thirard, the film stars Simone Signoret, Véra Clouzot, Paul Meurisse, and Charles Vanel, and follows a woman’s plan, alongside her husband’s mistress, to kill him.
Directed by Clouzot, Stephen King calls Les Diaboliques a “suspense-horror masterpiece, as terrifying now as it was back in 1955,” adding that Clouzot “out-Hitchcocked Hitchcock.” Clouzot acquired the screenplay rights immediately after completing The Wages of Fear, outpacing Hitchcock, whose subsequent film Psycho drew inspiration from the story. IMDB notes that Clouzot beat Hitchcock to the rights by mere hours.
This “masterpiece” can be rented on Amazon Prime. Now, on to King’s favorite film.
Adapted by William Friedkin, Walon Green, and Georges Arnaud, “Sorcerer” is the second film adaptation of Arnaud’s 1950 novel Le Salaire de la peur and is considered a remake of Henri-Georges Clouzot’s The Wages of Fear.
Starring Roy Scheider, Bruno Cremer, Francisco Rabal, and Amidou, the film follows four men from around the world, each fleeing the law, who make a perilous pact in search of freedom.
The film’s production was fraught with challenges, as Friedkin disclosed that approximately 50 individuals had to leave the set due to injuries, gangrene, malaria, or food poisoning, according to IMDB.
Despite King’s admiration, “Sorcerer” did not perform well at the box office, grossing $5.9 million domestically and $9 million worldwide against a budget estimated at $21-22 million.
Was it the film’s fault, or was it overshadowed by the simultaneous release of Star Wars? Either way, it remains King’s top choice, and that’s hard to dispute.
A Twitter user described it as a “criminally underrated movie,” and another hailed it as Friedkin’s “best.” To see what the fuss is about, rent it on Amazon Prime.