Shubhabrata Dutta
Divulging the eerie and equally captivating world of Stephen King’s imagination is not everyone’s cup of tea. The spine-chilling adaptations of his works have both petrified and bewildered audiences across the globe, delivering unforgettable journeys through the master of horror’s iconic tales. If you are up for it, in this list, we bring you the best Stephen King movies that you can stream on Hulu, Prime, and Max.
8. Cujo (1983)
This one is for the dog-lovers. ‘Cujo,’ directed by Lewis Teague, follows a friendly St. Bernard named Cujo who is bitten by a rabid bat and goes insane, attacking and killing people. Often following the POV of the dog, the film and the novel offer an interesting take on the horror genre by using a dog as the subject. The film stars Dee Wallace, Danny Pintauro, Daniel Hugh-Kelly, Christopher Stone, and Ed Lauter. You can watch it on Max.
7. Carrie (1976 & 2013)
High school teenager Carrie has always been mistreated, bullied, and harassed by her peers, as well as her fanatic mother, who often keeps her locked inside a closet. But none of them know that Carrie has a strange ability that she can use to bring an end to all of them. After all, you don’t mess with a person who can move things with his/her mind. What’s the worst that can happen when such a person is pushed to her limit? Certainly nothing good. And Stephen King makes it clear. The 1976 adaptation has been directed by Brian De Palma and stars Sissy Spacek as Carrie and Piper Laurie as Carrie’s mother. It is also John Travolta’s debut feature film. The 2013 adaptation has been directed by Kimberly Peirce and stars Chloë Grace Moretz as Carrie and Julianne Moore as Carrie’s mom. Both versions are available on Max. You can watch the 1976 version here and the 2013 version here.
6. Children of the Corn (1984 & 2020)
This movie gives shape to a potentially possible scenario, i.e., children deciding to take control. In fact, that is what happens in this film. Led by a 12-year-old girl named Eden, who is possessed by an invisible dark entity, the children of a small Nebraska town start brutally killing all the adults to prevent them from burning the corn fields for government subsidy without thinking about the children’s future. However, only one young girl named Boleyn is against this and tries to stop Eden. But even if Boleyn can do that, how can she stop the dark entity? Starring Kate Moyer, Elena Kampouris, Callan Mulvey, Bruce Spence, Stephen Hunter, and Erika Heynatz, ‘Children of the Corn’ (2020) is directed by Kurt Wimmer. You can watch it on Hulu. The 1984 version is slightly different and has 9-year-old Isaac Chroner instead of Eden, although the motive is the same. It is directed by Fritz Kiersch. You can watch the 1984 version on Prime.
5. The Boogeyman (2023)
Like Pennywise from ‘It,’ the Boogeyman too feeds off people’s fears. However, there’s one more thing that it feeds on: grief. So when it gets the taste of the grief of therapist Will and his daughters Sadie and Sawyer, all of whom are coping with an expected loss, it latches onto them. The question is: will it be with them forever? After all, pain only ends with death. Or will Sadie and Sawyer find a way to get rid of it? Directed by Rob Savage, ‘The Boogeyman’ stars Sophie Thatcher, Vivien Lyra Blair, Chris Messina, and David Dastmalchian. You can watch the film on Hulu.
4. Pet Sematary (1989)
Based on King’s eponymous novel, ‘Pet Sematary’ can be said to be the only horror film of its kind. We meet Doctor Louis Creed and his family, who bury their cat in an old graveyard in the woods behind their new home in Maine. While we do wish that our loved ones who have passed away come back to us, we wouldn’t be that happy to see them actually turn up. This is what happens to the Creeds, who find that their cat is back and in a sinister avatar. After this, they lose their youngest member, Gage, a toddler, who is also buried in the same graveyard, which, unbeknownst to them, is an ancient ritual ground. Will Gage return? Will it be a merry reunion? Or will it be a gory one? Directed by Mary Lambert, the film stars Dale Midkiff, Miko Hughes, Fred Gwynne, and Denise Crosby. You can watch it on Max.
3. Apt Pupil (1998)
This Bryan Singer directorial explores the deal made between a 16-year-old kid named Todd Bowden and his elderly neighbor Arthur Denker whom Todd finds out to be a former commandant named Kurt Dussander who served at a Nazi concentration camp. Todd begins to blackmail Arthur, learning details about camps and genocide that he is fascinated by. Arthur, on the other hand, uses his information to coax Arthur into doing better at his studies. But what if someone else finds out about the truth about Arthur? Will Todd be of any help? ‘Apt Pupil’ is a true-to-form psychological thriller starring Ian McKellen as Arthur Denker/Kurt Dussander and Brad Renfro as Todd Bowden. It won the Best Horror Film award at the 25th Saturn Awards. Ian McKellen, too, won a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor. You can watch the film on Prime.
2. The Dead Zone (1983)
Being able to see the future can be unsettling. This is what ‘The Dead Zone’ makes clear. We follow schoolteacher Johnny Smith, played by Christopher Walken, whose dormant ability to see a person’s past, present, and future is activated after he comes out of a coma following an accident. But for his ability to take effect, he has to come into physical contact with the person. In one such case, he finds out the danger of the rise of aspiring politician Greg Stillson, played by Martin Sheen, and thus decides to kill him. Will Smith be successful? To find out, you can watch this David Cronenberg directorial, which does full justice to King’s eponymous novel, on Prime.
1. Stand By Me (1986)
This one is a coming-of-age drama as opposed to a horror film, although one can agree coming-of-age can sometimes be scary. We have a group of four kids who decide to find the missing corpse of another 12-year-old boy. But as they say, it’s not just the destination but the journey that also matters. Only this time, thanks to Stephen King, things are much more intense and hit harder. Starring Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, and Jerry O’Connell, ‘Stand By Me has been directed by Rob Reiner. Yodiscoversch the film on Hulu.
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