Stephen King is one of the most adapted authors all of time, and there are close to 50 feature-length movies based on his novels and short stories. There have been King movies almost as long as there have been King books, with the adaptation of his debut novel, Carrie, arriving two years after its publication. Since then, there have been dozens of adaptations with of various levels of success. King's work makes for such compelling movies, even some that are not part of the horror genre, because they often share the trait of being centered on mostly normal people thrown into horrifying situations.

However, with so many movies, the quality varies a great deal. Some of King's movies stand the test of time as some of the best the horror genre has to offer. There have been Oscar-nominated movies and others that remain entrenched on the best horror movie lists for critics and fans alike. While King also had several TV series and miniseries based on his work, his theatrical releases have remained consistent since he started writing and optioning his work over four decades ago. When it comes to King movies, even the worst releases offer something for fans of the King of Horror.

51 Children Of The Corn (2020)

Elena Kampouris in Children of the Corn remake standing amid cornstalks, soaking wet and bedraggled
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The original Children of the Corn arrived in 1977 and spawned multiple sequels. While the original was not a masterpiece by any means, it still remains one of the most memorable King movies. However, the 2020 remake was put on the shelf after its initial screening and remained unreleased until 2023. The reason for the delays was likely due to the disappointing finished project, which didn't live up to the King short story or even the original 1977 movie. Children of the Corn received negative critical reviews and was a box office bomb during its limited release before moving to Shudder.

50 Maximum Overdrive (1986)

Emilio Estevez by the truck from Maximum Overdrive
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Maximum Overdrive is the only movie ing directed himself. The movie was based on the short story "Trucks" from the Night Shift collection. The story shows a world where all machines become sentient and set out to destroy humanity. This includes a semi-truck with a Green Goblin mask on the front and a military-based platform truck with a machine gun. There is some dark humor and the movie has a cult following, although King admitted directing this movie wasn't his best moment (via Hollywood's Stephen King).

49 The Mangler​​​ (1995)

William "Bill" Gartley in The Mangler.
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Tobe Hooper previously directed the popular King miniseries Salem's Lot, but his next adaptation of the author's work was not as successful. Robert Englund (A Nightmare on Elm Street) stars as the owner of a laundry press who learns that one of his machines has come to life and started killing people. Based on the short story of the same name from Night Shift, the movie picked up two direct-to-DVD sequels but mostly sits among the quality of made-for-video horror movies of the 1990s.

48 Dolan’s Cadillac (2009)

Christian Slater in Dolan's Cadillac.
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Christian Slater stars as the title mobster in Dolan’s Cadillac, a serviceable but fairly unremarkable adaptation based on King’s short story where a man (Wes Bentley) takes creative revenge on the gangster (Slater) who murdered his wife. The movie was a direct-to-video release and received mostly negative reviews, as a basic revenge story that offers few thrills.

47 Dreamcatcher (2003)

Jonesy and Mr. Gray in Dreamcatcher.
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Dreamcatcher has to be one of the most bizarre attempts at a blockbuster when it comes to King movies. With an all-star cast (Morgan Freeman, Timothy Olyphant, etc.), the movie tries to blend Stand By Me and The Big Chill with Aliens. The book remains one of the least appreciated of King's novels and the movie was mostly panned upon its release. It has a long runtime, clocking in at over two hours, its alien effects are disappointing, and it never carries the emotional weight many fans hoped for from the story of friends reuniting years after performing one especially heroic act.

46 The Lawnmower Man (1992)

The Lawnmover Man CGI
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The Lawnmower Man remains one of the most hated King movies among fans of the author's books. It has nothing in common with King’s original short story, and King himself successfully sued the studio to remove his name from the movie (via AFI). Instead of the horror story King, wrote, this was a science fiction movie with some very early CGI work, with both Jeff Fahey and Pierce Brosnan delivering good performances. However, the movie is mostly mediocre cyberpunk take on Frankenstein.

45 The Dark Tower (2017)

Roland and the Man in Black in The Dark Tower.
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King’s epic fantasy saga The Dark Tower too over two decades to have a film adaptation, only to receive something that had nothing to do with the popular fantasy book series. While Idris Elba was a great Roland and Matthew McConaughey an interesting Man In Black, fans mostly rebelled against the unfamiliar story. In the end, the movie fell flat and was a critical and commercial disappointment.

44 A Good Marriage (2014)

Darcy and Bob in Stephen King's A Good Marriage.
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A Good Marriage is an interesting addition to the realm of Stephen King movies because King himself wrote the screenplay. The movie is based on the short story from Full Dark, No Stars, and stars Joan Allen and Anthony LaPaglia as Darcy and Bob Anderson, a married couple with two kids. However, when Darcy realizes Bob might be a serial killer, she has to make a tough decision on what to do about it. Unlike many King movies, this isn't a horror movie, but the drama remains horrific nonetheless.

43 Cell (2016)

Cell (2016) movie trailer - John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson
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King's novel Cell was originally supposed to receive a big-budget adaptation from director Eli Roth (Hostel) but it later received a very different version that reunited 1408 stars John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson. With a script by King, the movie told the story of a society that became mindless killers thanks to a signal sent out via their cell phones. This was King's response to cellphone culture, but both his novel and the movie received negative reviews and Cell was a massive box office failure, making only $1 million (via The Numbers), despite its high-profile cast.

42 Firestarter (2022)

Ryan Kiera Armstrong as Charlie in Firestarter.
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In 2022, Peacock released a movie remake of Firestarter. The original film introduced the world to Drew Barrymore, but this update was a bit harsher to Charlie McGee, with Ryan Kiera Armstrong picking up a Razzie nomination for her performance (although the Razzies rescinded it due to her young age). The movie mostly betrayed the source material in its treatment of both Charlie and her pursuer Rainbird. While Zac Efron delivered an admirable performance as Andy McGee, it wasn't enough to save the movie.

41 In The Tall Grass (2019)

Harrison Gilbertson, Laysla De Oliveira, and Avery Whitted from In the Tall Grass
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In The Tall Grass was a very different King novella because he co-wrote it with his son, acclaimed horror author Joe Hill. The story had a little more of Hill's nastiness, which is often less forgiving to its characters than his father's stories. In the movie, Patrick Wilson leads a cast that sees people led into a field of tall grass where they end up lost and struggle to find their way out. The movie had good performances overall, but the story of a pregnant woman who they wanted to sacrifice to appease the demons in the grass seemed disjointed with the time loop story of a man haunted for his crimes.

40 Thinner (1996)

Billy on the verge of death in Thinner.
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Thinner was the last book that Stephen King wrote in secret under the pseudonym Richard Bachman before his identity was revealed. This was also the first actual horror movie under the Bachman name. It has a fun horror premise, with an overweight lawyer whom, after running over an elderly Romani woman, was cursed to rapidly lose weight until he wastes away. Thinner is a mean-spirited horror movie with betrayals and not one single character is likable.

39 Mercy (2014)

Shirley Knight as Mercy in Stephen King adaptation of Gramma
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Blumhouse has become one of the most successful horror production companies, but when it made the 2014 movie Mercy, it fell short of other movies in its catalog. In this movie, two teenage boys discover their grandmother might have supernatural powers. The cast has two familiar faces in the roles of the boys with Chandler Riggs (The Walking Dead) and Joel Courtney (The Kissing Booth), but outside of some creepy moments with grandma, there isn't much else to this straight-to-video movie.

38 Graveyard Shift (1990)

Stephen king and critics wrong about graveyard shift
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One of the more surprising King movies arrived in 1990 based on his short story Graveyard Shift. It was surprising because the story was quite gruesome, as it followed a group of textile mill workers who end up attacked by oversized rats. King himself hated Graveyard Shift, calling it a "quick exploitation picture" that wasn't as good as his original story. However, Brad Dourif’s Exterminator was a great character and there were some nice practical effects. It was grimy, brutal, and over-the-top, fitting in with that era's video store horror genre.

37 Hearts In Atlantis (2001)

Ted carrying Carol in Hearts in Atlantis.
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Hearts in Atlantis is based on a 1999 collection of stories in the book of the same name. The story adapted here is "Low Men in Yellow Coats" and the adaptation stars Anthony Hopkins and the late Anton Yelchin. The movie sees Yelchin return to his hometown when his best friend dies in an accident and then remembers his past when he was a child and met a man named Ted (Hopkins). The plot sees Ted possessing mental powers while the "low men" are part of an organization who wants to capture him. Hearts in Atlantis had great acting but remains one of the most forgotten King movies.

36 Secret Window (2003)

Mort with John Shooter standing behind him in Secret Window.
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In this stylish thriller from director David Koepp, Johnny Deep plays a writer stalked by a potential killer who accuses him of plagiarism. Secret Window is best remembered for its twist ending, which undermines much of what came before it. Despite that, the movie did well at the box office and critics praised the performance of both Depp and John Turturro as John Shooter, the man who haunts Depp.

35 Apt Pupil (1998)

Ian McKellan in uniform in Apt Pupil
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Apt Pupil features great performances by Ian McKellen and the late Brad Renfro but its utterly unlikeable characters made this a movie that left most viewers cold. Renfro is a 16-year-old high school student named Todd who realizes that his neighbor Kurt (McKellen) is a Nazi war criminal, who has lived an unassuming life in hiding since the end of the war. Todd then blackmails him into revealing what it was like working in the extermination camps. Friends star David Schwimmer is the most likable character in the movie and his ending was entirely undeserved, leaving the movie feeling mean-spirited.

34 Riding The Bullet (2004)

A hitchhiker in Riding The Bullet.
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Riding The Bullet is one of the more obscure adaptations of King’s work, which is really more of a drama with some horror moments mixed in. Mick Garris has directed multiple King movies, but few of have enjoyed success at the theaters. This stars Jonathan Jackson where he plays a young man in the '60s who attempts suicide only to later meet a revenant who gives him a life-or-death choice. The movie has heart, but it feels slight and more like a direct-to-DVD adaptation.

33 Sleepwalkers (1992)

The catman in Sleepwalkers.
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Sleepwalkers was King’s first original screenplay not based on one of his novels or short stories. The story is about shape-shifting cat monsters who prey on virgins. This was also Garris' first King adaptation, starting a long relationship between the two men. Despite dated VFX and an overload of cameos by horror royalty (Stephen King, Clive Barker, Hooper, Joe Dante), Sleepwalkers is a fun B-movie.

32 Silver Bullet (1985)

Werewolf in the 1985 adaptation of Silver Bullet.
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Cycle of the Werewolf was a King novella that was turned into an illustrated novel and then the movie Silver Bullet. It suffered through something of a messy production, with Don Coscarelli (Phantasm) quitting halfway through and the werewolf effects leaving something to be desired compared to its contemporaries such as An American Werewolf in London. The end product had fun performances from Corey Haim and Gary Busey, but it’s definitely a mid-level King adaptation.