As the #1 ranked film on IMDB's Top 250, Frank Darabont's The Shawshank Redemption is ubiquitously lauded as one of the all-time greatest cinematic achievements ever attempted. The seven-time Oscar-nominated film also holds a current 91% Certified Fresh Rotten Tomatoes rating to go along with its 80/100 Metascore.
Given the critical success of The Shawshank Redemption, it's surprising to think that Darabont has only directed four theatrical feature films in his career. However, The Walking Dead co-creator began his career writing horror movies and directing straight-to-video thrillers. With his producorial and uncredited script doctor work notwithstanding, Darabont has participated in a dozen films as writer/director to date.
The Fly II (1989) 5.1
Along with Mick Garris and the Wheat brothers, Jim and Ken, Darabont co-wrote the screenplay for the FX-driven horror sequel The Fly II. Eric Stoltz stars as the titular insectoid mutation that morphs into a hideous monster.
Directed by Chris Walas, the story follows Martin (Stoltz), the mutated offspring of Seth (Jeff Goldblum) and Veronica (Geena Davis), who experiences rapid aging. With a high IQ, Martin attempts to reverse his monstrous visage by using gene-swapping technology.
Nightshift Collection (1994) 5.3
Released the same year as The Shawshank Redemption, Nightshift Collection is a direct-to-video compilation of two short horror tales adapted from the macabre writings of Stephen King.
The first part consists of The Woman in the Room, a 30-minute short film written and directed by Darabont in 1984. The second part includes Jeff Schiro's The Boogeyman, a 28-minute adaptation produced in 1982.
Black Cat Run (1998) 5.7
Darabont conceived the story and penned the teleplay for Black Cat Run, a made-for-television road-chase thriller directed by DJ Caruso.
The movie follows Johnny (Patrick Muldoon), a gas-station worker who strikes a romance with Sara (Amelia Heinle), despite the disapproval of her policeman father. When Sara is kidnapped after her father is shot dead by stick-up men, the law believes Johnny to be the culprit and pursues him at breakneck speed across the desert highway.
Two-Fisted Tales (1992) 5.8
Two-Fisted Tales is a three-part anthology film originally produced as a part of a Tales From the Crypt-like TV series. When the series was not picked up, the episodes aired together as one film. Later, they were re-edited and included in a season of Tales From the Crypt anyway.
Darabont wrote the script for the first entry, Showdown, a wild-west story directed by Richard Donner in which a faded gunman makes one final stand to prove his worth.
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994) 6.4
Along with Steph Lady, Darabont wrote the adaptation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein for Kenneth Branagh to direct. Also released in 1994, the film went on to gross in excess of $80 million more than The Shawshank Redemption at the international box-office.
Branagh plays Dr. Victor Frankenstein, a mad scientist consumed with creating a Promethean figure. As a result, Frankenstein's monster (Robert De Niro) is born before escaping captivity and vowing bloody revenge on his creator.
Buried Alive (1990) 6.5
The first feature-length film Darabont directed was Buried Alive, a made-for-television thriller for the USA Network in 1990. Written by David A. Davies and Mark Patrick Carducci, the film centers on Clint (Tim Mattheson), a blue-collar worker whose wife Joanna (Jennifer Jason Leigh) has an affair with Dr. Van Owen (William Atherton).
Joanna and her lover bury Clint alive in a weak pine-box to gain his life insurance money, but Clint has other vengeful ideas upon his underground escape.
The Blob (1988) 6.5
Darabont's second feature horror screenplay came via the 1988 remake of The Blob, directed by Chuck Russell. The gory FX-laden spectacle revolves around an amorphous pink blob from outer space that runs roughshod over a small Colorado town.
Upon the blob's first attack, cheerleader Meg (Shawnee Smith) and rebellious greaser Brian (Kevin Dillon) band together to ward off the shapeshifting, body-consuming pink goop before the local police and national military muck things up even further.
A Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987) 6.6
Also directed by Chuck Russell, Darabont made his feature film screenplay debut with A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors. The film is often hailed as the best sequel in the entire franchise.
Patricia Arquette also makes her debut in the film as Kristen Parker, a teenager sent to a psychiatric ward where she fights off the nightmarish terror brought about by Freddy Krueger, the razor-gloved killer who stalks and slashes teens in their dreams.
The Majestic (2001) 6.9
According to IMDb, Darabont's top four films are the only theatrically-released ones he's directed in his career. Of the four, The Majestic is the sole project not adapted from a Stephen King story.
Written by Michael Sloan, The Majestic stars Jim Carrey as Peter Appleton, a Hollywood screenwriter in the 1950s who is blacklisted for his loose communist affiliations. When Peter suffers amnesia after a car crash, he moves to a small town and reinvents himself as the long-lost child of Harry Trimble (Martin Landau).
The Mist (2007) 7.1
Released in 2007, The Mist is the most-recent feature film that Darabont has directed. Adapted from the Stephen King novel, the movie finds a quaint New England town ravaged by a deadly insectile alien race brought about by a dense scrim of impenetrable mist.
The main survivors include David (Thomas Jane), his wife Steff (Kelly Collins Lintz), and their son Billy (Nathan Gamble), all of whom hole up with other locals inside a grocery store. Faced with uncooperative infighting among the group, David makes a calculated risk to save his family by venturing out into the mist to face the monsters head-on.
The Green Mile (1999) 8.6
Darabont followed the highest-rated film on IMDb with the 27th-ranked film on the premiere cinematic database. Also translated from a non-horror Stephen King tale, The Green Mile centers on Death Row guards in the 1930s whose lives are touched by an inmate accused of raping and murdering a child.
Despite his reputation, John Coffey (Michael Clarke Duncan) possesses a mystifying gift that draws the interest of several guards, including the morally-sound Paul Edgecomb (Tom Hanks).
The Shawshank Redemption (1994) 9.3
Despite holding the highest rating on IMDb, The Shawshank Redemption was a box-office bomb when it was released in 1994. It wasn't until the film earned seven Oscar nominations that it ended up barely breaking even, grossing roughly $29 million internationally against a $25 million budget.
Based on Stephen King's novella, Rita Hayworth and The Shawshank Redemption, the film follows Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins), a banker sent to prison under false pretenses. While imprisoned, Andy befriends Red (Morgan Freeman), an institutionalized convicted smuggler given a lengthy sentence. The two men bond over their mutual hope of a better life, leading to one of the most powerful movie endings of all time.