15 Stephen King Stories Made into Films, 4-7
This segment of our list of Stephen King adaptations includes a rabid dog gone berserk and wigged-out kids in the American heartland.
4. Cujo (1983)
"Here, doggie doggie! Here, doggie -- AAAAGGGGH!" That pretty much sums up the plot behind this King adaptation. Dee Wallace plays Donna Trenton, a mom with marital problems, and a young Danny Pintauro (of Who's the Boss? fame) stars as her son Tad. The two find themselves in big trouble when their car breaks down miles from town and the family dog appears to be very, very ill. Cujo, a Saint Bernard, has been bitten by a rat and is none too friendly for most of the film. It took five different dogs, one mechanical head, and one guy in a dog suit to get the shots of Cujo's raging, and perhaps that's why this film has a slight cheese factor. The movie might not have nabbed any nominations or awards, but it remains a horrifying tale.
5. The Dead Zone (1983)
A talented cast including Christopher Walken, Tom Skerritt, and Martin Sheen plays out this story of a schoolteacher involved in an auto accident that puts him in a coma for five years. When he awakens, he's got a knack for seeing the future. This is not as fun as it sounds and scary stuff ensues. The story is loosely based on the life of Peter Hurkos, a famous psychic. While this film hasn't reached the cult status of some other King adaptations, it's regarded as a pretty decent movie. The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror named the film Best Picture.
6. Children of the Corn (1984)
This tale of terror came from a book of short stories entitled Night Shift, which also included future adaptations such as The Lawnmower Man and Graveyard Shift. The children of Gatlin, a little town in Nebraska, are called to murder by a preacher-boy named Isaac. A young couple gets in the way of their plans and creepy shots of wigged-out kids follow. Peter Horton and Linda Hamilton star as the doomed couple Burt and Vicky. In one scene, a copy of Night Shift can be seen on the dashboard of their car. This movie was universally panned, but that didn't stop it from spawning seven sequels. Most of them are as weak as the original, but the seventh film, released in 2001, is reportedly the best (and scariest) of the bunch.
7. Firestarter (1984)
College students beware: Those medical tests you participate in to earn money for rent could result in serious trouble later in life. So it goes with Andy and Vicky McGee, who were given doses of a nasty chemical in college that would adversely affect their future daughter, played by a cute but dangerous Drew Barrymore. A TV miniseries entitled Firestarter: Rekindled was produced in 2002, possibly because King is rumored to have hated the original, something filmmakers have to be wary of when working with him.
The next segment of our list of Stephen King adaptations includes Stand by Me and Misery.
