If you’ve been watching It: Welcome to Derry or you’re one of those fans who naturally gravitate toward the unsettling, you already know Stephen King is the undisputed master of horror. But he’s also a remarkably versatile writer whose work spans multiple genres and has inspired a staggering 54 movie adaptations, with three more reportedly in the works. Here are our picks for the best Stephen King movies.
What are the best Stephen King movies?
As one of the most frequently adapted authors of all time, King has an almost overwhelming number of films based on his work. And that’s not even touching the TV adaptations. For this list, we focused on the movies that rank at the top — critically, culturally, and across King’s many subgenres.
The Shining (1980)
Starting off with perhaps the most well-known adaptation of King’s work, The Shining is one of those films that completely floors you the first time you watch it. Beautifully designed and meticulously filmed, it’s often considered one of Stanley Kubrick’s greatest achievements (though a recent watch of the 4K restoration of Barry Lyndon might give it some unexpected competition).
The story follows Jack Torrance (Jack Nicohlsoln), an aspiring writer who takes a winter caretaker job at the remote Overlook Hotel. Instead of the isolation being somewhat a nice getaway and time to work on his writing, the hotel’s sinister history begins to unravel his sanity. And is typical with malevolent forces, it pulls Jack’s wife Wendy (Shelley Duvall) and son Danny (Danny Lloyd) into the nightmare too. Even if King himself had famously mixed feelings about Kubrick’s interpretation, the film manages to grow beyond the mind of its first creator. An unsettling and visually stunning depiction of the descent into madness, The Shining is a movie that continues to define modern horror.
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Stand By Me (1986)
The first Stephen King adaptation that wasn’t fully planted in the horror genre, Stand By Me, is one of those iconic 1980s films featuring a group of kids. It lives up there with The Goonies in terms of camaraderie and adventure, though, of course, the plot still tests the darker waters of King’s mind. Director Rob Reiner struck gold with his cast, including River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, Jerry O’Connell, and Wil Wheaton to play the gang of best friends.
Based on the novella The Body, the film follows four friends who set out on a journey to find a missing boy’s corpse. This adventure becomes less about the destination and more about the fragile, funny, and occasionally heartbreaking transition from childhood to adolescence. If it’s worth anything, Stand By Me is apparently the film adaptation Stephen King likes the most.
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The Long Walk (2025)
Before Stephen King was known as the King of horror, he was writing dystopian novels under his pseudonym Richard Bachman. Those books were bleak in a very different way, and focused on crumbling social systems, economic collapse, and the brutality of authoritarian regimes. During that era, he wrote The Long Walk, a dystopian story shaped by the anxieties and atmosphere of the Vietnam War. And while it certainly speaks to the fears of the war and young men getting drafted based on a lottery, it never directly places it. In doing so, this book is timeless. It could be set in the 40s or in the future.
Director Francis Lawrence — who’s already proven he knows his way around dystopian storytelling with four of the Hunger Games films — took on what might be King’s least traditionally “action-packed” premise. Somewhat like Squid Game of The Hunger Games (though remember, King wrote this long before either), the post-war nation selects a group of boys from each state to compete in a brutal national event. They embark on a long walk and must maintain a pace of at least 3 MPH. If they slow down, they’re killed. That’s it.
The novel is essentially one long, escalating pressure cooker. Lawrence leans hard into the psychological tension of this terrifying but straightforward premise. There’s nowhere to hide, and we have to watch in a slow-burning kind of horror as these boys push past every physical and emotional limit they have.
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The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
If you’re one of the many people who didn’t realize Stephen King wrote The Shawshank Redemption until embarrassingly late in life, welcome to the club. Adapted from his novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, this film is the perfect reminder that King’s talent goes beyond monsters and haunted hotels. Under Frank Darabont’s brilliant direction, Shawshank becomes a cinematic legacy of hope, endurance, and unlikely friendship.
Tim Robbins plays Andy Dufresne, a banker wrongfully convicted of murder, who enters Shawshank State Penitentiary. Without hope for justice, he decides to outlast the place. Or get out by any means necessary. Morgan Freeman’s portrayal of Red, the lifer who becomes Andy’s closest friend, is a performance of a lifetime. It’s no surprise this is often ranked among the greatest films ever made, though it’s shocking that the film went 0-for-7 at the Oscars that year.
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Carrie (1976)
Stephen King’s first novel, Carrie, was released in 1974 and instantly put him on the map as a writer. But surprisingly, that almost didn’t happen. In a very relatable moment of writer self-loathing, King tossed the early pages in the trash, convinced the story wasn’t worth finishing. Thankfully, his wife (bless her forever) fished them out and encouraged him to keep going. Two years after the book hit shelves, we got the first film adaptation.
The movie tells the story of Carrie White, an awkward, lonely teenage girl who wants a shot at a normal life. But between the cruelty of her classmates and the smothering control of her mother, a terrifying religious fanatic who abuses her emotionally and physically. Poor Carrie never really has a chance, but we get to see what happens when you mess with someone for too long. It’s an absolutely legendary descent into one of the most iconic finales in horror history. Brian De Palma’s direction and Sissy Spacek’s heartbreakingly vulnerable performance make Carrie not just a faithful adaptation, but one of the defining horror films of the ’70s.
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How we picked the best Stephen King movies
We selected our favorites based on audience and fan reception, as well as their impact on cinematic history. Honorable mentions go to Misery, The Green Mile, It, and The Dead Zone. If you’re looking for more Stephen King material, check out our picks for the best Stephen King novels.
