The story is a meditation on youth, growing up, and memory, reminiscent in some ways of Ray Bradbury’s work, and Reiner captures the tone of King’s novella in what is now considered one of the best adaptations of the author’s work (the cast includes a young River Phoenix, Wil Wheaton, Jerry O’Connell, and Corey Feldman). While there are macabre moments – including the boys’ passage through a leech-filled pond and their discovery of the body itself – Stand by Me is not frightening at all, but remains a moving tribute to the fleeting innocence of childhood.
The Running Man (1987)
The Running Man was one of four early novels that King wrote under the pseudonym Richard Bachman, and it’s a short, terribly grim tale of a man named Ben Richards who participates in a grisly game show on a state-run TV network in a future dystopian America. In addition to being one of King’s earliest published novels, The Running Man is also one of his first infrequent forays into pure speculative fiction, and while it’s violent and offers a depressing view of our future, it’s not much like his horror output.
The 1987 film adaptation (directed by Paul Michael Glaser, better known as Starsky on the ‘70s TV cop show Starsky & Hutch) kept the basic premise of King’s story but heavily altered much of it, turning it into more of a satire, while also ramping up the action content and losing King’s bleak climax. The film also replaced the skinny, physically depleted Richards of the novel with a heroic Arnold Schwarzenegger, then in the midst of his ‘80s action phase (had original star Christopher Reeve stuck around, the movie would have hewed closer to King’s darker narrative). The Running Man is action-packed and entertaining, but a far cry from the book – which is supposedly being remade by Edgar Wright.
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
The second Different Seasons novella to get a feature film adaptation (the controversial “Apt Pupil” was the third and, to date, last), “Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption” was faithfully transferred to the screen in 1994 by future The Walking Dead series creator Frank Darabont. Despite positive reviews, top stars like Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins, and a deliberate attempt to downplay the King connection – plus an eventual seven Oscar nominations, including Best Picture – The Shawshank Redemption was a box office bust upon release, not even earning back its $25 million budget.
But a second life on home video and cable TV began to turn the tide, and The Shawshank Redemption is now considered not just one of the best King adaptations ever, but a beloved film classic in its own right. And that’s how it should be: the movie is a beautifully acted, moving, and superbly told tale of both one man’s (Robbins) refusal to give up on himself as he spends a potential life sentence in prison, as well as the friendship he forms behind bars with another lifer (Freeman) who finds his own hope restored by their bond. It’s dark and harrowing in spots, with murder, savage violence, and rape all factoring into the story, but it’s not scary at all – and it remains a crowning achievement in the King filmography.
Dolores Claiborne (1995)
Based on one of King’s most experimental novels – which formed a loose “women’s stories” triptych with the books Gerald’s Game and Rose Madder (which has yet to be adapted) – Dolores Claiborne stars Kathy Bates in the title role as an older woman and resident of a small island off the coast of Maine who works as a housekeeper for a wealthy widow. When Dolores is suspected of murdering the widow for her fortune, the suspicious death of Dolores’ own husband years earlier is dredged up, forcing Dolores to reveal everything about her past, her marriage, and why she is estranged from her daughter.
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