2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25
The unsurpassed master of the horror genre - Stephen King - began writing scripts for horror films in the early seventies of the last century. Previously, Americans read his action-packed novels. The first adaptations of Stephen King, the films "Carrie", "The Shining" and "Salem's Vampires", based on the works of the same name by well-known directors, made a splash in the world of cinematography. Critics were confused, no one expected such a public recognition of "terrible" films. And the success was explained simply: the plots differed in the depth of the narrative, while the "terrible" component only emphasized the high literary level of the novel or story.
Popularity
All subsequent film adaptations of Stephen King had the same fate, each new picture became a masterpiece of cinematography, despite its specifics, because the horror genre is not for the faint of heart, and often the horrors on the screen cause nervous breakdown and fainting in the auditorium. Some works even tried to ban. But since the adaptations of Stephen King, the embodiment of the writer's intentions on the big screen, werean example of true art, prohibitions had no effect.
The intrigue inherent in the works of Stephen King
Most of King's works are written in an unpredictable manner, the plot does not follow a clear line, the reader begins to speculate, and suddenly something completely unexpected happens. Of course, such novels are cramped in book format, they are asking for a movie screen, for the general public. A script is written according to the book, and then hundreds of thousands and millions of viewers can see the work. Stephen King, whose book adaptation has become a systemic process, writes scripts himself, and then is present on the set. Sometimes directors don't start filming until the writer arrives. And this is not a tribute to the author, but rather a desire to film the material as authentically as possible.
The best adaptations of Stephen King
In total, about a hundred different films, feature-length and short-plot, television series and small sketches were shot based on the works of the writer. Each production was distinguished by heartbreaking and chilling horror scenes, this is the case with all Stephen King adaptations, the list of which is quite long. Several more works are currently being prepared for filming.
Among the best movies directed by King are:
- "The Shawshank Redemption" starring Tim Robbins. The film was made in 1994 and directed by Frank Darabont.
- "The Green Mile" starring Tom Hanks. Directed by FrankDarabont. Filmed in 1999.
- "The Night Shift" is a short story written in 1978. The film adaptation was made by director Ralph Singleton in 1990.
- "The Dead Zone", a novel in the style of a political thriller. The film was shot in 1983 at Paramount Pictures by director David Cronenberg.
- "Silver Bullet" is a book version of the novel "The Werewolf Cycle". The film based on the work was shot in 1985 by director Daniel Attias.
- Dreamcatcher is a science fiction novel written in 2001. The film of the same name was directed by Lawrence Kasdan in 2003.
The Shawshank Redemption
The picture is based on the work of Stephen King - "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption". It must be said right away that Hollywood actress Rita Hayworth did not participate in the filming, only her portrait was used in the form of a poster, with which the main character masked the traces of a tunnel.
The film is a leader in the list of "The best masterpieces of cinema according to IMDb". The picture is deeply psychological: in the closed space of the prison, hundreds of criminals live in the most severe conditions. There are daily skirmishes between prisoners, which often end in murder.
Expenses of Themis
The events described by King take place in 1947, during the heyday of American justice, when two or three life sentences were given for crimes. This happened to Andy Dufresne, who was accused of killing his wife and her lover. The crime was not proven, butDufresne was sentenced to two life terms in Shawshank Prison.
Deliverance
After twenty years of living in inhuman conditions, Dufresne escapes. For two decades, they managed to dig and connect the dug trench with the sewer pipes of the prison, through which he was released.
Dead Zone
School teacher John Smith is involved in a car accident and falls into a coma. He has been in an unconscious state for five years, and when he comes to, he cannot make a single movement - the body is paralyzed. A long period of rehabilitation begins, John is taught to walk. And then he shows an unusual gift. Accidentally touching the hand of a nurse, John Smith suddenly sees a picture of a fire in a house and a little girl who is about to burn in the fire. He realizes that this is the daughter of the nurse next to him, and the fire is happening in her house. He tells the woman about his vision, they call the fire brigade and everything ends well.
Providence
After this incident, John Smith becomes a real-time fortune teller. He sees events that happen to other people. With its help, crimes are revealed, drowning people are saved, fires are extinguished. One day, John witnesses the foul play of politician Greg Stilson, who is obsessed with the idea of a third world war. The Foreteller tries to thwart the Senator, a shootout breaks out and John Smith is killed.
"Nightshift" - horror 1990
Events take place in the small American town of Gateshall. The weaving factory is attacked by hordes of rats that have become mutants and now devour people. Factory workers begin to fight monsters. They decide to destroy the place where rats live and breed, this is an abandoned crypt in a cemetery nearby. The daredevils descend into the basement of the crypt, where they are attacked by hundreds of huge rats. Gnawed human skeletons are scattered everywhere. It becomes clear that they can no longer get out of the crypt and death is inevitable. People are dying one by one, giant bats have arrived to help the rats.
In the basement of the factory, events similar to those unfolding in the cemetery crypt take place. Workers trying to resist the invasion of huge rats also die. The main character still manages to get up, but a monster with bat wings follows him relentlessly. At the very last moment, the mutant enters the mechanism of a cotton gin and grinds it into small pieces.
Tom Hanks in 1999 horror film
Mystery drama "The Green Mile" is presented as a story by Paul Edgecomb, a former prison guard. He was in charge of a special block "E", in which those sentenced to death for serious crimes were awaiting execution. The corridor leading from death row to the electric chair has been painted green and named the "Green Mile".
There are three suicide bombers in the cell: black giant John Coffey, convicted of killing twounderage girls, robber and murderer William Wharton, nicknamed Wild Bill and Frenchman Edouard Delacroix, maniac and murderer.
John Coffey has psychic abilities, he cures diseases. The head of the prison decides to use this gift of his, he leads the Negro to his home, where his wife suffers from a brain disease. John Coffey heals a woman, but the disease is transferred to him. In desperation, back on death row, he grabs the hated warden Percy Wetmore, a mean little man, and infects him, giving him a brain disease.
Percy loses his mind and kills a convicted Wharton with a revolver. Paul Edgecomb begins to doubt the guilt of John Coffey, and as it turns out, not in vain - the black man is really innocent. However, he tries to turn everything around so that he is executed, explaining his behavior by the fact that he does not want to live in this world, among meanness and injustice.
The werewolf and the silver bullet
A whole series of murders took place in a small town in a short time. Frightened locals took up arms and began to look for a maniac. The sheriff objects to lynching, but no one listens to his arguments. The priest of the local church parish, Reverend Low, also asks to avoid bloodshed, but to no avail.
Meanwhile, night attacks on people continue. A teenager named Marty went to set off fireworks at night and was attacked by a werewolf in the guise of a bear. The boy barely managed to escape, helped by a lit firecracker, which hit the monster's eye.
In the morning, Marty told the locals about what had happened, and they went to look for a man with a damaged eye. It turned out to be Reverend Lowe. The sheriff searches the priest's garage and finds irrefutable evidence of the crimes, including a bloody baseball bat. Lowe watched what was happening, and when he realized that he had been discovered, he ran into the garage and killed the sheriff.
The villagers ordered a silver bullet from a gunsmith, because it is known that a werewolf can be destroyed only by shooting him with such a charge, everything else is useless. The werewolf appeared unexpectedly and took everyone by surprise. However, in the confusion, Marty manages to find a revolver on the floor, shoots the monster, and the silver bullet kills the monster. He falls and turns into Reverend Low.
2003 Horror
The film "Dreamcatcher", based on the novel of the same name by Stephen King, tells about the fantastic events that took place in the American outback. In the center of events are four friends: Henry, Jonesy, Beaver and Pete. In autumn, friends gathered in the forest in an abandoned hunting lodge to hunt. This is the only opportunity for them to get together and talk heart to heart. In the forest, the hunters meet a lonely man who wanders aimlessly through the clearing. It turns out that Rick McCarthy, that's his name, is lost and does not remember anything. He has strange red markings on his neck. Henry and Jonesy noticed the same spots on the skin of wild animals running past. Friends felt some incomprehensible tension in the air, but it was time to return home. Jonesytook the arm of his new acquaintance, and all three turned to the hunting lodge, where Pete and Baber were already waiting for them.
Friends took Rick in, fed him and put him to bed. After lunch we went hunting again. To their surprise, they did not find game, which was always in abundance in these places. All the animals seem to have died. And when the hunters returned to the hunting lodge, they found an empty bed and a bloody trail on the floor towards the bathroom. There they found a dead Rick and a huge worm next to him, which immediately attacked the Beaver and killed him. Panic set in and the friends decided to flee. But at this time, a tall humanoid appears in the house, which, in front of the astonished hunters, turned into a cloud of reddish dust and then disappeared, moving into Jonesy.
Military helicopters arrive and start circling over the forest. The pilots announce through a loudspeaker that a quarantine has been declared in the nearby area due to the appearance of aliens. An attack on the alien ship begins, which destroy several helicopters along with the pilots. The fighting gradually subsides and killings begin without the use of military equipment. The opposing sides use firearms, which are ineffective. Only flamethrowers incinerate everything around with a raging flame.
Horror or Art
Screenings by Stephen King, films based on his scripts, convey all the nuances of the author's intention, psychology, and often the philosophy of the plot. Thanks to the works of a talented writer, the horror genre reaches the level of real art.
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