Notable Horror Novels Made Into Films: Stephen King 1976-1989

Hey readers! In this blog I will be talking about the early Stephen King novels made into films. He had so many thats been done I just had to do a blog on him exclusively. 0.o

His first published novel (but in fact his fourth written) was Carrie in 1974. Carrie is basically about a young, shy, high-school girl who gets bullied because she got her period and everyone knew about it. She has the unfortunate pleasure of living with her extremely freaky God-fearing mother. In the novel she discovers she has telekinetic powers. So, when her fellow classmates pour pig blood on her at prom after she receives her Prom Queen tiara and such, she goes on a killing rampage killing everyone, even her mother at one point. The film premiered in 1976 starring Sissy Spacek as Carrie and John Travolta as Billy Nolan. The film was directed and co-written by Brian De Palma.

Later on in 1975, King got another novel published named Salem's Lot. Honestly, the only thing I know about this novel is that it is a haunted house/vampire story. A mini-series that was later put together as a film came out in 1979 starring David Soul and James Mason. In 1987, a sequel came out to the film [never to the book] which was called A Return to Salem's Lot. There has also been a 2004 remake of Salem's Lot into another t.v. mini-series starring Rob Lowe, Samantha Mathis, and Donald Sutherland.

Okay please don't kill me when I say this: I HAVE NEVER SEEN THE SHINING. I digress. The Shining came out in 1977. I have no idea but the story is about but from what I've read up on it's about a recovering alcoholic, his wife, and their son who has some kind of power where he's sensitive to spirits. The movie came out in 1980 which was directed by Stanley Kubrick and starred Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd, and Scatman Crothers.

Cujo was published in 1981. It was later made into a film in 1983. The story is basically about a mother and her son trapped in a car because their rabid St. Bernard was bitten by a bat with rabies. Talk about one freaky nightmare! From my research the movie IS different from the book but not by much. I'm not telling you why XP The film was directed by Lewis Teague and it stars Dee Wallace [the mom from 7th Heaven!], Danny Pintauro, and Daniel Hugh-Kelly to name a few.

Christine was the following novel, interestingly enough, after Cujo. Christine was published in 1983 and was later adapted into a film later that year :) Christine is basically about a car haunted by supernatural forces and because its Stephen King I'm going to assume there will be blood, murder, and weirdness. The film was directed by John Carpenter, who made the film set in 1978, and starred Keith Gordon, John Stockwell, and Alexandra Paul.             

In 1977 Children of the Corn was published as a short story first published in the March 1977 issue of Penthouse and later featured in King's 1978 literary collection Night Shift. In 1984 the first Children of the Corn movie came out directed by Fritz Kiersch and starred Peter Horton, Linda Hamilton, and R.G. Wells. This novel/film is basically about a bunch of kids living in a nearly-desolate town who get sucked into this craziness of murdering people and whatnot all for some super-natural being. You'd probably get a better idea off of Wikipedia...

Anyway, the last one I am going to mention is Pet Sematary. This novel of King's was published in 1983 and later adapted into a film in 1989. The movie is about the Creeds who movie to some random town in Maine and they come to live right next to a creepy, and I'm guessing weird/haunting cematary that even the neighbors are creeped out by. This film was directed by Mary Lambert and starred Dale Midkiff, Fred Gwynne, and Denise Crosby.

Well, that's all for now. Next week I will talk about Stephen King's novels into movies from 1990-Now.

Don't be too creeped out ;D

Notable Horror Novels Made Into Films: The Later Days

Hey all! Welcome to the conclusion of "Notable Horror Novels Made Into Films!"

"The Later Days" I am referring to now is basically movies made in the mid-late 20th century.

Shirley Jackson wrote The Haunting of Hill House which was published in 1959. The story basically tells of a doctor who wishes to get proof of paranormal existence. This doctor chooses Hill House to do his study and also musters up a list of people aka employees to help him on his quest. There the story begins... The book has been so highly renowned that even the Wall Street Journal claimed it to be one of the greatest ghost stories ever written.This novel has been made into two film adaptations both titled The Haunting. The first one premiered in 1963 (pictured right) and the second one premiered in 1999 starring Liam Neeson, Lili Taylor, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Owen Wilson.

In 1968 an incredibly popular movie came out in which the famous Roman Polanski directed and Mia Farrow starred: Rosemary's Baby. Interestingly enough a year before, the novel in which the movie was based off of was published in 1967! And written by Ira Levin. I don't think I've ever known ANY film to come out so quickly after the novel that it is based off of came out. That was faster than Twilight! Just so you all know Rosemary's Baby is about a woman, Rosemary, who is impregnated by the devil. All I have to say about that is her husband is one bad guy...

Not long after the phenomena of Rosemary's Baby did another horror story top Levin's. In 1971 William Peter Blatty's The Exorcist burst onto the scene in the literary world. The movie The Exorcist came out in 1973 directed by William Friedkin and gave fame to the actress Linda Blair for all her vomitting of pea soup and bizarre headspinning. The film as also nominated for ten Academy Awards including Best Picture. I don't know about you but what freaks me out about this whole story is that Blatty's novel is based on a demonic posession account of Robbie Manheims aka Roland Doe that took place in the 1940s...CREEPY. I'm not going to even put a picture here because I'm already creeping myself out.

After The Exorcist, Ira Levin came out with another ingenious novel which was published in 1972 (a year before Friedkin's Exorcist came out) called The Stepford Wives. The only way I personally know anything about this novel is because Matthew Broderick and Nicole Kidman starred in the 2004 remake. There was of course an adaptation long before this one came out in 1974 of the same name. Levin meant this novel to be a satirical thriller in which these perfect wives are too perfect and that the town suspects they are robots. You get the idea.  

For the moment there is one more novel I would like to mention. This novel was written by Thomas Harris. He actually also made a prequel to this novel as well as two sequels that have also been made into films along with the original novel he wrote. Can you guess it? Well it's The Silence of the Lambs! The Silence of the Lambs was published in 1988 and of course was adapted into a movie starring Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster in 1991. Now we all remember the sequels in which Anthony Hopkins starred in: Red Dragon and Hannibal. Interestingly enough, Red Dragon was the first novel he had written in the Hannibal Lecter series which came out in 1981. Hannibal came after Lambs in 1999 and Hannibal Rising did not come out until 2006. All these movies have been made into a film at one time. For the most part the movies did well (except the film Manhunter which was based on Red Dragon). The Silence of the Lambs won the Top Five Academy Awards: Best Picutre, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay.

With all that being said, stay tuned for the last installment of "Notable Horror  Novels Made Into Films" in which I talk about the many novels Stephen King wrote that have been made into films over the years. I hope you are all enjoying!

"Well, Clarice - have the lambs stopped screaming?"

I love that movie...

Notable Horror Novels Made Into Films: The Earlier Days

Hello again everyone! I was looking at my blog and I noticed something. I had not addressed anything related to horror films whatsoever, except maybe for The Rite with Anothony Hopkins.

This point brings me to this entry. I thought it would be cool to share what great horror novels had been made into movies throughout the years. :)

The first one I would like to note is Bram Stoker's infamous novel published in 1897 Dracula. This book has been made into various films ever since the silent film was used to show in theatres. There was Nosferatu (above), a film which was an unauthorized adaptaion in the early 1920s.  Of course later on, the infamous director Francis Ford Coppola took on the project of Bram Stoker's Dracula starring Gary Oldman, Keanu Reeves, Anthony Hopkins, and Winona Ryder in 1992.

The second one I would like to bring up is the novel Frankenstein; or the Modern Prometheus, published in 1818, by Mary Shelley. The earliest film of Frankenstein came out in 1931 and starred a great actor back in the day named Boris Karloff. Another adaptation came out in 1994 starring Kenneth Branagh (who also directed the film), Helena Bonham Carter, and Robert DeNiro. Of course there have also been spinoffs, sequels, and the like with films such as The Bride of Frankenstein.

The next film you're probably thinking of me mentioning would be the werewolf right? Although there have been SOOOO many films with the werewolf as the villain/hero or whatever, this creature has been put into films because of mythology, NOT one said book like the previous two. However, Stephen King did write a novel called Cycle of the Werewolf in 1983 (in which the 'limited edition hardcover book was released) and 1985 (when it was sold for the masses in paperback).

Before we move forward in time here, I want to backtrack for one novel I think is worth noting. Published alongside Dracula in 1897 was H.G. Wells' novel The Invisible Man. Most of you are probably wondering, 'Does this novel really belong in the horror genre?' My rationale is this: In 1897 I'm assuming society is very rigid and thus most, though not all, novels are probably about how ladies and gentleman of high class should act and so on and so forth. For someone to think of a man who is invisible and can essentially do what he want without consequence, well that is freaky. I mean, who knows if he is a homicidal maniac or a rapist? Anyway, the first adaptation of this film came out in 1933 and was a hit from Universal Pictures as well as a hit under the direction of director James Whale (who also directed Frankenstein). Another adaptation of the novel is set to be released in 2012, so says Wikipedia. . .

I am...THE INVISIBLE MAN!

One more novel I would like to recognize is Le Fantôme de l'Opéra, aka The Phantom of the Opera. This novel was published from 1909-1910 as a serialization and it was authored by French novelist Gaston Leroux. The first film adaptation for this story came out as a silent film in 1925 directed by Rupert Julian. In 1986 Andrew Lloyed Weber took the story and made into a musical that has been airing on Broadway since 1986 and is now known as the longest-running musical there. Director Joel Schumacher directed the 2004 adaptation starring Emmy Rossum, Gerard Butler, and Patrick Wilson.

Well everyone that's all for now. Stay tuned because next week I will continue my tirade on horror novels being made into films. . .  Mwahahahahahaha!

Who do you pick? [I pick Gerard cause he's sexy ;)]

This Phantom         VS                    This Phantom  

Did you know?

Many films that are out right now, or will soon be out, were originally books! To name a few...
I Am Number Four:
Written by Pittacus Lore.
This movie is currently in theatres.
It premiered on February 18th.
It stars Alex Pettyfer, Dianna Agron, and Timothy Olyphant.
Basically... Some alien kid comes to Earth and evil people are trying to kill him and his other fellow aliens. All he wants to do is have a life on Earth.
IMDB Rating: 6.5/10.
Will I see it? Probably not.
Why? It's just not very appealing.

The Eagle:
Written by Rosemary Sutcliff.
This movie is also currently in theatres.
It premiered on February 11th.
It stars Channing Tatum, Jamie Bell, and Donald Sutherland.
Basically... Channing tries to find his father and his father's army as well as The Eagle (which is some little golden trinket) to regain his honor.
IMDB Rating: 6.3/10.
Will I see it? Probably not.
Why? I would only see it to see Channing Tatum's abs.

The Lincoln Lawyer:
Written by Michael Connelly.
This movie will be in theatres March 18th.
It stars Ryan Phillippe, Marisa Tomei, and Matthew McConaughey.
Basically... It's about a lawyer who runs a high-end law firm out of the back of his car. From the trailer, it looks like he gets into some trouble down the road.
Will I see it? Most likely not.
Why? As exciting as the trailers would like to seem, they just aren't. I'll wait for this one to show up on my IO cable.

The Rite:
Written by Matt Baglio.
This movie is probably not still in the theatre. Because...
It premiered on January 28th.
It stars Anothony Hopkins as well as a bunch of people nobody knows.
Basically... It's about possession and having faith in God.
IMDB Rating: 6.2/10
Will I see it? I've already seen it. It wasn't TERRIBLE. Anthony Hopkins is such a good actor, I forgive all the silliness in this film.

Water for Elephants:
Written by Sara Gruen.
This movie is not yet in theatres.
It will premiere April 22nd.
It stars Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattinson.
Basically..The IMDB summary says "A veterinary student abandons his studies after his parents are killed and joins a traveling circus as their vet." Interesting...
Will I see it? I'd like to.
Why? I like Reese Witherspoon and for some strange reason I am intrigued by the movie trailers.

Information found at
http://www.chasingthefrog.com/moviebooks.htm
and imdb.com