10 Stephen King Adaptations The Author HATES
3. Firestarter
King's novel of pre-teen pyrokinesis was turned into a vehicle for a post-ET Drew Barrymore in 1984. But, after original director John Carpenter was dropped after his version of The Thing flopped, the finished version of Firestarter from Commando's Mark L Lester failed to come alight.
Narratively, the Firestarter movie hews pretty close to King's novel, but tonally it feels bland and lifeless. And that was what most infuriated the author.
"There must have been literally no direction," King complained to American Film magazine way back in 1986, calling the adaptation "one of the worst of the bunch".
As far as he was concerned, the movie's special effects "make no sense whatsoever", producer Dino De Laurentiis ignored all of his input, and lead actor David Keith delivered a particularly unengaging performance. ("My wife said he has stupid eyes," he added, really driving the knife into poor Keith).
Proving that a bestselling author always has a knack for a good turn of phrase and an apt analogy, King would conclude that Firestarter's greatest flaw was that it was "flavourless, like cafeteria mashed potatoes".