Stephen King has more film adaptations of his work than any other writer and this is a testament to his prowess of writing interesting and engaging fiction which is always entertaining and very easy to read. He writes across a number of genres, but is most famed for his body of horror prose which includes such popular fiction as Salem's Lot, It, Carrie, The Shining and Misery. Even though he wrote The Shawshank Redemption, which was adapted into one of the most universally acclaimed films in cinema history, King will always be known primarily for his horror novels. Cinema and TV adaptions of his work range from the sublime to the ridiculous. There is the Oscar winning Misery and there is the stinking heap of dung that is The Mangler. Central to the interpretation of King's horror work is to have a good strong villain. Therefore Annie Wilkes in Misery is one of the best villains in a Stephen King movie and the mangle in The Mangler is plain dumb. Why don't the protagonists in the movie just stay away from the mangle instead of practically lining up to be its next victim? Tobe Hooper - what were you thinking? This article will not bring you the dregs of Stephen King film villains - only the creme de la creme, the elite bunch of super evil and fantastically realised villains that will chill you to your marrow. The villains in this list are all brilliant, however, some of the movies they are featured in may not be brilliant, in fact they could be called mediocre. But what distinguishes them from other Stephen King movies is the quality of the 'bad guy'. These films showcase some of the greatest villains, not just in Stephen King movies, but in the entire body of horror cinema.
My first film watched was Carrie aged 2 on my dad's knee. Educated at The University of St Andrews and Trinity College Dublin. Fan of Arthouse, Exploitation, Horror, Euro Trash, Giallo, New French Extremism. Weaned at the bosom of a Russ Meyer starlet. The bleaker, artier or sleazier the better!
