Stephen King: Ranking His Films From Worst To Best

2. The Shining

If The Shawshank Redemption is one of the adaptation King enjoyed the most, The Shining is the one he enjoyed the least. To put it mildly. Stanley Kubrick's film wound up ditching a fair amount of the back story, character arcs, and any sense of closure or explanation for the horrific goings on at the Overlook Hotel that are present in King's novel. Which had a particular, personal attachment for the author, with Jack Torrance's recovery from alcoholism closely aligned with his own. In fact, King was so disenchanted with Kubrick's adaptation, he helmed his own TV series based on the book in 1997. It was not good. Whilst The Shining isn't particularly faithful to the source material, it is an unparalleled achievement in horror cinema. Every frame of The Shining is perfectly composed to make you feel on edge, like something's not quite right. Whilst Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall's performances may be lacking in nuance, the pure, driving claustrophobia and creeping terror is absolutely top notch. King might not have been a fan, since its horror was far less personal, and more external. It's a different version of The Shining: not better or worse than the novel, but equal. And terrifying.