Thinner (1996)
The Movie: One of Kings more malicious tales gets the screen treatment, as pitiless lawyer Billy Halleck (Robert John Burke) is cursed by a gypsy to lose weight and fast.
What It Got Wrong: Failing to dig under the surface of that nasty plotline, Thinner is unable to add vital depth to a wicked idea. Instead of tackling corrupt ethics and body hang-ups, it settles for silly action clichs.
Big Driver (2014)
The Movie: A made-for-TV version of a King Novella, this one features a mystery writer (Mario Bello) using her detective skills to hunt down the man who raped her.
What It Got Wrong: Its not a great story to begin with, and rape-revenge is the most tired of all possible clichs - but throwing in clues via a talking GPS unit really didnt help.
Dolans Cadillac (2009)
The Movie: Tom Robinson (Wes Bentley) seeks revenge on gangster Jimmy Dolan (Christian Slater), who killed his wife when she witnessed him executing a man.
What It Got Wrong: The plots trashy but couldve been satisfying if it hadnt been so incredibly, painfully boring. Neither Slater nor Bentley acquit themselves well here, either.
Sometimes They Come Back (1991)
The Movie: Yet another made for telly job, this sees teacher Jim (Tim Matheson) haunted by back-from-the-dead greasers.
What It Got Wrong: Creepy in short story form, the journey to screen saw several of the nastier plot points taken out the ending is even sort of happy. Although the multiple sequels do suggest things werent quite as settled as they seemed.
Dreamcatcher (2003)
The Movie: A group of buddies on a camping trip discover that the town theyre staying in is being taken over by parasitic aliens. Hate it when that happens.
What It Got Wrong: Despite a decent opening half hour, featuring Damian Lewis and Timothy Olyphant keeping the realistic banter coming thick and fast, Dreamcatcher gets lost in its own confused editing, while Morgan Freeman desperately attempts to wrestle the plot under control
But its hard to rescue a film that features, for lack of a better description, poo monsters. Seriously. POO MONSTERS.
Carrie (2002)
The Movie: A TV adaptation of Kings classic tale of a bullied girl getting revenge, this one stars Angela Bettis as the titular Carrie, plus Losts Emilie De Ravin and Ginger Snaps Katharine Isabelle as the bullies.
What It Got Wrong: Despite a promising cast, this is your stereotypical TV movie badly made and way too long. Also, it totally bungles the ending.
The Lawnmower Man (1992)
The Movie: Dr. Lawrence Angelo (Pierce Brosnan) turns simpleton gardener Jobe Smith (Jeff Fahey) into a genius using his shiny new computer equipment.
What It Got Wrong: Dodgy CGI, mostly. Did that ever look good? Also, this basically has nothing to do with the plot of Kings The Lawnmower Man, so the association is just confusing.
Maximum Overdrive (1986)
The Movie: Based on the story Trucks, Maximum Overdrive follows a collection of people who attempt to survive when machines become sentient and go on murderous rampages.
What It Got Wrong: Sure, the opening scenes of disaster pack a wallop, but Overdrive makes a fatal error when it comes to its central group of survivors. All underwritten to the point of ridiculousness, theyre impossible to root for, and endlessly idiotic.
Desperation (2006)
The Movie: A family falls foul of a cruel sheriff (Ron Perlman) who turns out to be possessed by an evil Chinese spirit.
What It Got Wrong: Once again, its too long, with too many pointless characters and lots of hammy over-acting. Add in the shonky special effects and the fact that its just not scary and youve got a right old mess.
The Tommyknockers (1993)
The Movie: Kings answer to E.T. and Close Encounters , as a buried UFO brainwashes an entire town.
What It Got Wrong: Arghhhh, its too long, again! King tends to write sprawling novels with whole towns worth of characters, and that just doesnt translate well to the screen. The Tommyknockers does eventually get going, but it needed to start moving a lot earlier than it does.
