The Stephen King Movie Guide for the Adventurous Movie Watcher Who Adds Anything Described as Laughably Bad to the Must See List and Isn’t Scared of Anything (Even Really Scary Things).

Because bad is good.

There are plenty of best and worst Stephen King adaptation lists out there. And while I think the tendency is to remember how many truly terrible movies he’s put out there, there are a lot of great ones that don’t quite seem “Stephen King” – like The Shawshank Redemption, Stand by Me, Dolores Claiborne, Misery, and Apt Pupil – that are overlooked.

But then there are movies that are so spectacularly bad, that they’re good and quite watchable (if you’re in the right frame of mind). The obvious choice is Maximum Overdrive.

(Honorable mention: Creepshow)

Maximum Overdrive. Let’s just get this one out of the way. Emilio Estevez smolders at the camera while homicidal machines – including a feisty soda machine – attack to an AC/DC soundtrack. Perfection.

Creepshow.

Silver Bullet. Gary Busey and Corey Haim battling a werewolf. What more could you ask for?

Dreamcatcher. Oh, the cast. Morgan Freeman, Timothy Olyphant, Thomas Jane, Jason Lee, Tom Sizemore, and Donnie Wahlberg. How did they screw that up so badly? Yet, if you can stomach it, it’s hard to turn away.

Christine. Thanks to John Carpenter, it’s better than it has any right to be.

Children of the Corn. How a movie this awful could spawn so many sequels is beyond me…

The Running Man. The Hunger Games of the 1980s. With Arnold Swarzenegger.

Pet Sematary. Zelda!

So next time your in the mood to watch something scary without actually being scared, anything from this list should do the job. Happy viewing!

How do you feel about “so bad they’re good” films (think Con Air)?

Image found here.