Five screamers you need to stream from spooksmith Stephen King

With Pet Sematary currently scaring up big business at the box-office, here are more screamers you should stream, originating from the pen of celebrated spooksmith Stephen King.

With Pet Sematary currently scaring up big business at the box-office, here are more streaming screamers originating from the pen of celebrated spooksmith Stephen King.

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Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall in a famous horror scene from The Shining.

THE SHINING (1980)

Netflix

*****

Directed by the great Stanley Kubrick, The Shining is a work of maximum-impact minimalism based on a slender, yet searing story by King. If you’ve never seen it, I won’t spoil what few stunning surprises it has in store. However, once the mind of Jack Nicholson’s writer-turned-hotel-caretaker finally snaps, you better not be watching this by yourself.

Pennywise the Clown (Bill Skarsgard) in a scene from Stephen King's It. Roadshow Films.

IT (2017)

Foxtel Now, Netflix

****

Pennywise (played by Bill Skarsgard) is a deranged clown who makes children disappear in a flash. A very well-made, well-acted movie that ranks as one of the best King adaptations. Not just for its unsettling collection of eerie, shocks to the system. But also for some accessibly illuminating storytelling, which recalls an entire season of the Netflix classic Stranger Things administered in one two-hour dose.

Chloe Moretz in horror thriller Carrie.

CARRIE (2013)

Netflix

***1/2

Director Brian De Palma’s chilling 1976 version was a both a game-changer and a gut-wrencher, culminating in one of the most ickily iconic finales in horror movie history. While this quality remake will never be regarded in the same way, it achieves all the right shocks in a majorly unsettling way. Chloe Moretz plays the telekinetic title character, while Julianne Moore is her unstable mother.

John Cusack in 1408.

1408 (2007)

YouTube

***1/2

A nifty, shifty and refreshingly gore-free horror film based on a short story by King. John Cusack stars as a cynical writer who thinks staying the night in a hotel room where the 50 previous guests have all died will make great copy for his next book. Soon after check-in, Cusack’s superb solo acting piles on all the claustrophobic suspense you were hoping for.

Gerald's Game is a brutally intense psychological thriller.

GERALD’S GAME (2017)

Netflix

***

A brutally intense psychological thriller. Carla Gugino plays Jessie, a woman who has joined her husband on holiday. However, after being handcuffed to a bed, Jessie’s hubby Gerald (Bruce Greenwood) dies from a heart attack, leaving her stranded in a strange house with no means of escape. Gugino’s performance is strong and varied enough to keep viewers riveted during a confronting personal ordeal ahead.

Originally published as Five screamers you need to stream from spooksmith Stephen King