Stephen King has a well-earned reputation as a horror master, thanks to a decades-long career of creating some of the genre's most memorable books and stories, many of which have also been adapted for film and television. Although he has contributed to other genres just as successfully, his work in horror remains his best known and most popular. In short, King's name is practically synonymous with horror.
While King is a pillar in the genre, he isn't the only writer creating brilliant, terrifying horror. His enormous status within the horror genre has inspired others to follow in his footsteps, both in books and, more importantly, on the big screen. The horror genre has plenty to offer, especially if you're looking for something that feels similar to King's work, whether due to thematic elements, plot or even atmosphere, with some even getting the golden stamp of approval from King himself. With that in mind, let's check out the best horror movies that will be perfect for Stephen King fans.
10 'Rosemary's Baby' (1968)
Directed by Roman Polanski
Shortly after moving into a new apartment with some interesting neighbors, a young couple learned they were expecting a baby in Rosemary’s Baby. During her pregnancy, Rosemary (Mia Farrow) becomes increasingly isolated, as well as suspicious that her neighbors and her husband made a pact with the devil promising the baby in exchange for her husband’s success as an actor.
Rosemary’s Baby is a horror classic hailed as one of the best of the genre and was hugely influential, inspiring countless copycats. Part of what makes it such an effective horror movie is the tense buildup. It’s not a surprise to the audience when Rosemary learns the truth about her baby, but the inevitability of the ending helped to build a sense of dread that is hard to shake off. Rosemary's Baby relied more on building tension rather than jump scares, and that, in turn, is what makes this film a true classic.
Rosemary's Baby
R HorrorPsychologicalSupernatural- Release Date
- June 12, 1968
- Director
- Roman Polanski
- Cast
- Mia Farrow , John Cassavetes , Ruth Gordon , Sidney Blackmer , Maurice Evans , Ralph Bellamy
- Runtime
- 137 minutes
- Main Genre
- Drama
- Writers
- Ira Levin , Roman Polanski
Rosemary's Baby can be streamed on Prime Video in the U.S.
9 'Horns' (2013)
Directed by Alexandre Aja
Horns is a simple film with a premise that would fit nicely within a King novel. Based on the novel written by Joe Hill, the film follows a man whose girlfriend died under strange circumstances, and wakes one morning to find he has grown a pair of horns. With the horns came supernatural powers as, specifically, everyone around him confessed their secrets and desires.
It’s no surprise Horns feels similar to King’s work, as it was, in fact, written by his son, who has become a horror master in his own right. The film balances elements of horror and dark fantasy with black humor in its story of public perception and revenge. Star Daniel Radcliffe delivers one of the most memorable performances of his career, and although the film overall received mixed reactions from critics, it has been enjoyed by horror fans and fans of King in particular.
Horns
RDramaDocumentaryFantasy HorrorThriller- Release Date
- September 6, 2013
- Director
- Alexandre Aja
- Cast
- Juno Temple , Daniel Radcliffe , Heather Graham , Sabrina Carpenter , Kelli Garner , David Morse
- Runtime
- 120
- Main Genre
- Drama
- Writers
- Keith Bunin , Joe Hill
- Studio
- Dimension Films
Horns can be streamed on Prime Video in the U.S.
8 'The Beach House' (2019)
Directed by Jeffery A. Brown
In The Beach House, a young couple aimed to repair their fractured relationship by enjoying some time away at a beach house, but when they arrived, they found another older couple was already staying there. After enjoying an edible, the group observed a phosphorescent effect in the air and water, but when all four of them gradually got sick and began acting strangely, signs pointed to a bizarre infection.
The Beach House is an underrated, slow-burn movie which combines multiple horror elements, including zombie movies and survival stories, and has drawn comparisons to King's sci-fi novella The Mist. It is timely and relevant, touching on themes of climate change and pandemic-like illness, with some gruesome and unsettling moments as the situation gets progressively worse. It's an underrated gem that deserves a lot more attention from Stephen King (and horror) fans.
The Beach House
Horror- Release Date
- October 22, 2020
- Director
- Jeffrey A. Brown
- Cast
- Liana Liberato , Noah Le Gros , Jake Weber , Maryann Nagel , Michael Brumfield , Matt Maisto
- Runtime
- 88
- Main Genre
- Horror
- Writers
- Jeffrey A. Brown
The Beach House can be streamed on Shudder in the U.S.
7 'The Ruins' (2008)
Directed by Carter Smith
Two American couples’ vacation in Mexico took a deadly turn in The Ruins after they attended a remote archaeological dig at ancient Mayan ruins, which are surrounded by armed villagers who won't let them leave. Soon, the group discovers the ruins are covered in deadly carnivorous vines and they find themselves under attack. The movie was written by Scott B. Smith and was based on his novel of the same name.
The horror in The Ruins isn’t just that the group is being killed one-by-one, it's the way the vines infect their bodies, making for some truly unnerving sequences as the vines move and spread. But The Ruins isn’t just a simple survival story. It's also very much a film about paranoia and trust, as the group gradually turns on each other as they suspect they could each be infected with the killer vines.
The Ruins (2008)
R HorrorThriller- Release Date
- April 4, 2008
- Director
- Carter Smith
- Cast
- Jonathan Tucker , Jena Malone , Laura Ramsey , Shawn Ashmore , Joe Anderson , Sergio Calderón
- Runtime
- 90 minutes
- Main Genre
- Horror
- Writers
- Scott B. Smith
The Ruins can be streamed on Pluto TV in the U.S.
6 'Crimson Peak' (2015)
Directed by Guillermo del Toro
One of Guillermo del Toro's more underrated efforts, Crimson Peak tells the story of a young woman and aspiring author, Edith (Mia Wasikowska), who moved into her new husband’s, Thomas (Tom Hiddleston), Gothic mansion, surrounded by bright-red clay which made it look as though blood was seeping through the land and the house’s lower floors. Edith was warned by both her husband and his sister (Jessica Chastain) that there were parts of the house she must never explore.
Crimson Peak is a classic Gothic horror story about a haunted house, laid out in a simple line of dialogue: “The ghost is just a metaphor for the past.” Indeed, the movie makes use of both ghosts and a dark past. It's among those cited as one of King’s favorites, and its star-studded cast impresses, from Wasikowska as heroine Edith to the sinister Hiddleston and Chastain as their characters’ pasts are revealed.
Crimson Peak
R HorrorFantasyMysteryRomance- Release Date
- October 13, 2015
- Director
- Guillermo del Toro
- Cast
- Charlie Hunnam , Jessica Chastain , Tom Hiddleston , Mia Wasikowska , Doug Jones , Burn Gorman
- Runtime
- 119 minutes
- Main Genre
- Horror
- Writers
- Guillermo del Toro , Matthew Robbins
- Studio
- Universal Pictures
Crimson Peak can be streamed on Prime Video in the U.S.
5 'The Descent' (2005)
Directed by Neil Marshall
The Descent follows Sarah (Shauna Macdonald), whose husband and daughter were killed in a tragic car accident. A year later, she joins her friends on a spelunking expedition, but things take a dire turn when they become trapped in a set of unexplored caves, making rescue nearly impossible. Their situation became even more terrifying as they were hunted by strange, flesh-eating humanoid predators, which the others at first thought Sarah had imagined.
The Descent is a brilliantly terrifying film thanks to the creatures (dubbed "crawlers") lurking in the darkness. As much as the crawlers bring a sense of terror to the screen, the movie is also very much about Sarah’s grief over losing her family and guilt about surviving the accident. Some of the film’s creepiest moments are centered around Sarah, as she often hears a child’s laughter and hallucinates her daughter in the caves, and as the first one to see the crawlers, she is dismissed by the others.
The Descent
R HorrorAdventureThriller- Release Date
- August 4, 2006
- Director
- Neil Marshall
- Cast
- Shauna Macdonald , Natalie Jackson Mendoza , Alex Reid , Saskia Mulder , MyAnna Buring , Nora-Jane Noone
- Runtime
- 99 minutes
- Main Genre
- Horror
- Writers
- Neil Marshall
- Studio
- Lionsgate
The Descent can be streamed on Prime Video in the U.S.
4 'The Autopsy of Jane Doe' (2016)
Directed by André Øvredal
In The Autopsy of Jane Doe, a father-son coroner's team was tasked with the autopsy of a mysterious unidentified woman with dark secrets who had been found dead in the basement of a murder scene. Although she had no visible trauma, the autopsy uncovered extensive internal injuries, and as they progressed in their work, increasingly strange things began to happen in the morgue. The film was the first English-language film by Norwegian filmmaker André Øvredal.
The Autopsy of Jane Doehas been praised by critics and horror lovers alike. It is an unsettling slow burn which builds tension wonderfully as the two men proceed with their investigation into the woman’s death, and things only get more horrific as it progresses. The cast delivers impressive performances, especially Olwen Kelly as the subtly menacing dead woman. King himself praised the film, which he called “visceral horror.”
(ADD VALSTREAM)
The Autopsy of Jane Doe can be streamed on Netflix in the U.S.
3 'Frailty' (2001)
Directed by Bill Paxton
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Set in 1970s Texas, Frailty follows a widowed blue-collar worker, known only as Dad or the God's Hand Killer, who believed he was being called by God to destroy people revealed to him as demons and enlisted his two young sons in his cause. 20 years later, one of his sons went to the police station to confess. Bill Paxton starred and made his directorial debut, and Matthew McConaughey co-starred as one of Dad’s adult sons.
Part psychological thriller and part supernatural horror, Frailty is a chilling film with a twist ending. It’s unclear if Dad was really acting under an order from God or if he was merely a religious zealot carrying out his own agenda, which is the true beauty of this underrated supernatural gem. The film has drawn comparisons to King’s work multiple times, thanks in part to its atmosphere, and although overall reaction to it was mixed, it’s been praised by horror fans in particular.
Frailty
R- Release Date
- November 7, 2001
- Director
- Bill Paxton
- Cast
- Bill Paxton , Matthew McConaughey , Powers Boothe , Luke Askew , Jeremy Sumpter , Matt O'Leary
- Runtime
- 99
Frailty can be streamed on YouTube in the U.S.
2 'In the Mouth of Madness' (1994)
Directed by John Carpenter
After a best-selling horror writer’s most recent work literally drove readers insane, he went missing In the Mouth of Madness. His publisher sent an insurance investigator to find him, leading the investigator to cross over into the fictional town which only appeared in the writer’s books. The movie was directed and scored by John Carpenter, and it was the final film in his “Apocalypse” trilogy. The movie also starred underrated horror actorSam Neill.
The similarities to King in In the Mouth of Madness are clear, with references to him and his work throughout the movie. The story of a horror writer immediately conjures thoughts of King, and writers, horror or otherwise, have been major characters in some of his most famous work, with Secret Window, Bag of Bones and perhaps most famously, Misery. Although it’s not considered one of Carpenter’s best films, it has been held up as one of his scariest.
In the Mouth of Madness
R HorrorMysteryThriller- Release Date
- February 3, 1995
- Director
- John Carpenter
- Cast
- Sam Neill , Julie Carmen , Jurgen Prochnow , David Warner , John Glover , Bernie Casey
- Runtime
- 95
- Main Genre
- Horror
- Writers
- Michael De Luca
In the Mouth of Madness can be streamed on Prime Video in the U.S.
1 'The Witch' (2015)
Directed by Robert Eggers
Set in 1630 New England, The Witch follows a Puritan family who were banished from their colony and panicked after their baby son went missing. In the aftermath of his disappearance, and as more unfortunate events followed, they became increasingly paranoid and turned on each other as they blamed witchcraft. It didn’t take long for oldest daughter Thomasin (Anya Taylor-Joy) to be suspected of being a witch herself. The film was Robert Eggers’ directorial debut.
For the bulk of The Witch’s runtime, it’s unclear if the family really is being terrorized by a witch, as they’re convinced, or if their misfortunes are just a series of coincidences with witchcraft as an easy place to lay blame, making it feel much more like a family drama, albeit a particularly tense one. The film pulled from the history of the Salem witch trials to create something which feels very real.
The Witch
R HorrorMystery- Release Date
- January 27, 2015
- Director
- Robert Eggers
- Cast
- Anya Taylor-Joy , Ralph Ineson , Kate Dickie , Harvey Scrimshaw , Ellie Grainger , Lucas Dawson
- Runtime
- 92
- Main Genre
- Horror
- Writers
- Robert Eggers
- Studio
- A24
The Witch can be streamed on Prime Video in the U.S.
KEEP READING: The 12 Best Stephen King Movies, Ranked
