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Stephen King, the renowned author whose works like “The Shining” and “It” have become staples of horror and suspense, has undeniably left a significant mark on pop culture. His novels have not only inspired a slew of classic films and television adaptations but also reflect the cultural zeitgeist that has influenced his writing. Take, for instance, his vampire epic “‘Salem’s Lot,” which he once described as a blend of “‘Peyton Place’ meets ‘Dracula’,” or the pivotal role a Rita Hayworth poster plays in “Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption.”
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For those curious about the films that have inspired King, the author recently revealed his top ten favorite films, deliberately excluding adaptations of his own stories. Announced via X, his list, shared “in no particular order,” includes classics such as “Sorcerer,” “The Godfather Part II,” “The Getaway,” “Groundhog Day,” “Casablanca,” “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre,” “Jaws,” “Mean Streets,” “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” and “Double Indemnity.” Notably, six out of these ten films hail from the 1970s, a decade that was pivotal not only for the film industry but also for King’s career.
The 1970s marked a transformative period for King, as he published his debut novel “Carrie” in 1974, introducing the world to his brand of psychological horror. This decade also saw the release of significant works like “The Stand” and “The Long Walk,” the latter published under his pseudonym Richard Bachman. What is it about the ’70s that resonates so deeply with King? To understand this, let’s explore the significance of his chosen films from this era.
King’s selection presents a fascinating cross-section of genres, spanning science fiction, comedy, and noir. However, a common thread among his 1970s picks is a penchant for thrillers. This was a time when the dismantling of the Hays Code and the decline of the traditional Hollywood studio system gave rise to the New Hollywood movement, allowing filmmakers greater creative freedom. Consequently, films of this period often subverted expectations, eschewing tidy resolutions in favor of more complex narratives.
A prime example is William Friedkin’s “Sorcerer,” a gripping 1977 thriller about truck drivers in Central America who must transport volatile dynamite across treacherous landscapes. King has praised the film for its ability to “generate suspense through beautiful simplicity,” as noted in his Entertainment Weekly article. Such films, characterized by their tension and unpredictability, mirror the intense and often unsettling narratives that Stephen King himself crafts so masterfully.
Stephen King loves dramatic thrillers
National General Pictures
Stephen King’s favorite films are an eclectic mix of genres, including science fiction, comedy, and noir, but looking at the listed films from the 1970s, one thing is apparent: he loves a good thriller.
Thriller films thrived in the 70s — the dissolution of the Hays Code and the Hollywood studio system led to the unabashed freedom of the New Hollywood movement. Now the good guys could lose and there was no guarantee of a happy ending. Such is the case with “Sorcerer,” William Friedkin’s 1977 nail-biter about truck drivers in Central America transporting unstable dynamite through dangerous terrain, where the slightest bump could blow them to smithereens. The film “generate[s] suspense through beautiful simplicity,” King once wrote in Entertainment Weekly.
The 1970s were eager to explore the criminal mind in all its cynical complexity and brutality. Sam Peckinpah’s “The Getaway” is a stylish and violent thriller from 1972 about a bank robber and his wife (Steve McQueen and Ali MacGraw) on the run from the law. “Mean Streets” is Martin Scorsese’s harrowing 1973 mafia neo-noir, his first collaboration with frequent leading man Robert De Niro and one of Looper’s 59 best crime films of all time. And 1974’s “The Godfather Part II” follows two generations of the Corleone crime family and their rise to power. It’s one of the best films of the 1970s and is arguably Francis Ford Coppola’s masterpiece.
Steven Spielberg directed two of King’s favorites
Universal Pictures
Steven Spielberg has the distinction of being the only filmmaker with two films featured in Stephen King’s top ten. The winner of three Academy Awards and the highest-grossing director in film history, Spielberg is — like King — one of the defining names of the 20th century, giving his double-appearance extra significance.
Spielberg’s “Jaws” follows a killer great white shark preying on the locals of Amity Island, and the three men (Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss, and Robert Shaw) who join forces to destroy it. An enormous success that inspired three sequels, “Jaws” helped invent the modern day blockbuster and, interestingly, is the only film on King’s list that could be considered a horror. “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” is a more mysterious and awe-inspiring science fiction drama about two ordinary families that encounter UFOs, and it has joined the pantheon of the world’s greatest science fiction films.
Released in 1975 and 1977, respectively, “Jaws” and “Close Encounters” are tonally and spiritually very different films about mankind’s relationships with nature and the cosmos. But they both center on an American everyman (Brody in “Jaws” and Roy in “Close Encounters”) who brushes against something terrifying and unknown; sailing in shark-infested waters and greeting aliens from another planet. And whether it’s Ben Mears returning to his hometown of Salem’s Lot or Jack Torrance and his family arriving at the Overlook Hotel, that is a premise that Stephen King fans know all too well. It’s no wonder that “Jaws” and “Close Encounters” are two of his favorite films.
