Stephen King Season at Vue, The Printworks

The collected works of Stephen King have been supplying Hollywood with a seemingly endless supply of material for decades. With the release of The Long Walk earlier this year, and Edgar Wright’s upcoming The Running Man it appears that filmmakers – and indeed audiences – have a keen and continued interest in visiting worlds first conjured in the books of the prolific author from Portland, Maine.

And why not? Adaptations of King’s novels and short stories have produced no end of blockbuster successes and cult classics. The writer has a knack for tapping into the American zeitgeist, frequently examining the horrors and anxieties of small town, suburban life, twisted through the prism of the supernatural. From killer clowns to telekinetic teens, the combination of relatable characters and high concept premises has proven irresistible to filmmakers for decades.

Most film fans will have their own preferences, but the season presented by Vue at The Printworks this November and December is a selection of the real canonised classic King adaptations. Seven of the greatest hits released in the 1970s, 80s and 90s, all crowd-pleasing favourites filled with stars of the day, made by some of the era’s great directors – starting with at Brian DePalma’s 1976 version of Carrie (7 – 11 Nov).

There’s also a chance to catch a pair of celebrated prison dramas from writer-director Frank Darabont. Each co-written by King, longtime IMDB chart-topper The Shawshank Redemption (14 – 18 Nov) features Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman, while The Green Mile (16 – 19 Nov) stars Tom Hanks alongside Michael Clarke Duncan. They’re followed by John Carpenter’s impeccable car-based-chiller Christine (22 – 26 Nov) – one of our picks of the season.

Rob Reiner also has two films screening in the season, starting with beloved coming-of-age adventure Stand By Me (29 Nov – 2 Dec), about childhood friends who discover a dead body one summer. Then there’s Misery (6 – 9 Dec), also from Reiner, which won Kathy Bates an Oscar for her portrayal of a deranged fan who holds her favourite author captive. 

Finally, just in time for the festive season, Stanley Kubrick’s snowbound haunted hotel horror The Shining (12 – 18 Dec) may well be the best film to be adapted from a Stephen King book, even if the author himself famously disagreed.