Is there anything creepier than a Stephen King adaptation?
Something about the author's numerous novels just seems to lend themselves to the most unsettling of TV and film adaptations.
King’s adaptations are almost always a hit, whether it be Gerald’s Game being so grim it made fans pass out, Pet Sematary traumatizing numerous childhoods, or IT ruining clowns for all the cowards amongst us (I am the 'cowards' I talk about here).
Advert
There is another film though based on a Stephen King novella, and you likely won’t have even heard of it.
Not only is it a scary and intense watch, but it’s so creepy that King himself said that it ‘won’t leave his mind’.
Check out the trailer below:
The movie in question is 1922, follows a man who conspires to kill his wife with the help of his son when they run into financial difficulties.
Advert
As they begin to become consumed by guilt due to their acts however, their lives begin to fall apart.
Released on Netflix in 2017 with a budget of just $5 million, it is based on a novella of the same name written by the horror master King.
Though some claimed 1922 was slow, many instead chose to describe the movie as ‘patient’, insisting that the build-up is paid off in the end.
With a 92 percent critic score on Rotten Tomatoes it was a hit with reviewers.
Advert
Rebecca Hawkes, of the Daily Telegraph, said in her four star review: “In cinemas, it might have been overshadowed by flashier rivals, but perhaps, on demand, this slow, but winningly bleak little tale will find the audience it deserves.”
King was full of praise for the adaptation of his work prior to its release, telling Yahoo: “The one you want to watch for is, Netflix did an adaptation of 1922 from Full Dark, No Stars.
“I think that’s going to be out in October or something, and man, I saw a rough cut of that and it won’t leave my mind. That is super creepy.”
Advert
The film was also a hit with fans, with one saying in their four star Letterboxd review: “1922 is a film that’s assured of itself, thankfully being on Netflix the creators didn't have to worry about turning this film into a lowest common-denominator jump-fest.
“Instead it respects its audience and asks them to come along on a journey through the protagonist's mind.
“The films acute attention to detail makes 1922 an effective psychological (horror) film.”
1922 is available to watch on Netflix now.
Topics: Stephen King, Horror, Netflix, Film and TV
Michael Slavin