10 Stephen King Movies That Are Scary From Start to Finish

By Jai Pannu | November 03, 2025

Stephen King is the godfather of modern horror, with countless bangers to his name. The best of his work capture the terror of the books.

A mother and her young son trapped in a car by a rabid St. Bernard. Yet director Lewis Teague and star Dee Wallace elevate the premise into one of the most relentless horror experiences of the 1980s.

‘Cujo’ (1983)

From the opening minutes, when a mysterious fog envelops a small town and traps a group of survivors inside a grocery store, the sense of isolation and impending doom is suffocating.

‘The Mist’ (2007)

It's an evil f---ing room." 1408 is one of King's most underrated adaptations, a chamber piece based on one of his short stories.

‘1408’ (2007)

The world is a hungry place. A dark place." Following up a classic is a tricky business, and these legacy sequels tend not to work, but King's return to the universe of The Shining is great as both a book and a movie.

‘Doctor Sleep’ (2019)

I finally figured out why vampires don’t like crosses. Tobe Hooper's Salem’s Lot remains one of the scariest vampire stories ever filmed.

‘Salem’s Lot’ (1979)

Misery is one of the very best portraits of obsession. It represented a formidably creative pairing: a 'peak of his career' Rob Reiner adapting Stephen King.

‘Misery’ (1990)

Sometimes dead is better." Pet Sematary follows the Creed family, who discover a burial ground behind their new home that brings the dead back...but not as they were.

‘Pet Sematary’ (1989)

A teenage Carrie White (Sissy Spacek) is humiliated in a locker room shower, the film sustains a mood of unease that never lets up.

‘Carrie’ (1976)

The film is intense and unpredictable from the opening sewer scene with Georgie (Jackson Robert Scott), building into a genuine epic across its two parts.

‘It’ (2017)

Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) arrives at the Overlook Hotel already simmering with menace, and his descent into madness is terrifying because it feels inevitable.

‘The Shining’ (1980)