With all the new primetime television series premiering right now, it might be easy to miss this evening’s A Night at the Movies: The Horrors of Stephen King [TCM, 8/7C]. The one-hour special is, essentially, King talking about how he came to love horror movies, and why – accompanied by stills and clips from dozens of genre movies [including his own].
Stephen King is a populist writer of horror fiction. He’s sold more books than practically anyone else – and more of his works have been adapted for film than anyone else. He writes about regular folks who find themselves in extraordinarily unfortunate circumstances – whether it’s the kids of Stand By Me finding a dead body; a man waking from a coma to find himself seeing the end of the world; a bullied schoolgirl discovering her true potential, or the survivors of a global pandemic trying to fight an unspeakable evil.
Judging from his work, you might think King to be a very disturbed man, but the opposite is actually true. Away from his desk, he’s like Zaphod Beeblebrox in Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: ‘he’s just this guy, y’know?’
It’s that guy whom The Horrors of Stephen King showcases – the guy who discovered scary movies as a kid and only much later figured out why he loved them. It’s that guy who tells us the story of his love for the genre and gives us some of the reasons why he loves the genre – and why it has so many fans.
Along the way, we learn that King never really cared for werewolf movies and how he sees a direct connection between teensploitation horror movies and the Twilight series [think I Was a Teenage Werewolf…]. He also goes into what makes a good horror movie, and why the best horror movies hold up to repeated viewing.
King is good at telling stories, so it’s easy to follow along as he relates what he thinks of vampires – and why he doesn’t find Bela Lugosi’s Dracula scary – or how the best slasher movies don’t actually have all that much gore. He reveals what movies he’d want on a desert island [allowing for the island having power!] – his choice of horror movie might not be what you’re expecting.
One of the things that I’ve always admired about King is that he always comes across as just another likable guy – someone you could talk cars with over a brew, or find stomping at a good rock concert. That he knows so much about horror isn’t a surprise. What might be a surprise is his assessment of some of the films that have been adapted from his work – he’s refreshingly candid about them.
His ability to talk knowledgably about the genre without seeming either geeky or condescending is certainly relatable, too. Who doesn’t someone who has a passion that he can talk about with that kind of love – whether it’s stamp collecting, comics, cars or whatever…
A Night at the Movies: The Horrors of Stephen King was written, produced and directed by Laurent Bouzereau, who has made documentaries on the making of films by some of the world’s greatest filmmakers – Brian DePalma, William Friedkin and Alfred Hitchcock among them. His integration of stills and clips into King’s narrative is beautifully executed and the hour just zips by.
If you love the works of Stephen King, or horror movies in general, you will find much to like in A Night at the Movies: The Horrors of Stephen King. It’s a fun, highly entertaining hour with one of the greatest living storytellers – talking about something he loves a great deal.
Final Grade: B+