Stephen King Movies

INTERVIEW

The Three Stooges were notable for their allegorical, metaphorical, and symbolic use of communication devices in their work. In a scene in Brideless Groom, Shemp’s fiancée compresses his head in a letter-press, an older type of printing press.
 In Punch Drunk, the Stooges drive a truck with a PA system playing music through a wall at a prize fight at which Larry had been hired to play the violin ringside. Larry’s violin is smashed by Curly who, it turns out, goes nuts anytime he hears violin music.
 In Three Sappy People, the Stooges answer a phone call intended for three psychiatrists Ziller, Zeller, and Zoller and then assume the doctors’ identities. In They Stooge to Conga, Curly impersonates a telephone repair man to spy on spies.
 In Goof on the Roof, the Stooges attempt to install a television antenna on their friend’s roof and they ultimately destroy his house. Oftentimes, the mishaps involving communication devices result in eye jabs, punches, pokes, and other forms of retaliatory punishment, usually inflicted by Moe upon the other Stooges.
 What is this saying? That communication errors can result in “damage,” both metaphorical and literal? That effective transmission of whatever the message might be can assure a placid response? The semantic and semiotic impact of these scenes manifest a sociocultural paradigm that…what’s that? You meant a question about Stephen King? Oh. Sorry. Okay. I’m done.

THANKS STEPHEN! 

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stephenking.com has posted news that Doctor Sleep will be released in January.  That sort of ruins the chances of getting it for  Christmas!   Good to know, I’m already saving my money to get  to a live signing.

Doctor Sleep sounds to me like a mix of The Shining, Firestarter and Salem’s Lot.  Would Barlow travel in an RV ?

I  really like the idea King has of looking at the after effects of a horrific event like what happened to Danny in the Overlook.  The kid can’t just walk away and have a normal life after that.

Here’s what stephenking.com posted:

U.S. publication date for Doctor Sleep has been tentatively set for January 15, 2013

Stephen King returns to the characters and territory of one of his most popular novels ever, The Shining, in this instantly riveting novel about the now middle-aged Dan Torrance (the boy protagonist of The Shining) and the very special twelve-year-old girl he must save from a tribe of murderous paranormals. 

On highways across America, a tribe of people called The True Knot travel in search of sustenance. They look harmless—mostly old, lots of polyester, and married to their RVs. But as Dan Torrance knows, and tween Abra Stone learns, The True Knot are quasi-immortal, living off the “steam” that children with the “shining” produce when they are slowly tortured to death. 

Haunted by the inhabitants of the Overlook Hotel where he spent one horrific childhood year, Dan has been drifting for decades, desperate to shed his father’s legacy of despair, alcoholism, and violence. Finally, he settles in a New Hampshire town, an AA community that sustains him, and a job at a nursing home where his remnant “shining” power provides the crucial final comfort to the dying. Aided by a prescient cat, he becomes “Doctor Sleep.” 

Then Dan meets the evanescent Abra Stone, and it is her spectacular gift, the brightest shining ever seen, that reignites Dan’s own demons and summons him to a battle for Abra’s soul and survival. This is an epic war between good and evil, a gory, glorious story that will thrill the millions of hyper-devoted readers of The Shining and wildly satisfy anyone new to the territory of this icon in the King canon.

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Hey,  I loved Kevin Quigley’s review of the audio edition of The Wind Through The Keyhole at fearnet (HERE)   It is titled, “Listening to the Wind: Stephen King, the Dark Tower, and ‘The Wind Through the Keyhole’ on Audio.”

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So where do you shop for  books?  I don’t know about you, but the mega chain bookstores really don’t cut it for me these days.  I can find what I want quicker and cheaper on Amazon.  Besides, they all  sell the same thing.  They’re like the Walmarts of  the book world.

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Shock Till You Drop has an interview with Carrie star, Sissy Spacek, titled, “Sissy Spacek Thrilled by Potential for a New Carrie.”  (HERE)

Edward Douglas says that Spacek will be watching the movie when it comes out, and that she thinks Chloe Moretz is a “wonderful actress.” He response to Julianne Moore playing mama? – “That’s great!”

Douglas quotes Spacek:

“They hired a really wonderful director, very talented. It’ll be interesting. Our film, it is what it is what it is, and it stood the test of time, but I think that’s great, it’s like an homage not only to the book but to the film, not only to Stephen King but to Brian De Palma. It’s been made many times. There have been several television movies, ‘Carrie 2,’ two musicals! I remember thinking the first time there was a musical on Broadway, ‘Oh my Gosh! The people who ordinarily go to the theaters, that’s not really the audience.’ The first audience of ‘Carrie’ has aged now, so I think out of curiosity, I think it’s cool. As I understand it, they’re not remaking our film; they’re going back to the source material, to the book.”

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SALEM’S LOT by Stephen King screenplay 1979 Tobe Hooper shooting script.
Warner Brothers Television, Burbank, CA, 1979. Paper Wraps. Book Condition: Good with no dust jacket. Shooting script June 11, 1979.
Executive Producer Stirling Silliphant, producer Richard Kobritz, Writer Stephen
King/Paul Monash, Director Tobe Hooper. 195 pages. 

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In 1995 BBC did a 7 part radio drama of Salem’s Lot.  You can get it as an MP3 at SFFaudio. I do not know  if they got permission from BBC or not.

wikipedia lists  the differences between the radio drama and the novel:

• Ralphie Glick’s role is reduced (and his vampiric activities are left vague)
• Dud Rogers and the junkyard see only cursory mention (much of the Barlow/Dud Rogers dialogue having been rescripted into the Barlow/Larry Crockett death scene)
• Danny Glick’s rise from the grave (and the death of Mike Ryerson) are now enabled/supervised by Barlow, who mesmerizes Ryerson and calls Danny forth
• Father Callahan and Dr. Cody become quick/willing vampire-hunters, with virtually no complaint or skepticism
• Mark Petrie uses shards of broken glass (rather than contortionist rope-tricks) to free himself from Straker’s knots
• The entire narrative is framed by Ben Mears’ confession to a Mexican priest (who periodically interrupts the retelling with specific questions)

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Since I just finished reading about Salem’s Lot, and watching the 1978 mini-series, I also gave the 2004 miniseries a whirl.  (181 minutes)

Composer Christopher Gordon’s site notes, “Salem’s Lot premieres on the TNT cable channel on June 20th and 21st, 2004 to be broadcast throughout the summer and shown worldwide later in the year.”

I’m going to tell you now, I liked it.

The less likable stuff:

I’m reading a lot of fans who absolutely hated this film, and probably with good reason.  There’s a lot to hate here!  In particular, the story is so heavily changed at unnecessary points.

When King gave us the unabridged version of The Stand he pointed out that we would not find old characters behaving in new ways.  Their behavior would remain consistent with what we found in the abridgement.  I think that is what fans also expect of movies.  We’re okay with new scenes, or even story changes – so long as characters remain consistent with who they are in the novel.  But in this version, Father Callahan in particular is a very different character.  And, for a movie that wanted to so honor King’s work, it doesn’t make sense to mess up the Callahan character, who is necessary for the Dark Tower.

Another example is the story of Dr. Cody.  He is tricked into an affair, and then extorted.  This is to combine another story from the novel – but it doesn’t work with Cody’s character in the book.

Some of the complaining about this movie is just ridiculous.  One website whined that the movie’s narration is not read by Rob Lowe in the same voice that he acts in the movie.  That’s because. . . he’s narrating!  

Now, for what I did like. . .

1. I liked the references to other King works.

• The music in the background of the bar: Stand By Me.
• Rob Lowe also starred in The Stand.
• Andre Braugher, who plays Matt Burke also played Brent Norton in The Mist.
• Father Calahan is played by James Cromwell, who also played the warden in The Green Mile.
• Background as they search for missing children, “Shut up, Cujo.”

2. This is an all star cast!  Donald Southerland, Rob Lowe both do great.

3.This version does a nice job of telling more of the back story than the original mini-series.  It also doesn’t have that strange 70s tv feel.  The narration quotes large passages from the book as the Lot is described.

4.  I really like the Marsten House!  The inside is delapadated, like a long forsaken building might be expected to be.

5. I like the dark, shadowy Barlow in this.

6. Oh, them Vampires are a nasty brew!  Very nice.  I like the way the vampires leap about and crawl naturally on the ceiling.  A very nice, freaky, touch!  They feel like real animals in human skin.

7. At points, this version is much closer to the novel.  Not only is the narration drawn directly from the book, but the scene in which Barlow confronts the priest is very similiar.  Allowing the vampire to speak is great, and Rutger Hauer (who plays Kurt Barlow) does it so well.  He doesn’t turn into Bella L., or try and be anything other than Mr. Barlow.  He is energetic, condescending and flat out mean.  This is a scary Barlow.

8. It is neat when people get bit.  For all the fear they have of getting gnawed on by a vamp, once it actually happens, the experience appears euphoric.

The review at 80′s fear notes:

“The smaller touches often work the best, such as Petrie’s models now including Cenobites instead of the standard Universal monsters or the subtle way the abuse committed by the young mother against her baby is handled. Donald Sutherland is great as Straker, Dan Byrd is good as Mark Petrie, while Rutger Hauer and Andre Braugher give great performances in slightly underwritten roles that keep them offscreen too long. The Marsten house also appears a much more menacing structure, looming over the town, while 90% of the second half gets things right and manage to stay fairly close to the novel (at least until the stupid character change in Callahan, especially stupid given the character’s tales of the events following Salem’s Lot in the same year’s novel Wolves Of The Calla), the fifth of the Dark Towerseries.” (HERE)

The Music

Composer Christopher Gordon has a lot of information about the music in this mini-series(HERE)

Asked if he read the book, Gordon replied: “By the time I came on to the project the film was nearing the end of editing. I haven’t read the book and I think it is important that the composer score the film that’s in front of him or her. There can be quite a difference in structure, interpretation and tone from the script by the time the director has shaped it and the actors, cinematographer and editor have brought their ideas to it. So the book is even further removed. The composer’s inspiration and challenges are what’s on the screen.”

Gordon’s site also notes:

For this lavish production, Christopher has paired with internationally-renowned vocal soloist Lisa Gerrard, whose distinctive work with composer Hans Zimmer on Gladiator (2000) garnered her a Golden Globe. For Salem’s Lot, Lisa jointly-contributed to three cues, which are represented on the soundtrack album as “Bloody Pirates, “Converting The Priest”, and “Salem’s Lot Theme”. Lisa also composed “Salem’s Lot Aria”, with Patrick Cassidy, and “Free in Spirit”. 

Recorded between October and December, 2003 at the newly-constructed Trackdown Scoring Stage in Sydney, the score to Salem’s Lot was brought alive by the choir Cantillation and the composer’s regular session orchestra, Pro Musica Sydney. Gordon’s score, whilst constructed around a diatonic key centre, derives a proportion of its material from a series of aleatoric cells and harmonic clusters used to form a structured montage. Thematically, his music is driven by a need to define strength in the face of sheer adversity, accentuating the nature of the evil that has overridden the Marsten House and which now pervades Jerusalem’s Lot.

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Here’s a handy new guide we just published on our blog for identifying Stephen King first edition books. 

Even though there are similar tables online, this one is unique. It is searchable. That means you don’t have to waste your time scrolling through over 50 novels. 

The search bar is located at the top right of table. Just type in what you’re looking for and the results should come up. 

For example, let’s say you wanted to know if you have a first edition of The Stand. Just type in “The Stand” and you’ll see the 2 novels there along with all the 1st printing identifiers. . 

You can even search by publication year. Let’s say you wanted to know what King novel was published in 1977, just type in 1977 in the search bar and you’ll see The Shining and Rage. 

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