Every Stephen King Movie Sequel

Every Stephen King Movie Sequel

Stephen King doesn’t write many sequels, but that hasn’t stopped his movie adaptations from getting quite a few, and here’s the full list.

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Stephen King doesn’t write many sequels, but that hasn’t stopped his movie adaptations from getting quite a few, and here’s the full list. King, despite how highly prolific he’s been throughout his over 40-year career as a best-selling author, rarely writes any kind of follow-ups to his novels or short stories. Outside of the epic Dark Tower saga, King usually prefers to release his creations to the public and then move on to his next project, outside of the various references and cameos he uses to tie books into his overall literary universe.

However, while King doesn’t seem to enjoy writing sequels or prequels, Hollywood very much enjoys doing that. In the movie industry, any kind of established property with a following is seen as less risky to release than something wholly original, and that’s even more so if the name Stephen King can be attached to the marketing. While King has requested his name be removed from a few select adaptations, he doesn’t intervene in that regard very often.

With that in mind, it’s no surprise that adaptations of King’s stories have regularly been the target for cash-in sequels, as studios seek to use the King name and a tenuous connection to a known work as the basis to lure in audiences. Here’s every sequel or prequel to a King movie made so far, many of which bear almost no similarities to their purported predecessor.

Creepshow 2 (1987)

Directed by Michael Gornick and written by George Romero, Stephen King had no creative involvement in this sequel, after writing the script for the original classic. He does at least make a cameo as a trucker. While Creepshow 2 no doubt pales in comparison to the first movie, arguably the best horror anthology film ever, it’s decent enough overall, with one standout story in “The Raft,” and an amusing one in “The Hitchhiker.” The opening tale, “Old Chief Wood’nhead,” is a bit of a clunker though.

A Return to Salem’s Lot (1987)

A Return to Salem’s Lot, directed by always interesting cult filmmaker Larry Cohen, is probably the weirdest sequel to a King adaptation. Outside of there being vampires in the titular town, any resemblance to King’s novel is out the window, but while A Return to Salem’s Lot isn’t a great film, it’s a very watchable one, just due to how relentlessly odd it is. This extends to the lead performance by Michael Moriarty, a Cohen favorite, whose character at one point directly asks his teenage son if he “got laid” with a vampire woman.

Children of the Corn 2: The Final Sacrifice (1992)

If there’s one franchise that’s managed to run an astoundingly long time while putting out little of merit, it’s Children of the Corn. The first film already expanded a very short story to feature-length, and there’s now ten total movies in the franchise, with an eleventh coming. Clearly, there’s quite a devoted following somewhere. Children of the Corn 2 was the only sequel to get a theatrical release, and has little narrative connection to the first, even moving the setting to a different Nebraska town.

Pet Sematary 2 (1992)

The original Pet Sematary adaptation is generally well-regarded by both Stephen King and horror fans in general, but the same can’t be said for Pet Sematary 2, also directed by Mary Lambert. The story has almost no connection to either King’s book or the first film, outside of the titular graveyard and a quick mention of Louis Creed. Taken on its own merits, it’s not a terrible movie, but it’s also not particularly good either. The highlight is Clancy Brown’s off the wall performance as an abusive sheriff who gets resurrected as a goofball zombie.

Children of the Corn 3: Urban Harvest (1995)

While by no means a good movie by any conventional standard, Children of the Corn 3 has a lot to offer fans of unabashed, silly B-movies. Turning He Who Walks Behind the Rows into the above stop-motion monster that slaughters his own followers proves to be the icing on the cake. There’s also a charismatic villain, lots of harsh deaths, and the amount of mid-1990s trappings make it an unintentional period piece.

Children of the Corn 4: The Gathering (1996)

Children of the Corn 4 isn’t as fun as 3, but it’s watchable, if nothing else. The sequel is most notable for starring a pre-stardom Naomi Watts, in one of her first leading roles as a medical student who returns to her Nebraska hometown to care for her ailing mother. Said mother is played by genre favorite Karen Black.

Lawnmower Man 2: Beyond Cyberspace (1996)

King infamously sued the makers of The Lawnmower Man to have his name removed from the marketing, as the finished product has nothing in common with his short story. However, the movie was successful enough to earn a sequel, albeit one that even fans of the first film tend to think isn’t good. Matt Frewer, who’s certainly a talented actor, takes over for Jeff Fahey as the cyber villain Jobe, with a new character played by Patrick Bergin essentially replacing Pierce Brosnan.

Sometimes They Come Back… Again (1996)

A sequel to the decent 1991 TV movie that was already loosely based on King’s short story, Sometimes They Come Back… Again is watchable, but nothing anyone needs to go out of their way to see. It’s basically just a redo of the first film’s plot, this time featuring Alexis Arquette as the leader of the greaser ghouls, Michael “Burt Gummer” Gross as the father with a tragic past tied to them, and a pre-stardom Hilary Swank as his corruptible teenage daughter.

Children of the Corn 5: Fields of Terror (1998)

Children of the Corn 5 – which originally sported the much better subtitle Field of Screams – also features a few recognizable faces, including Eva Mendes before Training Day first got her noticed. The late Alexis Arquette appears in this one too, as does David Carradine and Fred “The Hammer” Williamson. Sadly, the movie is so boring that all those actors are utterly wasted, and given nothing remotely interesting to do. This is where the Corn movies really started to get terrible, making their continued production baffling.

Sometimes They Come Back… for More (1998)

While Sometimes They Come Back… Again was content to try and copy the first movie, for More does the opposite, having no real ties to the others but the inclusion of demons and the undead. It’s also set at a secluded Antarctic military base, which leads to it kind of feeling like The Thing-lite. Clayton Rohner and Faith Ford star.

Children of the Corn 666: Isaac’s Return (1999)

Children of the Corn 666 hints at doing something interesting by having original villain John Franklin return as child preacher Isaac. Despite pretty clearly dying in the first movie, his fate is retconned to being left in a coma after his encounter with He Who Walks Behind the Rows. While it’s fun to see him back, the story surrounding Isaac’s titular return is again, excruciatingly boring.

The Rage: Carrie 2 (1999)

Released in 1999, The Rage: Carrie 2 is less a sequel to the 1976 original – outside of the returning Sue Snell and a familial tie between protagonist Rachel and Carrie, there’s little connection – and more of a remake updating the story for the then current day. Rachel is a high school outcast with telekinetic powers, she’s betrayed and publicly humiliated by the popular kids, and then massacres much of the student body. Taken on its own terms though, it’s not bad, and has a cult following.

Children of the Corn: Revelation (2001)

Dropping the numbers from the title, this seventh movie was the last Children of the Corn sequel for an entire decade, although a subpar TV remake was made for Syfy in 2009. Sadly, they didn’t end the franchise for good here, as Revelation is so boring and the opposite of thrilling or scary that it makes parts 5 and 6 seem wildly entertaining. Even genre favorite Michael Ironside (Total Recall, Starship Troopers, Scanners, and lots more) is criminally wasted and underutilized.

Firestarter: Rekindled (2002)

As bad as almost all of the Children of the Corn sequels are, Firestarter: Rekindled, a 2002 miniseries on Syfy, gives them a run for their money in that department. The story centers on a grown-up Charlie McGee, who still doesn’t have full control over her pyrokinetic powers. At nearly 3 hours long sans commercials, Rekindled moves incredibly slowly, and also features some extremely weak performances. Even the usually great Malcolm McDowell and Dennis Hopper seem to be totally phoning it in.

The Mangler 2 (2002)

The Mangler 2 is yet another sequel to a Stephen King movie that has almost nothing to do with the original, which focused on a demon-possessed industrial laundry press. This sequel places the demon inside the computer network at a high-end private school, which basically gives it power over the entire campus. Unsurprisingly, since the original Mangler is itself not very good, The Mangler 2 is pretty terrible, even despite Lance Henriksen playing a role.

The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer (2003)

The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer is a made for TV prequel to the 2002 miniseries Rose Red, focusing on the original family that built and lived in the haunted house. While Rose Red has a spotty reputation now, it was a ratings hit, and ABC was eager for a follow-up. The response to Diary was much more mixed from both viewers and critics.

The Mangler Reborn (2005)

The Mangler Reborn is quite possibly the worst movie ever made with any connection to Stephen King material. It sees a repairman buy the possessed machine from the original, and rebuild it. Of course, it needs to be “fed” people to survive. The budget is embarrassingly low, lending The Mangler Reborn the look of a movie shot for $1000 in a week, even if that’s a slight exaggeration. Phantasm star Reggie Bannister likely doesn’t highlight this entry on his resume either.

Creepshow 3 (2006)

Made without any involvement by Romero or King, Creepshow 3 has been disavowed by everyone involved with the first two. It only happened due to a small company called Taurus Entertainment landing the rights to the name, and to put it bluntly, is best left forgotten about. Creepshow 3 is the rare movie so bad it has absolutely no positive reviews to be found anywhere online. Even people who love the first two should steer clear.

Children of the Corn: Genesis (2011)

Children of the Corn: Genesis, like 2011’s absolutely dreadful Hellraiser: Revelations, was only made by Dimension Films so that they wouldn’t lose the rights to the two franchises. They’ve since done so due to the downfall of the Weinstein Brothers, but nobody would’ve predicted that at the time. Made in an extremely short time, on a tiny budget, and with creatively bankrupt motivations, Genesis is about as bad as one would logically expect, but isn’t quite as terrible as Revelations.

Children of the Corn: Runaway (2018)

Children of the Corn: Runaway is the most recent Children of the Corn entry, but as mentioned previously, sadly won’t be the last. Another cheapo sequel made by Dimension to keep the franchise rights, it didn’t end up releasing until after the Weinsteins became disgraced, along with 2018’s Hellraiser: Judgment. Again, it’s pretty bad, but like Judgment, is a decent amount better than its predecessor.

Doctor Sleep (2019)

Director Mike Flanagan’s lengthy adaptation of Stephen King’s sequel to The Shining seems like a movie destined to find much more appreciation on home video than upon release. Critics liked it, and those who did see it generally enjoyed it, but the box office was painfully weak. More people are already discovering Doctor Sleep on Blu-Ray and streaming, where it’s available as an even longer – but more cohesive – director’s cut. Henry Thomas’ attempt to play Jack Nicholson as Jack Torrance fails to impress though, sadly.

IT Chapter 2 (2019)

One of the few King sequels actually sanctioned by the author, IT Chapter 2 serves to adapt the portions of his book chronicling the adult Losers’ Club members’ return to Derry and second battle with Pennywise. While Chapter 2 isn’t nearly as acclaimed as Chapter 1, most would agree it’s worth a watch, even if the running time is a bit excessive. Bill Skarsgard continues to wow as Pennywise, and the adult Losers are very well cast, especially Bill Hader as Richie.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/stephen-king-every-movie-sequel/

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