Stephen King on the set of Under the Dome smiling.Image via CBS
It was a major week for Stephen King‘s fans, who got to watch not one but two new shows targeted directly at them. Only one of these new titles, however, is actually based on a King story. The other, Netflix’s Below, simply borrows some of the iconic writer’s narrative techniques. Starring Josh Hartnett and Mackenzie Davis, Below emerged as an instant hit on Netflix after its October 8 release. According to FlixPatrol, it’s currently the streamer’s number-one show worldwide. Below was released only a day after the real King adaptation, the third based on his very first novel. The seven-part limited series has announced itself as a massive hit on Prime Video, successfully taking the top spot.
According to FlixPatrol, the new show pulled off the incredible feat of defeating not only Reacher, but the Reacher spin-off Neagley. Both shows have delivered incredible results for Prime Video this year, with the fourth season of Reacher breaking viewership records for the title and Neagley having amassed more than 3 billion minutes watched in two weeks, according to the latest Nielsen report. Reacher typically retains a top-10 spot on the global Prime Video leaderboard throughout the year, and Neagley is still relatively new. For the King adaptation to unseat both action shows is quite a remarkable feat.
Collider Exclusive · 8 Questions · 2 Minutes What Is Your Biggest Horror Nightmare? Elm Street · Chucky · Scream · The Conjuring
Four horror franchises. Four completely different ways of scaring you. One waits until you fall asleep. One makes sure nobody believes you. One is already in your group of friends. And one is in the house with your family. Answer eight quick questions about how you actually watch horror, and find out which nightmare was built for you.
😴Elm Street(Freddy Krueger)
🧸Chucky(Child’s Play)
📞Scream(Ghostface)
🕯️The Conjuring(The Warren Files)
01
Which horror scene makes you cover your eyes? Four classic images. One of them is worse than the others for you.
02
You are home alone and you hear a noise. First thought? Everybody has one. It arrives before you have decided anything.
03
Which horror movie rule would you break first? Everybody thinks they would survive. Almost nobody actually does.
04
Something genuinely frightening happens. What do you do? Not in a film. In your actual living room, tonight.
05
How do you actually watch a horror film? Be honest about this one. Nobody is checking.
06
Somebody offers you serious money. Which do you still refuse? The amount does not matter. There is one on this list you are not doing.
07
Which feeling stays with you a week after the film? Good horror does not stop when the credits do.
08
Something wakes you at 3am. What is the worst possibility? Eight questions in, this is the one that decides your nightmare.
The Lights Just Went Out Your Nightmare Is…
Four franchises, four completely different ways of getting underneath
your skin. This is the one built out of your particular fear, why it works so well on you, and what
it would leave behind.
A Nightmare on Elm Street · Since 1984
Elm Street
Your nightmare does not wait outside the door. It waits for you
to close your eyes, which you are going to have to do eventually, because nobody has ever
won that particular argument.
Freddy is horror’s cruellest idea: a threat that lives in the one place you cannot
guard, cannot lock, and cannot avoid forever.
You are the one who is fine during the film and wide awake at two in the morning. Your
own head is where this does its damage.
These films understood exhaustion as a horror engine. The kids on Elm Street do not lose
because they are weak. They lose because they are tired.
You can lock every door in the house. You still have to sleep.
Child’s Play · Chucky · Since 1988
Chucky
Your nightmare is not really the doll. It is the face of the
person you tell, and the way they decide, very kindly, that you have imagined all of it.
Chucky works precisely because he is absurd. That is the trap: the more accurately you
describe him, the less anybody is going to believe you.
You are the one shouting at the screen because the characters are not listening. You
know that feeling from real life too.
The franchise is at its best when the adults in the room are the real obstacle, and you
have met those adults.
By the time somebody finally believes you, you will have handled most of it on your own.
Scream · Ghostface · Since 1996
Scream
Your nightmare has your number, knows your name, and has almost
certainly been inside your house before. The worst part is that you already know them.
Scream is the only one of these where the killer takes the mask off and turns out to be
somebody who was at the party.
You are the person who calls the twist out loud before it lands. You watch people the
same way you watch films.
The franchise made the rules of horror part of the plot, which means the survivors are
the ones paying attention. You would be paying attention.
Everybody is a suspect, including the person who just offered to walk you home.
The Conjuring · The Warren Files · Since 2013
The Conjuring
Your nightmare is not really about you. It is about the people
asleep down the hall, and the feeling that whatever is here is not interested in leaving.
The Conjuring films are domestic horror. The house, the family, the perfectly ordinary
room that quietly stops feeling ordinary.
Your instinct is to get everybody into one room. Your fear is protective rather than
personal, which is rarer than it sounds.
This is the one franchise where belief is the weapon. The people who come through it are
the ones who are not alone and refuse to be.
Whatever is here did not come for you. It came for the household, and you are the one
standing in the hallway.
Mike Flanagan Has an Incredible Track Record
We’re talking, of course, about Carrie. Spearheaded by frequent King collaborator Mike Flanagan — the director previously adapted Gerald’s Game, Doctor Sleep, and The Life of Chuck — Carrie follows in the footsteps of Brian De Palma‘s 1976 original and Kimberly Peirce‘s 2013 remake. The new show received positive reviews, and is currently sitting at a “Certified Fresh” 85% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. The site’s consensus reads, “Mike Flanagan aptly expands this teen mythos with added compassion and ingenuity, bringing a modern touch to a timeless work and giving all performers involved the opportunity to shine while witnessing the ascension of a fascinatingly new Carrie.” Flanagan is also working on a long-awaited adaptation of King’s magnum opus, The Dark Tower, but first, he’s set to release a hotly anticipated reboot of The Exorcist franchise, titled The Exorcist: Martyrs. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
