The film adaptations of Stephen King’s works are the focus of this documentary by Daphné Baiwir.

In 1976, filmmaker Brian De Palma made a horror film, Carrie, which was adapted from the first novel of the now legendary Stephen King. When the film was a hit, King soon became an iconic force in the world of horror. Soon, many filmmakers began adapting his novels. They include John Carpenter adapting Christine, Stanley Kubrick adapting The Shining, and Rob Reiner directing Misery. However, there is more to King than meets the eye.

King supported these adaptations and even appeared in a story for the hit anthology Creepshow. In 1986, King took a chance and directed an adaptation of one of his short stories, “Trucks” into Maximum Overdrive, which flopped at the box office, but has since become a cult classic. However, King made other stories using the pseudonym “Richard Bachman”, which resulted in adaptations of his stories The Running Man and The Shawshank Redemption. King himself even went on the set of The Green Mile and even a car accident shortly after that set visit has not slowed him down as he is hailed as one of the greatest storytellers of our era, and filmmakers are proud to be adapting his works with his full support.

If you are a fan of Stephen King, you are definitely going to enjoy this documentary. Daphne Baiwir does something majorly fun with the film starting out herself as a fictional fan of the legendary novelist as we see glimpses of King’s works in a small story. We see Baiwir going to a few shops, passing by charactersd played by some of the filmmakers interviewed for the film. She also sees a program on TV based on “The Running Man” with Christine actor Alexandra Paul as the emcee and there is a certain WorldFilmGeek Hall of Famer seen in the audience who has recently unveiled her long-awaited adaptation of a King short story all hyped up during Paul’s monologue. We then see Baiwir at the “Creepshop” and it is there where the documentary begins.

It is fascinating to see not only what novels were adapted, but in the case of certain titles, multiple versions of certain titles were done with changes here and there. There are many reasons such as making the film more faithful to the novel, changing with the times, and/or to show new visions of the takes. For instance, while Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining remains a classic, Mick Garris did a TV version of the novel that was a bit more faithful to the novel but added a small twist involving Jack Torrance’s character. There are also three versions of Carrie. Aside from De Palma’s iconic 1976 take, there is a 2002 TV movie adaptation that took the ending to a whole new level and a 2013 theatrical version that modernized it to today’s times.

We even get a glimpse of seeing some behind the scenes of some of these films, including The Shining where we see Kubrick going off on actress Shelley Duvall when she botches a scene, proving the rumors being true with Duvall’s reaction to what has happened. There is also some heartwarming stuff including King himself on the set of The Green Mile and celebrating his birthday on set. Frank Darabont, Garris, Mike Flanagan, and Mikael Håfström are just some of the directors interviewed for this riveting documentary.

King On Screen is a fantastic look at the works of Stephen King and their adaptations in films with excellent interviews and a fun prologue featuring the directors, fans, and the director of the documentary herself in a fun quirky story to start. Definitely one of the best docs out there involving films today.

WFG RATING: A+

Dark Star Pictures presents a Les Films de la Plage/Frakas Productions/Da Yamms Entertainment production in association with FilmCore, Mr Salmon Films, and Shamans Films. Director: Daphné Baiwir. Producer: Sebastian Cruz. Cinematography: Marc Koninckx. Editing: Daphné Baiwir.

Cast: Frank Darabont, Mick Garris, Mike Flanagan, Mikael Håfström, Stephen King, Mark L. Lester, Tom McLoughlin, Craig R. Baxley, Scott Hicks, Tom Holland, Mikael Salomon, Andre Øvredal, Daphné Baiwir, Amy Irving, Alexandra Paul, Julia Marchese.

The film will be released in select theaters on August 11 and on Blu-Ray and Digital on September 8.