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Posted on January 12, 2019

Transgressing Grief: Talking Pet Sematary (1989)

Love it or hate it, Pet Sematary (1989) remains one of the most controversial entries in the Stephen King cinematic oeuvre. Today we are diving into this controversial examination of grief and looking at all the ways in which the movie transgresses against cultural taboos. Does the movie’s most shocking moments still hold up?

The entire Horror Homeroom crew is here and we’re talking Jud’s questionable nature, what Zelda brings to the story, whether we should be watching the movie as folk horror and so much more!

Posted on November 24, 2018

Salem’s Lot and the Nuclear Threat

Dawn Keetley

Salem’s Lot is about vampires, of course. But as I recently re-read King’s 1975 novel and watched the exceptional TV miniseries (directed by Tobe Hooper) from 1979, it occurred to me that the latter—the film, not the novel–might also be about the nuclear threat. In 1979, America was entrenched in Cold War paranoia, with the attendant heightened fears of nuclear war. Filmed in July and August 1979 and airing on CBS on November 17 and 24, 1979, Salem’s Lot was bookended by two events critical to deepening anxiety about the nuclear threat. In only four more years, ABC’s The Day After (1983) would galvanize 100 million people gathered around their TVs to watch the devastating consequences of a nuclear attack on US soil, setting a record for the highest rated television film ever. And just before Salem’s Lot began filming, Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station in central Pennsylvania was the site, on March 28, 1979, of the worst nuclear accident in the US. Anxiety about the effects of nuclear energy and nuclear war was rampant.

Posted on July 31, 2018

Castle Rock, the Stephen King Revival, and the Persistence of Secrets

Guest Post

With the premiere of “Castle Rock” on Hulu there comes another entry into the ever-expanding universe of Stephen King adaptations. Given that he has written just under 100 novels and too many short stories and novellas to count, it shouldn’t be surprising that his work provides a ton of material for directors and creators. “Castle Rock,” with its three-episode release, works like “Stranger Things.” It’s not a faithful adaptation of the Castle Rock novels–Cujo (1981), The Dead Zone (1979), The Dark Half (1989, and Needful Things (1991). Instead, it relies on the feelings associated with the world of Stephen King.

Having read the majority of those near 100 novels, I can tell you that the Stephen King universe is tangible. If you’ve read enough King, you can open any of his novels and feel at home. The success of “Castle Rock” comes from a meticulous attention to detail in creating that world in a visual medium. Moreover, the series, much like a King novel, builds its characters at a slow pace. There are very few characters in King’s world that can be typecast. They all are built with the care of an artisan designing a one-of-a-kind piece. “Castle Rock” plays out like a novel, and the slowly burning horror of the show is inherent in its attention to detail.

Posted on December 26, 2017

Apocalyptic Religions in The Mist

Guest Post

With the onslaught of Stephen King adaptations hitting movie screens and televisions this summer, headlined by It and Gerald’s Game, it’s easy to forget about the Spike television adaptation of The Mist. The Stephen King novel has already been adapted for the screen once, in Frank Darabont’s well-loved 2007 film. So why bother with a series? The answer isn’t all that clear, as the series stumbles around for ten episodes, never quite finding its footing. It departs wildly from the source material, reveals itself to be severely out of step with the national tone regarding sexual assault (especially given Harvey Weinstein’s uncomfortable presence as executive producer), and features far too many scenes of people standing around and talking. But as a scholar of the Bible, I found myself intrigued by the religious viewpoints on display, which make for an interesting contrast with the film version.

In both adaptations, a group of people are stranded as a mysterious mist envelops the surrounding area. The dangers of the mist are clear in the film; it harbors monstrous, carnivorous beasts. In the series, the danger is less clear, as the mist seems to call up memories, regrets, and various other nastiness which are more specific to the individual’s fears. In either case, the results of staying in the mist too long are not pretty.

Posted on November 6, 2017

Behind the Eclipse: Complicating Sexual Assault in Gerald’s Game

Guest Post

Mike Flanagan’s Gerald’s Game (2017) is, shot for shot, one of the most loyal Stephen King adaptations to hit the screen. The premise of the film and the novel (1992) is, for Stephen King, very simple. Jessie (Carla Gugino) and Gerald Burlingame (Bruce Greenwood) travel to their secluded lake house in an attempt to save their failing marriage. Gerald’s solution to their sexual stagnation is a pair of handcuffs. Jessie plays along with his game, witnesses her husband’s fatal heart attack, and finds herself alone. The terror of the story, like its protagonist, is confined. The book and the film are compelling, however, because the terror is not in the house or the ravenous dog feasting on Gerald’s decaying body. For Jessie, the fear is spawned by being bound and alone, with only the repressed terror of her past.

In Gerald’s Game, Stephen King crafts one of his most feminist novels. His original intention was to pair the story with Dolores Claiborne (1992) as they both take place at (the fictional) Dark Score Lake during a full solar eclipse. Unfortunately, the pairing never happened, but we did end up with two separate books that work well in establishing a purely feminine viewpoint within the Stephen King universe. In Gerald’s Game, Jessie Burlingame becomes our window into a world that has been darkened by broken trust and a darkened sun.