Stephen King Reveals His Pick For Scariest Horror Movie Of All Time

Before Stephen King officially named Night of the Living Dead as his all-time favorite, he listed a few other horror classics that have stuck with him throughout the years. Specifically, King recalls being terrified of Robert Wise’s The Haunting as a teenager before eventually trembling at the presentation of the found-footage hit The Blair Witch Project.

In fact, while listing a few of his honorable mentions, Stephen King came to realize that many of his favorite horror outings have a lot in common. For instance, both Night of the Living Dead and The Blair Witch Project offer extremely tight budgets, forcing the filmmakers to get quite creative with the use of practical effects. As a result of their tiny budgets, these films also offer very little music and come staffed with relatively unknown actors for their time.

Stephen King argues that these films work “not in spite of those things, but because of them,” highlighting the unique charm offered by these viewing experiences that just can’t be replicated by a studio blockbuster with a multi-million dollar price tag. This is a keen observation, as many films have aped the style of Night of the Living Dead without ever achieving the same cult status as the original film.

Though King is not primarily a filmmaker, he obviously has a long history of cranking out acclaimed horror projects in the literary world, many of which have shaken audiences far and wide with beloved film adaptations.

For those not expressly familiar with Stephen King’s work, he has written hundreds of novels, including The Shining, Gerald’s Game, Children of the Corn, Cujo, Carrie, Pet Sematary, and many more. The author has also directed one film based on his own script, resulting in 1986’s Maximum Overdrive. While the critically panned Maximum Overdrive is far from the success of something like Night of the Living Dead, it at least shows that King has a good understanding of storytelling through multiple mediums, including film.

Stephen King concludes his essay to Variety with a brief breakdown of some of his favorite moments in Night of the Living Dead, including Russell Streiner’s lively performance as Johnny, delivering the now-iconic line “they’re coming to get you, Barbara.” King also explains how the cinematic license can allow filmmakers an opportunity to build a set piece that would be functionally impossible in the real world, though audiences will come to accept it if it has a certain cool factor. Specifically, the author mentions a scene in which Judith O’Dea’s Barbara shifts a car in neutral with no key in order to escape her attackers.

If you’re looking to round out your list of mandatory Halloween viewing, Stephen King is arguably one of the best experts you could get a recommendation from. So, be sure to check out Night of the Living Dead soon, as the film still offers some excellent charm today, nearly six decades after its release.

Source: Variety