Chattanooga Film Festival 2023– Stephen King is having a moment, a major resurgence in popularity. His short stories and novels have undergone several adaptations lately, be it The Black Phone, the remake of The Stand on Paramount+, or The Boogeyman, which just saw a wide theatrical release. Let’s not forget the two-part remake of It that earned major, major box office numbers. The horror maestro is everywhere, so it’s fitting there’s a new documentary about him, King on Screen. Directed by Daphné Baiwir, the film is truly a must-see for fans of the famed horror writer, a combination of sharp analysis and some cool behind-the-scenes stories.

There are no recent interviews with King featured. Instead, for nearly two hours, Baiwir interviews several directors and writers who worked on various King adaptations. Tom Holland, Mike Flanagan, and Frank Darabont are just few of the names. With dozens and dozens of King adaptations in existence, and more on the horizon, it would be impossible to include commentary on every single one. Instead, the documentary has a fairly narrow focus on a few of the biggies, including The Shining, The Shawshank Redemption, and The Green Mile. Oddly, some other hits, like Pet Semetary and Carrie especially, feel like mere footnotes here. I kept wondering why Brian De Palma’s take on Carrie didn’t receive more attention, but that’s beside the point. There’s plenty here to still enjoy.

Some of the anecdotes will be familiar to most cinephiles and King readers, like the fact that to this day, he still really dislikes Kubrick’s version of The Shining. Still, there’s some solid analysis by writer/director Mick Garris about why King detests the film. As Garris notes, and as King himself has said over the years, Kubrick’s film is very cold. The author never felt that way about his book. There’s also a rather amusing story about how Kubrick called King in the middle of the night, while filming, asking him major philosophical questions, like whether or not he believes in God. These little tidbits are just as entertaining and interesting as the heavier analysis about King’s work. Darabont offers several stories, including the moment King arrived on the set of The Green Mile and they celebrated his birthday. There’s also some cool footage of the author sitting in the electric chair. Through stories others paint of him, King generally seems like a nice guy. Another highlight is the discussion about King’s friendship with George A. Romero and the various projects they worked on together, including Creepshow. Horror fans will eat that segment right up.

The documentary never veers into academic territory, but there is some steady analysis of his work, specifically the way he infuses American pop culture into his fiction and how that changed American literature in the late 20th Century. Other commentators address issues of gender, the American dream, and small-town bigotry, all themes and motifs ever present in the author’s work. The documentary also raises questions about adaptation and fidelity to a text.

King on Screen can’t possibly cover everything. Still, there’s plenty here to enjoy. The documentary is a celebration of one of the most important and prolific fiction writers of last 50 years. It’s a tribute to a writer who shaped American pop culture, both on the page and on the screen.

7 Out of 10