The Horrors of Stephen King (TV) [2011]

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The Horrors of Stephen King (TV) [2011]

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Stephen King discusses how he discovered terror at the movie theater. He takes viewers on a journey through many aspects of the horror genre, including vampires, zombies, demons and ghosts. He also examines the fundamental reasons behind moviegoers' incessant craving for being frightened. Along the way, he discusses the movies that have had a real impact on his writing, including Freaks (1932), Cat People (1942), Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), Night of the Living Dead (1968) and The Changeling (1980).

Because author Stephen King has became very rich by scaring us to death, hearing him talk about horror films for an hour doesn't get dull.

But after a while, hearing King talk about horror is like hearing Shakira talk about music. You start thinking you'd rather hear her sing.

"The Horrors of Stephen King," offers a wealth of factoids about his views on horror films, including those made from his own novels.

Fans also will hear his personal horror film history, back to the day 50-plus years ago when his mother took him to see "Flying Saucers vs. Earth."

King remembers hearing, after he and his mother had left the theater, that the Soviet Union had launched Sputnik, the first man-made satellite.

This gave the movie experience an eerie link to reality, King recalls, though the brief clip shown in this special to illustrate the movie will give most contemporary viewers a different thought.

The clip, in comically primitive special-effects animation, has a "flying saucer" slice into what looks like the Washington monument, cutting it in half and sending it crashing to the ground.

Hostile objects flying into tall buildings have picked up a different context these days.

King also muses at length on the psychology of horror films. For him, he says, the mark of a good one is that for 90 minutes or two hours, it erases everything else and puts him inside the story.

Because that visceral effect is so powerful, he further muses, horror films don't have great durability. Viewers can watch them over and over because they're well-crafted, he says, but by the third time you see "The Exorcist," what you're really doing is conjuring the first time you saw it, when it really did scare you silly.

The frustrating part of the special, though it gets better as it goes along, is that too often it shows just the quickest snippets from films King is referencing. Longer clips would have meant less King, but they would have better illustrated his points.

He recalls, for instance, how he disagreed sharply with Stanley Kubrick on how to frame the Jack Nicholson character in "The Shining," which Kubrick adapted from King's novel.

King saw the Nicholson character as more a victim, a man torn by opposing spirits of good and evil. In the movie, most of the good was gone.

A few clips might have illustrated that point.

In the end, King says horror movies are eternal despite the fact they get no artistic respect. Even beyond the movies themselves, he still thinks Dee Wallace deserved an Oscar for her portrayal of the terrified mother in "Cujo."

He also offers his own list of the best horror films. We won't give the whole list away, but if you're thinking Bates Motel, you're on the right road. Sleep tight.