When it comes to creating novels and stories that get adapted into beloved TV shows and films, there is perhaps no one more successful as Stephen King.
Whether it be the clown-craze-inducing It, recent horror film The Monkey, or something less well known to be based on his work like Misery, there are simply a massive number of movies and shows based on his works.
Combine that with the fact that Netflix has the most subscribers by a margin of about 100,000,000 – and you’d imagine a TV series based on one of his more well-known works would be one of the biggest on the platform.
Despite this, and the fact the series is full of ‘unexpected twists’, the show is a lesser known one.
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The series is called The Mist, another version of the 1980 novella by Stephen King which was made into a 2007 movie by Frank Darabont.
The story follows a small town in Maine that becomes enshrouded by a dense mist, within which Lovecraftian creatures roam.
The inspiration came from King travelling to his local supermarket and picturing massive animals and insects attacking the building, leading much of the story to be set with a man taking refuge in a supermarket with his son.
Whilst the 2007 film was near universally loved, reactions to the TV show are far more split.
The show, which originally aired on Spike TV but can now be watched on Netflix, was met with a 60 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, with a disappointing score of just 45 percent from fans.
Robert Lloyd of the Los Angeles Times said: “It is a well-made, if somewhat dour, creep show that delivers the shocks and awfulness you would be watching for in the first place and manages some decent dialogue in between.”
Brad Miska writing for Horror focused website Bloody Disgusting said: “The Mist is a beautiful blend of drama and horror that delivers on its immediate promise.”
Not all fans are as convinced however.
One fan on the subreddit r/StephenKing called the series ‘heinously bad’, stating it had some of the ‘classic errors’ in adapting Stephen King.
They said it had: “Internal logic flaws, inconsistent characters, changes made without strong justification. Frankly, not a great choice for a series adaptation without some magical people on the writing and production side, and this didn’t have it.”
Another fan in the same thread said: “The movie is great and I liked the novella too. Back when it released, a friend and I did a podcast about The Mist.
“We were rolling the dice that the show would be good - it was not haha. We watched the whole season as it released in Summer 2017. The studio canceled the show in the Fall of 2017.
“For the show itself there are a handful of things I enjoyed but most of it wasn't good. I'd say it's really a based on Stephen King's The Mist’ rather than an adaptation or re-imagining.
“Other than mist being part of the story, the rest is different. New characters, how the mist works is different, etc. I'd skip this. There's many better Stephen King inspired movies or TV to watch instead.”
If you want to roll the dice and find out for yourself however, The Mist is streaming on Netflix now.
Topics: Stephen King, Netflix, Horror, TV and Film
Michael Slavin