So far as tone is worried, Osgood Perkins’ The Monkey is in contrast to any Stephen King adaptation audiences have ever seen. There have been King movies up to now which have humorous strains and humorous scenes, however the 2025 film is the primary to go all out and persistently use excessive horror as a automobile for comedy. It’s trustworthy in its personal option to the supply materials, however it injects a completely authentic power into the story… and it bought me fascinated by different King works that could possibly be tailored with an analogous strategy.
Admittedly, comedy has not often been one of many writer’s creative priorities, however as he has explored horror, fantasy, western, romance, crime and a wide range of different genres, and has additionally expressed a beautiful humorousness. It’s uncommon to complete one among his books with out experiencing a number of chuckles. There are a variety of quick tales which are both very humorous or a minimum of have a large amount of humor potential, and with The Monkey arriving in theaters this weekend, I figured this might be a good time to focus on a few of them.
Afterlife
After I first learn King’s “Afterlife” in The Bazaar Of Dangerous Desires, I couldn’t assist however be reminded of the good Albert Brooks movie Defending Your Life – which ought to clarify why the title is on this listing.
The narrative would clearly should be expanded, however the basic thought of the story is that after you die, you find yourself in an workplace and may select to A) finish your existence, or B) relive your whole life realizing that it’s inconceivable to alter any of the dangerous issues. There’s an absurd simplicity that could possibly be made into a sensible and humorous function.
Dangerous Little Child
To be sincere, “Dangerous Little Child” is a narrative that’s really fairly much like “The Monkey,” in that it entails a supernatural entity that appears to reside for torturing a protagonist and killing the individuals necessary to them. What makes “Dangerous Little Child” particular, although, is the picture of its titular villain: a horrible younger boy with vibrant orange hair, inexperienced eyes, and a propeller beanie on his head. Principally, I think about a nightmare twist on Dennis The Menace.
The Cat From Hell
“The Cat From Hell” has already been tailored as one of many segments within the anthology movie, Tales From The Darkside: The Film, however there is no such thing as a a part of me that may object to a full function adaptation that additional cranks up the madness from the quick story – which is already delightfully nutty. A filmmaker merely must take the premise (an expert murderer is employed to kill a cat) and maintain the wonderful ending (which sees the cat kill the murderer by leaping into his mouth), after which simply develop the fabric with extra feline-centric madness.
Drunken Fireworks
It’s not laborious to overlook the comedic potential in “Drunken Fireworks,” which sees a battle escape between locals residing on a lake in Maine who attempt to outdo one another yearly placing on a fireworks present whereas celebrating Independence Day. Each the escalating battle and the bizarre pettiness of the characters make for excellent comedic materials. It may be like Neighbors however with extra alcohol and extra explosions.
Truthful Extension
There is just one novella from 2010’s Full Darkish, No Stars that has not been tailored to this point, and whereas all the tales in that individual ebook are fairly bleak (the others being “1922,” “Massive Driver” and “A Good Marriage”), there is a chance for a filmmaker to have some darkish enjoyable with “Truthful Extension.”
A person dying from most cancers is given the chance from a stranger to increase his life on the expense of an individual he hates… and he chooses his finest buddy from childhood, who he has secretly all the time loathed. The protagonist’s life turns into nice whereas his “buddy” loses the whole lot – and I can think about it as a film comparable in tone to Joel and Ethan Coen’s A Critical Man.
Finn
There may be nothing typically humorous about a teen being kidnapped by a gaggle of kidnappers and tortured for info he doesn’t have, however what considerably lightens the story in “Finn” (featured in 2024’s You Like It Darker) is the characterization of the eponymous protagonist – who has spent his whole life cursed with excessive ranges of dangerous luck.
This misfortune makes Finn a tragic character by the top of King’s story, however there may be undoubtedly latitude to play his seemingly cursed existence for laughs. To quote one other film from the Coen brothers, I can think about one thing akin to Inside Llewyn Davis, the place the universe simply retains beating the hero down.
The Lawnmower Man
Sure, there’s a film already known as The Lawnmower Man, however it’s so far faraway from King’s authentic quick story that the writer really went to courtroom to have his affiliation with it legally expunged. I’m unsure precisely how a filmmaker would possibly go about increasing King’s horrific fantasy story to function size, however I do know that the nightmarish picture that’s the coronary heart of the fabric – a unadorned fats man monitoring a lawnmower and devouring grass clippings that it spits out – is so extraordinarily weird that it may encourage a movie that’s as hilarious as it’s horrific.
Lunch At The Gotham Café
Would a comedy model of Stephen King’s “Lunch At The Gotham Café” be a contact mean-spirited? Maybe. However who doesn’t take pleasure in a mean-spirited comedy every now and then? Historically, a story a couple of couple going by means of a divorce and experiencing a horrific occasion collectively would finish with the couple having their bond reignited by way of the trauma – however that’s simply not the best way issues play out on this story, and it could possibly be tailored as a pitch black romance (my solely demand is that the ultimate scene of the film is strictly the identical as the ultimate scene in King’s story).
Morality
Once more, this one could be a super-duper darkish comedy, however with the best filmmaker who may thread the needle tonally, it could possibly be a winner. Like a non-erotic Indecent Proposal, the story finds a financially strapped couple given a singular alternative to make an entire lot of cash: for $200,000, the spouse should strategy a small youngster in broad daylight and punch them within the face, and the husband has to seize the occasion on tape. It’s outrageous, however that’s what makes it darkly humorous.
Rat
A author makes a Faustian discount with a rodent to be able to recover from crippling author’s block. Do I actually have to elucidate the comedy potential right here? The novella in 2020’s If It Bleeds has excessive pressure and excessive stakes – as stated author finds himself sick and remoted in a distant cabin throughout a storm and opts to sacrifice the lifetime of a liked one for a recent thought – however the bigger circumstances of the story can definitely be performed for laughs.
Relaxation Cease
Narratively talking, “Relaxation Cease” is an easy story – following a nebbish author who channels the spirit of his powerful man pen identify in order that he could be assured sufficient to intervene in an incident of spousal abuse he encounters at a freeway relaxation cease. It’s a one-time incident for the protagonist… however the place would possibly it lead him if he have been to repeatedly faucet into that alter ego? The outcomes could possibly be darkish but in addition very humorous.
Umney’s Final Case
A dramatic adaptation of “Umney’s Final Case” already exists as the perfect episode of the cancelled-too-soon sequence Nightmares & Dreamscapes, however a humorous tackle this materials could be very doable because of how the story flips a standard story. Somewhat than a inventive struggling by the hands of its creation, the twist right here is that the creation should battle towards the egocentric impulses of its creator, as a fictional non-public detective named Clyde Umney finds himself thrust into the actual world whereas the writer who imagined him takes over his danger-and-excitement-filled life.
Phrase Processor Of The Gods
First revealed within the early Nineteen Eighties, “Phrase Processor Of The Gods” is a narrative that may should be up to date in some important methods because of developments in expertise, however the premise is what’s necessary right here. It’s primarily about a pc that magically has the flexibility to alter actuality, and whereas it’s a cute story because it exists, a filmmaker wouldn’t actually should work too laborious to think about some comedic penalties.
We don’t know if any of those concepts will ever change into a factor, however one factor we do know is that the longer term is wealthy with upcoming Stephen King variations – with a minimum of 5 set to debut in 2025 alone. The Monkey, starring Theo James, Tatiana Maslaney, Elijah Wooden and extra, is the primary of them, and it’s a complete riot. Keep tuned right here on CinemaBlend for loads of protection of the brand new horror comedy, and be looking out for all kinds of Stephen King-related information.