I’m reading Duma Key by Stephen King (for the second time), and after watching 1408 starring John Cusack I’ve been thinking about the perception of the author, his writings, and the way movies based on his books are almost always utter crap.
For the record, I absolutely L O V E the dark Mr. Cusack, and Mr. King ranks as one of my favorite novelists. But save a couple of lucky hits, most of the film adaptations of King’s novels really suck. It’s not for lack of trying, or bad acting (in many cases)...
My conclusion is thus...due to the genre - not horror, in my mind, but what I think of as "human atrocities and day-to-day oddities" it’s practically impossible to create a visual image of what the books say to you. Because he works on your mind, pulling you to a place he created, yet totally your own, each reader’s location is going to be different. You bring in a director who sees this location in his own way - and there’s not a chance in hell it will be where you went.
Disappointment abounds.
Will I stop watching the films? No way, I’m still enough of a sucker to hope someone, somewhere, will get it. And by get it, I mean, get it MY way. After all, It’s The Law.
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