7 Stephen King Movies Streaming in July 2023

1922 is streaming on Netflix.

Stephen King is a prolific author and a master of the horror genre. Film adaptations of his books have been scaring movie fans beginning with Carrie (1976). Since then, more than 75 films have been made based on King’s work.

Here are the best Stephen King adaptations streaming in July 2023:

The Dead Zone (1983)

Christopher Walken plays a man with psychic abilities in The Dead Zone (1983).

A David Cronenberg sci-fi thriller starring Christopher Walken as schoolteacher Johnny Smith who wakes up after being in a coma for five years. Johnny discovers that he now has psychic abilities and can people’s past, present and future when he physically touches them. After meeting a presidential candidate, Johnny sees him starting a nuclear war and realizes he must kill the politician in order to prevent mass casualties.

Children of the Corn (1984)

Stephen King’s Night Shift is on the dash of Burt and Vicky’s car at the beginning of the movie. You can read more Children of the Corn trivia in our full article here.

A supernatural slasher film following Vicky (Linda Hamilton) and her boyfriend Burt (Peter Horton) as they travel through rural Nebraska on a road trip to Seattle where Burt will start work as a doctor. The couple hit a child running out of the cornfield with their car, but when they investigate, it appears he was already seriously injured. Exploring the nearby town while looking for help, Vicky and Burt discover that it seems abandoned and run by a gang of children who worship a corn god.

Apt Pupil (1998)

Director Bryan Singer first read King’s Apt Pupil when he was 19 and always wanted to direct an adaptation of it.

A forgotten Stephen King psychological thriller starring Brad Renfro as a California teenager, Todd Bowden, who discovers that his neighbor Arthur (Ian McKellen) is actually a Nazi war criminal. Rather than alert the authorities, World War II obsessed Todd blackmails Arthur into sharing grotesque war stories with him. Todd even goes so far as to purchase an SS uniform costume and forcing Arthur to wear it. Eventually, the tables turn and Arthur threatens to expose Todd’s Nazi fascination to those around him.

Secret Window (2004)

Secret Window is one of Stephen King’s many great horror movies about writers.

A psychological thriller starring Johnny Depp as a recently separated and mentally disturbed man living as a hermit at his cabin in the woods while he works on his next novel. A strange man (John Turturro) shows up and accuses him of plagiarism while going to great lengths to prove that he is deadly serious. The two men engage in a cat and mouse game with a very solid twist ending.

1922 (2017)

1922 is based on the Stephen King novella of the same name.

A horror drama following a Nebraska farmer (Thomas Jane) circa 1922. The man’s wife (Molly Parker) wants to sell the farm and move to Omaha so he convinces his 14-year-old son to help him murder her and dump her body in a well where she is eaten by rats. This macabre story is only the beginning of the horror in 1922 as the father and son deteriorate mentally and rats overrun the farm.

Gerald’s Game (2017)

Gerald’s Game was the beginning of writer/director Mike Flanagan’s relationship with Netflix that gave us Midnight Mass (2021), The Haunting of Hill House (2018) and more.

A psychological horror thriller based on a Stephen King book long thought to be “unfilmable” because the secondary character dies at the beginning, leaving the main character (Carla Gugino) to carry the rest of the film alone. The story follows a married couple Jessie (Gugino) and Gerald (Bruce Greenwood) on a romantic getaway to a remote lake house. Upon arrival, Gerald pressures Jessie into a sex game where she is handcuffed to the bed. At that point, Gerald has a heart attack and dies, stranding Jessie all alone with no hope of rescue.

Mr. Harrigan’s Phone (2022)

Mr. Harrigan’s Phone came out the same year Stephen King’s son, Joe Hill, also had a story adapted to a film with “phone” in the title, The Black Phone (2022).

In the wake of his mother’s death, a young boy named Craig (Jaeden Martell) reads to his elderly neighbor John Harrigan (Donald Sutherland) a few times a week. Over the years the two become friends and Craig even uses his lottery winnings to buy Mr. Harrigan an iPhone. When Mr. Harrigan dies, Craig slips the iPhone into his casket. Craig later discovers that when he messages Mr. Harrigan’s phone, it seems the old man is able to answer from beyond the grave.

Further reading:

Meet The Author

Chrissy is the co-founder of Creepy Catalog. She has over 10 years of experience writing about horror, a degree in philosophy and Reiki level II certification.

Chrissy Stockton