Stephen King’s Favorite Horror Movie Will Give You Chills

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Summary

  • Stephen King recommends The Sixth Sense as a great supernatural story with iconic twists and effective scares.
  • Despite being overshadowed, Stir of Echoes gets recognition for its eerie qualities and connection to The Sixth Sense.
  • King appreciated the fear-inducing atmosphere in The Happening despite its mixed reception, highlighting Shyamalan’s storytelling.

In Pet Sematary and Firestarter, Stephen King has created numerous chilling stories that have become timeless classics in the horror genre, translating beautifully into memorable films. Despite Mike Flanagan’s non-horror film The Life of Chuck not being a box office hit, fans eagerly anticipate more adaptations from King’s work. When the author labels a movie as terrifying or criticizes a poorly made slasher, his insights demonstrate his discernment and make his recommendations all the more intriguing.

King penned a column for Entertainment Weekly for quite some time, discussing the films he adored as well as those he found less appealing, such as “Kill Bill.” He offered praise for a renowned horror film, which remains impactful even to this day.

Stephen King Once Praised The 1999 Horror Movie The Sixth Sense, And It’s Still One Of The Best Ghost Stories

In a 2007 piece for Entertainment Weekly, Stephen King highlighted his favorite films from the previous 15 years, and The Sixth Sense was among them. He penned this selection.

As a film enthusiast, over the past fifteen years, I’ve had the pleasure of watching some truly exceptional movies. Among them, I’ve marked only two with an asterisk – yes, just two. To me, these stand out as the absolute best; cinematic masterpieces that have left a lasting impact.

King found great merit in both “Mystic River” and “Sling Blade,” but his admiration for “The Sixth Sense” is particularly fitting given his extensive background in writing supernatural tales. Originally released in 1999, this film boasts an impressive 86% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a 90% score on the Popcornmeter. To this day, “The Sixth Sense” remains as captivating as it was upon its debut. In the movie, Bruce Willis portrays Dr. Malcolm Crowe, a child psychologist who helps Cole Sear (Haley Joel Osment), a nine-year-old boy who can communicate with the spirit world).

What are some other movies that Stephen King praised along with The Sixth Sense?

  • The Matrix
  • High Fidelity
  • Wonder Boys
  • Fargo
  • The Usual Suspects

Due to its chilling and captivating plotline, shocking climax, and Mischa Barton’s spine-tingling portrayal of Kyra Collins, the movie The Sixth Sense is still widely recognized as one of the best-made films from the 1990s. In contrast to ’90s horror movies with unimpressive villains that failed to scare viewers, The Sixth Sense stands out as a truly frightening film because it convincingly made audiences think that ghosts could be real during its run-time. The movie excelled in creating the jump scare before it became overused, and it also offers sympathetic characters and an emotionally resonant tone, distinguishing it from many low-quality paranormal films.

As a cinephile, it’s intriguing to learn that King himself appreciated the supernatural flick, “Stir of Echoes,” which hit theaters just a month after “The Sixth Sense.” These two movies share many similarities, yet “Stir of Echoes” often gets overshadowed due to the overwhelming success of M. Night Shyamalan’s masterpiece.

Stephen King Also Liked The M. Night Shyamalan Horror Movie The Happening

Stephen King praised the M. Night Shyamalan film, specifically “The Happening”, in an article for Entertainment Weekly back in 2008.

Among Fox’s two summer horror films, I would lean towards “The Happening” for several reasons. Firstly, M. Night Shyamalan has a knack for creating fear that truly resonates. Secondly, in this film, he seems to have fully embraced a more intense, R-rated approach. Lastly, following the less successful “Lady in the Water,” Shyamalan had something to prove, and fortunately, “The Happening” delivers as a smaller-scale production.

As a movie enthusiast, I’ve found myself both captivated and underwhelmed by M. Night Shyamalan’s films, with the intrigue often lying in the cleverness of his big twists. For instance, while the cinematic adaptation of ‘Old’ left many disappointed due to its failure to deliver on an intriguing premise, ‘The Visit’, on the other hand, has been praised for its ending.

Now, ‘The Happening’, released in 2008, wasn’t exactly a critical darling, earning only a 17% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. However, I must admit that Shyamalan demonstrates an uncanny ability to weave chilling narratives, as evidenced by this film. In ‘The Happening’, Zooey Deschanel and Mark Wahlberg portray a couple desperately trying to escape from a neurotoxin that inexplicably drives people to commit suicide.

While the overall consensus is that ‘The Happening’ falls short, even Shyamalan’s less impressive films manage to deliver some genuinely terrifying moments.

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2025-07-04 20:04