Legendary author Stephen King has given positive recommendations for many movies, including these 10 memorable thrillers. As the writer of iconic horror and thriller novels such as Carrie, The Shining, The Green Mile, and more, Stephen King has established himself as the trendsetter of terror. His own works have inspired many of the most iconic thrillers in recent memory, but King himself has also been impressed with a wide array of other thriller flicks.
While Stephen King has spoken kindly about many adaptations of his own novels, novellas, short stories, and more, the author also has an affinity for original and indie thriller movies. The horror and thriller genres have gained even more recognition in recent years, but King has high praise for many thrillers dating back decades. If anyone’s movie recommendations can be trusted, it’s Stephen King’s, which makes these 10 memorable thrillers essential viewing for any fans of the genre.
Sorcerer Is Stephen King’s Favorite Movie Of All Time
As part of a 2017 story for the British Film Institute, Stephen King called this nail-biting 1977 action thriller his favorite movie of all time. William Friedkin’s adaptation of George Arnaud’s 1950 novel, Le Salaire de la peur, the second after 1953’s French-language The Wages of Fear, follows four fugitives who are tasked with transporting trucks containing old, volatile dynamite along a rough Latin American jungle road, contributing to some edge-of-your-seat tension.
Starring Roy Scheider (The French Connection), Bruno Cremer (The Suspects), Francisco Rabal (Viridiana), and Amidou (Buddy Goes West), Sorcerer was a box office flop at the time, but has since become a culturally significant classic, after being all but forgotten for many years. The movie is a masterpiece of suspense, celebrated for its visceral tension, brutal realism, and deep exploration of human desperation, so it’s no wonder Stephen King admires it.
The Long Walk Earned Stephen King’s Seal of Approval
Adapted from King’s own dark 1979 novel, 2025’s The Long Walk, directed by Francis Lawrence, follows 50 boys participating in an annually televised competitive walking contest, with each boy needing to maintain a pace of three miles per hour for days, with failure to do so resulting in death. The film, like the story it explores, is a test of the audience’s physical endurance. As the characters continuously walk, the tension never stops, only increases.
The movie perfectly brings King’s intense, alternate-reality novel to the screen for a heart-pounding survival thriller and rightfully earned the author’s seal of approval. King doesn’t always love adaptations of his own work, but he was directly involved with the development of The Long Walk, giving notes to Lawrence and writer JT Mollner, and Lawrence revealed that King seemed to enjoy the movie very much after watching pre-release screenings.
Misery Is One of the Greatest Stephen King Adaptations
The ultimate suspense movie, 1990’s Misery is widely considered one of the most influential and impactful psychological thrillers of all time, earning Kathy Bates her Academy Award for her performance as obsessive fan Annie Wilkes. Adapted from Stephen King’s own 1987 novel, Misery follows Wilkes as she violently takes her favorite author, Paul Sheldon (James Caan), hostage in a remote cabin and urges him to change the controversial ending of his latest novel.
Writer William Goldman and director Rob Reiner transformed Misery into a completely immersive and darkly comic thriller, which garnered a positive response from King, who found the movie even more effective than his original novel. In fact, following her stand-out performance in Misery, Stephen King wrote 1992’s Dolores Claiborne with her in mind, and she went on to star as Claiborne in the 1995 movie adaptation. Misery persists as one of the greatest King adaptations ever.
Stephen King Loves the “Visceral Horror” of The Autopsy of Jane Doe
Starring Brian Cox and Emile Hirsch as father and son coroners, 2016’s The Autopsy of Jane Doe is a supernatural thriller that pits Tommy and Austin Tilden against a mysterious force while examining the body of an unidentified woman (Olwen Kelly). Directed by André Øvredal, who recently terrified us with 2026’s Passenger, The Autopsy of Jane Doe was described as “visceral horror” by Stephen King on X, a thriller to “rival ALIEN and early Cronenberg.”
King directly told viewers to watch The Autopsy of Jane Doe, “but not alone,” suggesting it chilled even the legendary author of some of the best horror and thriller stories of all time. The movie pairs a unique investigative mystery with unbearable supernatural dread, redefining how tension can be built in a single, claustrophobic, confined space. It uses forensic science as a storyteller, captivating audiences and even making an impact on Stephen King himself.
Steven Spielberg’s Innovation With Jaws Earned Praise from King
Time and again, Stephen King has cited 1975’s Jaws as one of his all-time favorite movies. He considers the Steven Spielberg shark-attack survival thriller a masterclass in building tension, escalating dread, and providing deep terror. Jaws follows police chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider again), marine biologist Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss), and shark hunter Quint (Robert Shaw) as they hunt a man-eating great white shark terrorizing a New England resort town, and it remains one of cinema’s most significant chapters.
Stephen King has also praised Spielberg’s innovation in hiding the monster and using point-of-view shots when the mechanical shark prop kept breaking during production. The iconic two-note musical score by John Williams signals danger before you even see the shark, while King considers the memorable “you’re gonna need a bigger boat” one of the best lines in movie history. Spielberg perfected the art of suspense with Jaws, catching the attention of one of the masters in this field.
No One Will Save You Was Described As “Truly Unique” By Stephen King
Considered one of the best original thrillers in recent years, 2023’s No One Will Save You features Kaitlyn Dever (The Last of Us) as Brynn, a young woman who fights back alone against an alien invasion. Using intense, nearly wordless storytelling, No One Will Save You is a unique addition to the genre, which garnered respect from Stephen King, who labeled the movie “brilliant, daring, involving, [and] scary” on X, going on to call it “truly unique.”
In fact, King referenced an episode of the original series of The Twilight Zone from January 1961, “The Invaders,” suggesting you’d have to look that far back to find anything remotely like No One Will Save You. Just like “The Invaders,” No One Will Save You featured almost no dialogue, with only five words spoken during the movie’s entire length. Instead of talking, the filmmakers use music, loud alien noises, and intense action to tell the story, earning respect from the king of suspense.
Stephen King Prefers the Ending of Frank Darabont’s The Mist
Written and directed by Frank Darabont (The Walking Dead) and based on Stephen King’s 1980 novella of the same name, 2007’s The Mist follows an ensemble cast of characters who find themselves trapped in a supermarket after a mysterious mist envelops the small town of Bridgton, Maine, concealing deadly, Lovecraftian creatures. The movie fosters intense paranoia in its character-driven story, using a monster movie to tell a terrifying story about human nature, and Darabont’s vision was praised by King.
In fact, Stephen King suggests that the ending of Darabont’s The Mist was even more effective and shocking than the ending of his original story. King has praised The Mist for being “anti-Hollywood,” and even admitted he wished he had thought of the story’s ending himself. The movie includes strong, fully-formed characters, fosters a creepy and uneasy atmosphere, and delves deep into the recesses of human psychology, making it one of the most memorable and poignant thrillers ever brought to the screen.
The Getaway Is a Masterpiece of Gritty 1970s Cinema
Yet another of Stephen King’s all-time favorite movies is 1972’s The Getaway, an action crime thriller that stars Steve McQueen as imprisoned mastermind robber Carter “Doc” McCoy, whose wife (Ali MacGraw) agrees to rob a Texas bank for him to be released, culminating in a long-running pursuit across Mexico between the husband and wife, the police, and a group of criminals. King considers it a masterpiece of gritty 1970s action and cinema.
Famous for his rough, fast-paced action scenes and slow-motion gunfights, director Sam Peckinpah has earned retrospective praise for the movie that originally garnered a negative response. King has praised the movie for its non-stop excitement and tough, outlaw style, while the plot is full of sharp twists and double-crosses, surprises that keep the audience guessing right up to the final, chaotic hotel shootout in a border town.
Secret Window Improved On Another Stephen King Ending
Yet another adaptation of a Stephen King novella, 2004’s Secret Window stars Johnny Depp and John Turturro as struggling writer Mort Rainey and his elusive adversary John Shooter, respectively. The pair engage in an intense psychological puzzle after Shooter accuses Rainey of plagiarizing his work. Secret Window works as a brilliant psychological thriller because it flawlessly blends isolation, madness, and Stephen King’s signature suspense, earning praise from the author himself.
Notably, just like in the case of The Mist, Stephen King praised the new twist ending in Secret Window, which differed from the ending of his original 1990 novella. King referred to the movie’s ending as the story’s most important part, and has called it “perfect” on many occasions. The ending of Secret Window is considered one of the greatest plot twists in cinema history, so it’s no wonder that it captured Stephen King’s imagination as well as that of the audience.
Stephen King Praised Mystic River’s Focus On Character & Story
Back in 2007, Stephen King wrote about his love for 2003’s Mystic River in a story for Entertainment Weekly, in which he slammed Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill as a “blah movie,” while Mystic River, on the other hand, “hones our interest the old-fashioned way: by building character and telling an actual story.” Based on Dennis Lehane’s 2001 novel, Mystic River follows three childhood friends who reunite when one of their daughters is murdered, another is assigned to the case, and the other becomes a suspect.
Mystic River delivers masterful character studies that prove that the devastating choices we make when seeking revenge can sometimes be the most terrifying aspect of thriller movies. King noted the movie has a “razor-sharp script and strong performances,” particularly praising Sean Penn and Kevin Bacon, while describing Mystic River as “an absolute joy.” He calls it “a real classic” alongside the likes of The Way of the Gun and Billy Elliot, which is the highest praise any of these thrillers could earn.
