Stephen King is a hugely influential voice in horror, but his opinions on movies sometimes surprise fans. Recently, he compared Alfred Hitchcock’s classic film Psycho to the 2009 remake of The Last House on the Left.
While Psycho is widely considered a groundbreaking and important film, many critics believe the remake King likes is simply a violent and expensive spectacle.
Stephen King enthusiastically praised the recent horror film, calling it “the best horror movie of the new century” and “the best horror remake in modern times.” This is notable because King was famously critical of the original 1972 film.
He seems to admire the new film’s intense and realistic nature, specifically how it portrays what he calls the “Homicidal Other.” He even compared it to Henry, Portrait of a Serial Killer, saying it was the most brutal film shown in American theaters since then.
King believes both Psycho and this remake are exceptional because they tap into a fundamental fear: the terror of a sudden, unpredictable, and deadly attack.
King also explained that critics sometimes react harshly to films that genuinely scare people. He pointed out that, like Hitchcock’s classic thriller, Last House successfully creates deep psychological terror, and even Psycho received negative reviews when it first came out. However, many still feel the comparison to Hitchcock is weak. Hitchcock built suspense and famously killed off his lead actress early in the film, while the remake relied much more on graphic violence.
Stephen King still praises the 2009 film, but most horror fans consider it a fairly standard remake from that era. The movie features Tony Goldwyn and Monica Potter as parents determined to get revenge on the group who harmed their daughter, played by Sara Paxton.
Although King highly recommends it, the film only has a 42% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, showing a significant difference between his view and what most critics think.
Since that initial adaptation, many more of Stephen King’s famous stories have been turned into movies and TV shows, with mixed results. He continues to have a huge impact on filmmaking, and several new projects based on his work are currently being developed.
Even when his opinions are surprising, Stephen King is known for understanding what truly makes a story scary, so people in the horror industry always pay attention to what he recommends. Whether he’s championing a particularly intense remake or writing his own hit novel, he’s still considered the leading expert on modern horror.
His decades of writing about horror give him a special perspective, and he’s able to find merit in films that others might overlook. As the genre changes with new psychological and supernatural stories, it’s likely that discussions about what makes a horror classic will continue indefinitely.
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2026-03-24 18:15