Stephen King’s stories and their respective adaptations have long entertained horror fans looking for a good scare. Fortunately, Stephen King has also been good about offering recommendations outside of his work, and now he’s suggesting fans watch an “excellent” horror movie – that he also called the “spiritual ancestor” to films like Hereditary and The Wicker Man.
Of course, someone might already assume that The Wicker Man would be the spiritual predecessor to Hereditary. But Stephen King is going back a bit further for this particular recommendation. In fact, the Pet Sematary author is suggesting that fans check other none other than 1957’s Curse of the Demon.
The film, from director Jacques Tourneur, has become a classic offering of the horror genre throughout the years. But that doesn’t mean that everyone has seen it. As such, it’s nice to see King try and shed some light on the British classic, especially so close to Halloween. Here’s the tweet that King shared:
TCM, at 3:45: CURSE OF THE DEMON, an excellent horror film, spiritual ancestor of HEREDITARY and THE WICKER MAN.
— Stephen King (@StephenKing) October 30, 2023
As frequent Rob Zombie collaborator Bill Moseley notes in the comments, it’s also something of a predecessor to Sam Raimi‘s Drag Me to Hell. Obviously modern horror has a lot to owe to Curse of the Demon, and for a film decades ahead of its time, it’s definitely worth checking out if you haven’t seen it.
Not to mention Drag Me to Hell
— Bill Moseley (@choptopmoseley) October 31, 2023
TCM’s brief yet intriguing synopsis for the film is as follows:
“An anthropologist investigates a devil worshipper who commands a deadly demon.”
Stay tuned to ScreenGeek for any additional updates regarding Stephen King, his frequent horror recommendations, and any additional genre news as we have it. For now, horror fans can definitely do themselves a favor and seek out Curse of the Demon for their own personal enjoyment.
After all, while it’s influenced a number of modern and classic movies, they certainly just don’t make them like Curse of the Demon anymore.