Stephen King continues to fuel our worst nightmares today with his novels and their television and film adaptations. And you might think the master of horror has nothing to fear — except “losing his mental faculties due to a degenerative disease,” according to a recent interview on the Talking Scared podcast. But as Espinov recalls, there are still horror classics that once scared him and still do.
In 2017, at the King of the Screen event at the BFI, the latter revealed that it was Peter Medak’s The Devil’s Child (1980), which is far more psychological horror than many other feature films of the genre. At the time – it came out the same year as Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, which the original author was never happy with.
In the realm of supernatural horror, I like Peter Medak’s The Devil’s Child starring George Scott in what may be his last major film role. Monsters don’t come out of chests: just a baby ball on the stairs was enough to freeze my blood.
The scene he talks about has become one of the most iconic moments (among other scenes in the film) in horror cinema and has been parodied and recreated many times.
The feature film has since inspired films such as Le Cercle – The Ring (2002) and Hypnose (1999). Alejandro Amenabar also cites it as one of his major influences for his own horror masterpiece, The Others (2001).
The Devil’s Child is currently available to stream on the Shadowz platform, available through Amazon Prime Video.
Source: Allocine
Rose James is a Gossipify movie and series reviewer known for her in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the latest releases. With a background in film studies, she provides engaging and informative reviews, and keeps readers up to date with industry trends and emerging talents.
