Editorials
‘Riding the Bullet’ – The Cheesy Thrills of an Underappreciated Stephen King Adaptation [The Silver Lining]
In this edition of The Silver Lining, we’ll be discussing Mick Garris’ lesser-known Stephen King adaptation, Riding the Bullet.
As of 2022, I think it’s safe to say that Stephen King is still the undisputed monarch of horror adaptations. However, while everyone has heard of Carrie and Misery, most of his massive cinematic catalog is comprised of obscure stories that weren’t quite popular enough to warrant the blockbuster treatment. From Thinner to Sometimes They Come Back, these limited release/made-for-TV thrillers aren’t necessarily bad, they just can’t compete with the budget and star power of something like The Shawshank Redemption.
That’s where King’s partnership with filmmaker Mick Garris comes in. An accomplished director and screenwriter in his own right, having worked on films like Hocus Pocus and the more recent Nightmare Cinema (not to mention being the creator of Masters of Horror), Garris was originally approached to work with King on the mid-budget monster flick Sleepwalkers back in 1992. This collaboration led to a series of highly successful made-for-TV productions in the following years.
Having tackled projects like The Stand, Quicksilver Highway and the 1997 incarnation of The Shining, Garris would eventually work on his second big screen Stephen King adaptation with 2004’s Riding the Bullet. Based on the online novella of the same name, the film follows a death-obsessed art student as he hitchhikes his way back to his sick mother during Halloween of 1969, encountering dangerous specters along the way.
A ghost-infused road movie, the flick actually had a lot going for it back when it was first announced. From the groovy period setting to the original story’s somber exploration of the fear of death, not to mention an impressive cast featuring highly accomplished actors like Barbara Hershey and David-freakin’-Arquette, it seemed like this offbeat Stephen King adaptation was destined to become a box office gold mine.
SO WHAT WENT WRONG?
Suffering from a highly limited theatrical release and mostly negative reviews, Riding the Bullet is proof that not even the King of horror can guarantee a box office hit. Currently sitting at 26% on Rotten Tomatoes, the film was commonly criticized for its overabundance of familiar Stephen King tropes, as well as its confusing tone and low production values. At the end of the day, the general consensus was that the experience felt like an after-school special from hell.
Of course, there are inherent difficulties in adapting Stephen King’s patented style of prose to the big screen. His characters’ internal monologues usually make up a considerable amount of his novels’ word counts, with their abstract musings making it tough to faithfully translate these stories to a visual medium. While Garris dealt with this in previous projects, with varying degrees of success, Riding the Bullet’s constant fake-outs and Alan Parker’s literal conversations with himself were understandably off-putting to a lot of viewers.
This also applies to the film’s bizarre sense of humor, with the director often using subjective cutaways to play with different filmmaking styles. It may be a creative decision, but these silly moments end up undermining the story’s underlying existential dread. While I personally don’t have a problem with Alan’s morbid daydreams (I always get a good laugh out of the scene where the Grim Reaper smokes a joint in the bathroom), it’s easy to understand why others might not feel the same way.
Lastly, there’s the issue of the film not being particularly scary, which is something of a deal breaker for a lot of horror fans. Sure, there are some gnarly makeup effects by Greg Nicotero and more than a few genuinely creepy ideas here and there, but most of the film’s scares are followed up by cheesy visual humor and/or intense character drama. This means that the truly horrific moments don’t really pack the punch that audiences have come to associate with mainstream Stephen King adaptations.
In hindsight, it seems that Riding the Bullet simply wasn’t the movie that people were expecting it to be, so both critics and audiences rejected it upon release.
THE SILVER LINING
Much like coffee and vegemite, these smaller Stephen King adaptations can be something of an acquired taste. I grew up watching made-for-TV horror like The Langoliers and Rose Red, so I believe there’s a certain nostalgic charm to these overly ambitious productions despite their undeniable flaws. And when it comes to underappreciated King adaptations, I’d argue that Riding the Bullet stands out as one of the best.
For starters, it’s clear that the filmmakers were hardcore King fans, with the film featuring several nods to the writer’s horrific multiverse. Nurse Annie Wilkes even has a cameo towards the end of the flick (played by the director’s wife, Cynthia Garris), and the undead George Staub’s Ford Mustang was changed to a Plymouth Fury as an homage to Christine. There are also appearances by Stephen King adaptation veterans like Matt Frewer, who previously played Trashcan Man in Garris’ The Stand and Dr. Charles George in Quicksilver Highway.
The main cast is also pretty solid, especially Jonathan Jackson and Barbara Hershey as our paranoid lead and his loving mother. However, David Arquette really steals the show as the undead George Staub, chewing through scenery in an unhinged performance that leaves you wanting more. Not only is his character unnerving, but he’s also morbidly funny in an oddly corny sort of way, contributing to the film’s humorous ambitions.
It might bother some viewers, but I think the film’s cheesy sense of humor is strangely effective. The playful yet spooky tone makes the experience feel like an adult-oriented episode of Goosebumps, and I admire the filmmakers for wanting to try something different. In fact, I’d even argue that the story’s overly-serious musings on mortality, parenthood and suicide are only bearable because of this irreverent presentation, with the jokes being more of a feature than a bug.
The late 60s setting also contributes to the entertainment factor. While the film doesn’t quite have the resources to commit to a period-accurate aesthetic, memorable characters like the fake “Weekend Hippie” and Erika Christensen’s new-age girlfriend persona really ground viewers in this distant time and place. The retro soundtrack does its part as well, featuring kick-ass hits from artists like The Zombies and The Youngbloods.
Riding the Bullet is no undiscovered masterpiece, but it doesn’t really have to be. Honestly, my favorite thing about the movie is its earnestness. The performances may not be Oscar-worthy and the script gets a bit too literal in its visual translation of King’s storytelling techniques, but the experience still captures the writer’s trademark introspective style without feeling farcical or cynical. It’s also one of the few horror movies I can comfortably watch with my mom, and I think that means something.
Your mileage may vary depending on your tolerance of Stephen King tropes, but I think this haunted road movie is worth revisiting if you’re in the mood for a charming B picture. Like most King stories, the journey matters more than the destination here, so I recommend that viewers simply buckle up and take in the sights and sounds of this groovy trip down memory lane.
Watching a bad movie doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad experience. Even the worst films can boast a good idea or two, and that’s why we’re trying to look on the bright side with The Silver Lining, where we shine a light on the best parts of traditionally maligned horror flicks.
I first heard about The Mandela Catalogue through a couple of nephews who were obsessed with the ARG’s sinister mythology. It was only after watching Wendigoon’s in-depth analysis of the series that I realized just how deep this rabbit hole goes.
In fact, I’d already been exposed to the nightmarish visuals of Alex Kister’s YouTube creation for years at that point without even realizing that it was the origin of several viral “cursed images” and spooky memes that had leaked into the wider internet – with this viral element actually being a part of the Catalogue’s overarching narrative.
Flash-forward to 2026 and the unprecedented success of Kane Parsons’ Backrooms has led to Hollywood betting on horrific internet properties with existing fanbases, which means that Kister’s unique hybrid of both religious and analog horror is finally headed to the big screen with a script written by Kister himself alongside Tyler Clifton.
While this news shouldn’t be too surprising if you’ve been keeping up with the ongoing success of The Mandela Catalogue (both myself and Wendigoon having previously predicted that the series would inevitably make the jump to theaters one day), plenty of horror fans are likely confused as to why so many folks are excited for what appears to be a Hollywood adaptation of a series of creepy .jpeg images under a VHS filter.
With that in mind, today I’d like to invite fellow readers to accompany me as I explore the origins of Alex Kister’s viral hit and attempt to explain exactly why we should all be excited about the Mandela Catalogue adaptation!
From High School Writing Project to Internet Horror Phenomenon
The first seeds of The Mandela Catalogue were sown when Kister was still in high school and developed a writing project subverting religious tropes in a world where biblical history had been altered by demonic forces. A little while later, Kister came across an analog horror contest on Reddit and decided to adapt his ideas into a standalone video where he would edit a religious kids’ cartoon –The Beginner’s Bible: The Nativity, to be specific- into something far creepier. This is how the iconic Overthrone video was born, with this viral short film taking on a life of its own as fans demanded more eerie content from Kister.
Though the video was originally meant to be a one-and-done sort of affair, with Kister actually regretting some of its primitive visuals and considering the editing amateurish and “YouTube-Poop-like” when compared to his current standards, fan reaction and free time during the COVID-19 pandemic encouraged the (then) seventeen-year-old filmmaker to continue producing content set in this same world. The Mandela Catalogue name was inspired by the Mandela Effect conspiracy theory, as the series would slowly begin to explore the subtle horror of alternate histories.
Inspired by existential dread brought on by extended periods of quarantine as well as a personal crisis of faith, Kister continued to expand his alternate timeline where the rise of Christianity had been prevented by what was presumably the Devil disguised as the Archangel Gabriel. This alternate course of fictional events led to the existence of certain paranormal anomalies that had come to be accepted as “normal” by the 1990s, which is why most of the series’ supernatural horror is presented in such a matter-of-fact manner.
Most of this background information and religious lore is delivered by increasingly cryptic broadcasts and in-universe PSAs, as well as the occasional found footage video, that often have to be decoded by clever viewers. Of course, it’s the consistently disturbing imagery that made the series so popular – much of which was originally created by Kister on a smartphone!
The Alternates: Horror’s Most Unsettling Modern Monsters
The show’s early episodes mostly take place within the fictional Mandela County in Wisconsin and depict life in a world where demonic entities are capable of using media to enter our reality. This process usually involves scaring victims into killing themselves and then repurposing their bodies as horrific doppelgangers referred to as “Alternates”. This terrifying phenomenon has become so common that local police already have specialized procedures in place to deal with the issue, though this usually consists of simply ignoring calls for help so as to avoid spreading so-called “Metaphysical Awareness Disorder” any further.
Over time, Kister would expand this mythology and incorporate different kinds of Alternates into the mix, though the story never stopped deconstructing religious concepts. The series’ second volume exponentially increased both video quality and the overall narrative scope as we began to follow the lives of characters who had already grown up in this dystopian hellscape where the government is forced to prohibit religion, television, and even mirrors in the hopes of mitigating the damage done by the ongoing invasion of otherworldly entities.
The really interesting part comes into play when you realize exactly how the Alternates make use of scary media in order to spread their demonic influence, with the analog horror of it all being a diegetic part of the story and something of a memetic trap orchestrated by the false Gabriel.
I particularly appreciate how some characters begin to suspect that there’s something wrong with their version of reality and that things weren’t meant to play out this way, especially when Mark utters the haunting line “who have I been praying to all this time?” That’s why I think The Mandela Catalogue is an effective piece of religious horror even if you don’t subscribe to the Christian worldview, as the mere idea of a world where evil has already won is a universally terrifying concept in and of itself. Not only that, but the series’ uncanny analog imagery alone is already worth the price of admission, as you’ve likely already noticed by looking at the pictures accompanying this article.
Why The Feature Adaptation Could Be Horror’s Next Big Success
It’s actually been a whole year since Kister first announced that he had been working on a feature-length screenplay for a Mandela Catalogue movie since 2022, with his proposed story following an ensemble of high-school graduates who uncover a supernatural conspiracy after the mysterious disappearance of a fellow student. This premise sounds similar to narrative elements present in the series’ second volume, but I’m pretty sure that Kister is going to go the Kane Parsons route and make the movie more of a spin-off than a re-imagining of its source material.
While notable Hollywood producers like Aaron B. Koontz, Scott Stuber, and Steven Spielberg himself are backing the upcoming project, I feel like there’s no one better to adapt this deeply personal exploration of faith and the dark side of communication than the person who first came up with it. That’s why I can’t wait to see Kister’s work on the big screen, as I have a feeling that this young filmmaker is the next one on the list about to make cinematic history – especially since this is clearly a passion project that has been in the works for years at this point!
That being said, there’s always a chance that the film could end up unleashing a fresh wave of Alternate incursions, but I guess that’s just a risk we’ll have to take.
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