In all of Stephen King’s massive catalog, few works are as bleak as his 2010 novella collection Full Dark, No Stars. Rather than supernatural entities, these four dark tales feature human monsters and deal with the horrors that live inside the human heart. Two novellas serve as mirror images of each other, exploring the female response to predatory men. “Big Driver” follows cozy mystery writer Tess Thorne on a mission of revenge against the stranger who raped her and left her for dead. “A Good Marriage” centers Darcy Anderson, a happily married woman faced with a horrifying choice when she discovers her husband’s secret life.

Both novellas were faithfully adapted into feature films in the year 2014 – for better or worse. Premiering on Lifetime, Big Driver tackles King’s rape-revenge story with Maria Bello staring as the vigilante writer and Olympia Dukakis as her literary detective. Ann Dowd and Joan Jett both make shocking appearances as Tess untangles the ethical aspects of her deadly quest for justice. Peter Askin’s A Good Marriage tells the opposite side of this story, following a woman who discovers that her husband is a serial killer. Joan Allen and Anthony LaPaglia star as the ill-fated spouses with Cara Buono and Stephen Lang providing unwitting support as Darcy makes her dark choice. Also noteworthy, A Good Marriage marks King’s first turn adapting his own work since Mary Lambert’s 1989 masterpiece Pet Sematary.

As they catch up on the adaptations they missed in 2023, The Losers’ Club tackles these complementary films in a special double feature episode digging into the darkest corners of humanity. Co-hosts Jenn Adams, Dan Caffrey, Ashley Casseday, and Dan Pfleegor dig into the details while giving their nose rankings and deciding which film follows the path of the beam. Does Big Driver suffer or soar as a Lifetime movie? Is Joan Jett’s cameo an exciting feature or a stunt-casting bug? Do we find A Good Marriage exploitative of the real-life serial story on which it’s based? What do we think of King’s cinematic take on his own novella and how does Lang fare with the Maine accent? They’ll drive through all these questions and more while discussing these two films as companion pieces and part of the unofficial Eclipse series.

Stream the episode below and don’t forget your remote. Then return next week when the Losers return to Dallas to cover Hulu’s 11.22.63 miniseries starring James Franco and Sarah Gadon. For further adventures, join the Losers’ Club over long days and pleasant nights via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, RadioPublic, Acast, Google Podcasts, and RSS.

You can also unlock hundreds upon hundreds of hours of exclusive content in The Barrens (Patreon) — from deep dives into uncollected King works to Dark Tower detours to feature-length King commentaries to exclusive interviews to spinoff podcasts centered around Stranger Things, Michael Crichton, and spooky real-life stuff.

Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Patreon | Store