Panned Stephen King adaptation becomes hit thanks to Netflix

Zac Efron in Firestarter — (Image credit: Universal Pictures)

Stephen King is one of the most prolific modern authors, and his novels and stories have been turned into countless TV shows and movies. The downside of this abundance is that there can be some truly terrible adaptations amongst the good ones... and Netflix UK subscribers have all turned up in force to stream one of the more recent ones.

First released in cinemas in 2022, Firestarter was added to Netflix UK on Friday, March 15. As of the end of the weekend, it's currently sitting as the fourth-most watched movie on the service, after recent originals Damsel and Irish Wish and acclaimed Oscar nominee Ford v Ferrari.

An adaptation of King's 1980 novel Firestarter, and a remake of a 1984 Drew Barrymore movie Firestarter, the recent movie stars Zach Efron, Sydney Lemmon and Ryan Kiera Armstrong.

The movie is about a young girl (Armstrong) who slowly develops the ability to control and start fires. She's looked after by her mum (Lemmon) and dad (Efron) as they hide her from government agents who wish to harness her powers for ill. However as her powers get too much for her parents.

Firestarter wasn't exactly popular when it came out. While it technically made back its budget, critics burnt it to the ground, and it current sits at just 11% on Rotten Tomatoes critics score. In a rare case of unity, the audience score is also negative, though still a bit higher at 47%. Notably this is even lower than the already-poorly-received original Firestarter.

Critics lambasted the rubbish-looking special effects, bad acting and lack of scares for what is ostensibly a horror movie. The score, written by legendary director John Carpenter, did draw some praise though.

The criticism of Firestarter itself drew some hot water, when bad movie award ceremony The Razzies nominated Armstrong for the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress. Armstrong was only 12 in the movie, and her nomination drew lots of backlash due to this young age, so eventually the Razzies rescinded her nomination and eventually gave the award to themselves for this snafu.

It seems that Netflix subscribers have decided to make their own minds up about the movie, given how many people have been watching it over the weekend. If it doesn't scratch that itch, we've got a list of the best horror movies on Netflix which you might prefer!

Tom is the streaming and ecommerce editor at What to Watch, covering streaming services in the US and UK.

As the site's streaming expert he covers new additions, hidden gems, round-ups and big news for the biggest VOD platforms like Netflix, Apple TV Plus, Disney Plus, Prime Video and Tubi. He also handles the site's articles on how to watch various movies, TV shows, sports, live events and classic box sets, and coverage on hardware like TVs, soundbars and streaming sticks.

You can commonly find him at film festivals, seeing classic movies shown on the big screen, or going to Q&As from his favorite film-makers and stars.