An auteur by all sorts, Frank Darabont’s career is very interesting. A screenwriter-turned-director whose storytelling capacity speaks for itself, anyone would think he would be more prolific. If you had that sort of talent, wouldn’t you do more with it? However, if you look up Darabont, you will see he’s been in the industry for almost 40 years, yet he’s only made a handful of movies. Some of them, he only wrote.
This makes his work even more valuable. His scripts simply make sense, and the curious thing is, even though he certainly injects his own identity into his work, he’s become one of the few writers able to transmit Stephen King’s universe to the big screen. Not only that, he did pretty good things with those scripts. That highest rated film in IMDb? Yup, it’s a Darabont joint.
Naturally, it was time to dig around his catalog and come up with a list of his best work. We compiled everything into one solid list that includes TV, film and his work solely as a writer. His screenplays are really that good, and we couldn’t leave them out. Keep your schedules open — you will probably want to put these on your queues right away.
11 The Fly II
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Co-written with genre master Mick Garris, the Darabont script for The Fly II is solid enough to make the film a noteworthy addition to cult lists today. The film’s notable for its gory and icky special effects, but also for giving humanity to a character in a sequel that didn’t call for an emotional side. This is one of Darabont’s staples: to compel us to love monsters.
9 The Blob
Again, a writer’s work, but this time for a remake and not a sequel. Regardless, Darabont’s approach to The Blob is fresh and exciting, arousing the audience to like characters in a second as they’re cleverly developed in a film with lots of humor and gore. You probably remember this one for the effects, but it’s a second feature opportunity for Darabont, who once again showed he was made for this job. While the original is a Cold War masterpiece, this 1988 version is one of the best horror remakes of all time.
8 The Majestic
The Majestic strangely underseen film that is also rare because Darabont didn’t write it, and he only directed it. Perhaps, that’s why it feels like the third act feels like it lacks a certain conclusion. Nevertheless, a good performance by Jim Carrey is enough to make this one a worthy addition to Darabont’s universe. But it’s how Darabont makes a family-friendly film with such a delicate subject the reason why it’s a highlight of his short career. We’re pretty sure this will become a cult classic soon.
7 Mob City
The Darabont presence in TV — it’s something the industry hasn’t used enough. The director has the capacity to create worlds where logic is secondary, and human stories are the most important thing above everything else. In Mob City, L.A. in the 40s is driven by gangsters and a relatively chaotic police department. With only six episodes, Darabont and company accomplished noteworthy arcs that made sense, and engaged audiences to ask TNT why such a good show was canceled. We’re still waiting for a reply.
6 The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles
Of course we were going to add this one to the list. The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles is part of a long forgotten era of TV with a production value that didn’t pose a risk for studios. However, Frank Darabont’s work is very notable, as he was responsible for keeping the show fresh with compelling arcs. Also, this version of Indy was developed in a PG-restricted world, and Darabont seemed to be surprisingly comfortable with this kind of restriction.
5 The Green Mile
This Stephen King adaptation of The Green Mile is perhaps the most representative of Darabont’s personality in terms of storytelling. The amount of details the film has is impressive which is curious, considering its running time (189 minutes) and the fact that nothing about the film seems random or unnecessary.
4 A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors
Dream Warriors is a fan favorite. The third part in Freddy Krueger’s adventures, was written in part by Darabont alongside Craven and other writers. It’s not clear what he wrote and what he left out, but what seems transparent about Darabont’s role is the final spirit of a film with a tone that wasn’t as dark as it could have been. Besides, anyone involved with such a cool movie deserves a round of applause.
3 The Mist
His body of work was already unique and original, but Darabont’s version of The Mist represented a genre shift that showed his confidence when dealing with King’s universe. This one is full of special effects as it was expected, but Darabont also manages the display of the dark of humanity in the plot. Antagonism is kind of obvious, but Darabont simply gives strength to the emotional cannon that is a mini society subjected to the apocalypse and its jarring, dangerous dynamics.
2 The Walking Dead
We like to believe Darabont’s the reason why The Walking Dead stayed as relevant as it did for so much time, even if he wasn’t fully involved with what the show became and its downfall. It was a show about zombies, that’s undeniable. But the development of a post apocalypse utopia wouldn’t have been as effective without a script style that compelled audiences looking for a drama show and not a horror fest.
1 The Shawshank Redemption
This is Darabont’s finest work, and again, it’s a King adaptation. The Shawshank Redemption is a beautiful story about resilience when residing in Hell, but Darabont develops the film with a distracting personality that distracts the audience from its surprising twist. It’s an emotional juggernaut that shows Darabont’s ability to form horrific worlds and characters, outside the usual supernatural horror worlds King writes about.
