Virtually ever since Stephen King started publishing stories, his works have inspired filmmakers to bring those stories to life. His career has lasted so long that projects that have already been adapted are being revisited, the latest example of which is Firestarter from director Keith Thomas and writer Scott Teems. When most horror fans hear that a beloved story is being revisited, the biggest question they have is “why?” Typically, filmmakers will attempt to make narrative or thematic changes to what came before it to help realize untapped potential in the source material, but this latest effort does little to improve upon already-charted territory. This isn’t to say that this new adaptation is meritless, as we’re given a relatively engaging tale with empathetic performances, yet it fails to bring much freshness to the table, leaving it likely only appealing to those who are entirely unaware of previous incarnations of this story.
