Did we really need a new take of Stephen King ’s 1980 novel Firestarter ? The 1984 movie starring Drew Barrymore was reasonably compelling in that way that most early King movies were, if not particularly exceptional or memorable. (Aside from the highly unfortunate “red-face” casting of George C. Scott as a Native American government hit man, which, yikes!) And some may remember that John Carpenter had originally been set to direct that first adaptation of King’s story about a young girl with a penchant for psychokinetic pyrotechnics, yet was removed from the project thanks to the underperformance of The Thing. (The job eventually went to Mark L. Lester.) So, the good news first: You could look at Carpenter’s inclusion in this version — he composed an original score, along with his son Cody Carpenter and Daniel Davis — as some sort of act of contrition for that earlier act of blasphemy. As for the bad news? See: the rest of the movie. The story remains the same. Andy McGee … [Read more...] about ‘Firestarter’ Isn’t a Stephen King Movie. It’s a Four-Alarm Disaster