Film

Firestarter

Name: Firestarter
Genre: Horror, Science Fiction, Thriller
Released: 1984
Cast: Drew Barrymore, David Keith, Freddie Jones, Heather Locklear, Martin Sheen

Other titles called Firestarter: the 2022 film.

A young girl with pyrokinetic powers becomes a hunted target when a shadowy government agency learns of her abilities. Firestarter is a Stephen King adaptation that trades subtlety for spectacle—big moments, big stakes, and a child protagonist in genuine danger. It's best watched as a thriller rather than horror, carried by Drew Barrymore's unsettling performance and George C. Scott's menacing presence.

TMDb rating

3.2

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you enjoy stubbornly old-fashioned thrillers where a child's frightening gift becomes a family drama, with a paranoid agency hunt running underneath and practical effects doing the work.

Skip it if you find the early 80s synth score, stiff pacing and effects that can look dated hard to forgive, since the film spends a lot of time on talk before the sparks fly.

What it asks of you: At 114 minutes it moves in long, deliberate stretches of interviews and pursuit, so it asks for patience more than a quick jolt of fright.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

The Fury1978

Brian De Palma's underrated telekinesis thriller has the same paranoid energy and government conspiracy dread as Firestarter, but with more visual invention. Genuinely tense and often beautiful.

But It's more cerebral and less action-driven than you might expect, and the pacing can feel glacial by modern standards.

Carrie1976

The definitive Stephen King adaptation about a persecuted young person with destructive powers. De Palma's direction elevates it beyond the source material; every frame crackles with precision and dread.

But If you've seen it recently, you know exactly where it goes. The finale hasn't aged as cinematically as the setup.

Scanners1981

David Cronenberg's body-horror thriller about psychic powers weaponised by corporations captures the paranoia and bodily violation that Firestarter reaches for. A cult classic with practical effects that still unsettle.

But The plot is deliberately convoluted and some performances are theatrical to the point of distraction. The exploding head is famous for a reason—not everyone's appetite for gore.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Firestarter

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Giver2014

Both explore how societies respond to children who embody power they cannot control—but one treats it as a thriller, the other as a moral reckoning.

A young person with extraordinary perception becomes a threat to an authoritarian system designed to suppress difference and individuality. Like Firestarter, it's about a child's power as both gift and curse, but filtered through dystopian sci-fi rather than paranoia thriller. Quieter, more philosophical, but structurally kindred.

But It's a young adult adaptation that doesn't hide its origins. The pacing is contemplative where Firestarter is propulsive, and some will find it too earnest.

The Hidden1987

A taut sci-fi thriller about an alien entity hunted by authorities and the unlikely partnership formed to stop it. Fast-paced, inventive, and genuinely fun without sacrificing tension.

But The premise sounds silly if you describe it aloud, and the second half leans more into action than atmosphere. Some effects look their age.

Videodrome1983

Cronenberg again, but here exploring what happens when technology and bodily autonomy collide. Hallucinatory, transgressive, and deeply unsettling in ways that linger long after Firestarter's plot mechanics fade.

But It's deliberately difficult and obscure. If you're looking for clarity or a straightforward narrative, this will frustrate you intensely.

Twixt2011

Francis Ford Coppola's odd, dreamy film about a writer and a spectral child in a haunted town. Visually adventurous and genuinely eerie, with a melancholic core that most thrillers ignore.

But It's been widely dismissed as a failure. The pacing is deliberately slow and the narrative ambiguous. Not what you'd call crowd-pleasing.

Lifeforce1985

Tobe Hooper's bonkers space vampire film has the same earnest ambition as Firestarter—big ideas, government conspiracies, bodies as battlegrounds. Gloriously, unrepentantly excessive.

But The excess is the whole point, which means it's either your kind of fun or it's a slog. The plot barely holds together and the science is nonsense.

The Keep1983

Michael Mann's atmospheric supernatural thriller set in a Nazi fortress. Visually stunning, genuinely strange, and built on genuine unease rather than jump scares or spectacle.

But It's slow, cryptic, and deliberately obscure. If you need explanations and clear motivations, you'll feel lost and frustrated.

Phase IV1974

An avant-garde science fiction film about ants developing a collective intelligence. Weird, experimental, and deeply unsettling in a way that mainstream sci-fi thrillers rarely attempt.

But It's deeply strange and offers almost no conventional narrative satisfaction. Some will find it pretentious; others will find it incomprehensible.

Phantom of the Paradise1974

Both are 1970s-80s thrillers where the child or marked person is pursued by a system, but one treats power as performance and corruption as inevitable, while the other treats it as survival.

Brian De Palma's operatic rock horror-musical is genre-blending audacity: part Faust retelling, part rock fever dream, entirely excessive. It has Firestarter's love of spectacle and body horror but approaches both as art rather than threat.

But It's wildly uneven, very much of its era, and deliberately campy. If you need consistent tone and emotional coherence, this will feel like a mess.

A Tale of Two Sisters2003

Both feature young people with extraordinary agency in terrible situations, but where Firestarter runs toward external threats, this one spirals inward into the family system itself.

A South Korean horror film where two sisters return home and reality fractures around them. It's visually lush, deeply unsettling, and operates on psychological dread rather than action. The threat is internal and emotional, not external and governmental.

But It's deliberately ambiguous about what's real and what's trauma manifestation. If you need clarity, you will feel cheated. The horror is slow-burn and requires patience.