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Stephen King fanboying over a Marvel bad boy was not on our 2024 bingo card, but we’re oddly here for it

And it's not for one of the actor's more horror-tinged turns either.

Stephen King next to a blacked-out Jake Gyllenhaal
Photos by Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images and Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images for Disney

Stephen King may be known for his Netflix recommendations (and for his horror novels too, I guess), but the author’s eye for media doesn’t discriminate. Indeed, he’s more than happy to point us all in the right direction on Prime Video too.

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And while it doesn’t look like he’ll be sounding any gong as loudly as he did with Baby Reindeer, the Carrie mastermind seems to have had a similar reaction to the Jake Gyllenhaal-led Road House film not too long ago; vague, blunt, and above all indicative that King is giving this one two thumbs up, and would give three if he could.

It may not have exactly flown in the eyes of critics, but it’s also not hard to see why Stephen King took such a liking to the film, mostly because it’s right there in the tweet; Jake Gyllenhaal. Indeed, while it’s likely that King named the lead actor to differentiate it from the original 1989 Patrick Swayze-led film, the mirthful watchability of Gyllenhaal as Elwood Dalton was undoubtedly the best part of Road House, and is perhaps the very reason that King should, in fact, have to say no more.

Besides, if he did say more, he’d probably have to mention the frail dialogue and the fact that, as a remake, Road House makes no sense; with more or less everything changed from the original, one can’t help but wonder why Road House didn’t style itself as an original movie, because shackling itself even mildly to the Patrick Swayze flick certainly did it no favors.

Road House is available to stream on Prime Video.