The movie "Firestarter" was based on King's novel "Firestarter" which was first published in July 1980 as a limited edition hardcover by Phantasia Press. They were two versions of this edition of the book - 26 lettered copies with asbestos cover and 725 copies signed and numbered with dust jacket artwork done by Michael Whelan. The limited edition preceeded mass market Viking hardcover edition by two months. This was the first time a Stephen King's book was published as a limited edition. This was also the first collaboration between Stephen King and Michael Whelan, who did the artwork for King's book.

Drew Barrymore plays Charlie McGee the young daughter of Andrew (David Keith) and Vicky (Heather Locklear) McGee, who years earlier had been guinea pigs for a top secret experiment. As a result, Charlie has acquired the unenviable ability to start fires simply by thinking about fires. Charlie is pursued over hill and dale by The Shop, a secret government organization bent upon using her skills for nefarious purposes. The special effects are undeniably startling, even when the script and dialogue are straight out of the funny papers (it's hard to keep a straight face during the New York Times final shot!) The high-priced cast—including George C. Scott, Art Carney, Louise Fletcher—seems to be having a grand ole time.

It would be foolish to suggest that working in two straight movies inspired by Stephen King novels, Firestarter and Cat's Eye, would afflict Drew Barrymore with the kind of curse that King himself might have written about. But there's an odd real-world corollary to watching the disturbed preteen light fires with her mind, as Barrymore's own tumultuous world was about to be engulfed by drug and alcohol abuse at barely ten years old.

Firestarter Director Mark L. Lester

Subtexts aside, Mark Lester's Firestarter is an effective and ominous enough horror story, complete with a final sequence that will be hard for equestrian enthusiasts to watch. As David Keith's Andrew McGee makes a one dollar bill look like a 20, a mental strain that erupts into a bloody nose, all so he can hoodwink a ride out of a cabbie, it suggests interesting things about the telekinetic abilities of this unique family. More strikingly, the film deals with the infant child's inability and unwillingness to control her awful power. If you thought toilet-training a child was hard, just imagine trying to keep her from burning down the house. Where Firestarter starts to turn into a little bit of a joke is its production design, which is hilariously under-budgeted for several key sequences — perhaps all the money did go to the impressive cast. Still, it makes a decent addition to the King film library.