Adaptations

This list may revive the long lived argument; which was better, the book or the film? 

1. Horns; Alexandre Aja Click here to see trailer

This was the film starring Daniel Radcliffe I had been waiting for since Harry Potter. This bizarre murder mystery, written by Joe Hill, will have you laughing, crying, and romanticizing as a recently single man is also blamed for the murder of his ex-girlfriend (Juno Temple). Not only this, but he awakes one morning to discover he is growing a pair of horns, suspiciously like the devil, which forces anyone around him to spill their secret thoughts. 

2. Filth; Jon S. Baird Click here to see trailer

A drug addicted and downright filthy cop Bruce Robertson (James McAvoy) begins to decline in health, having serious and bizarre hallucinations as he tries to solve the murder of a young Japanese student. His social and sexual problems might be attributed to something far more bizarre though - with a huge plot twist and a twisted sense of humour, this film had it all. Based on the novel by Irvine Welsh, the same writer as Trainspotting. 

3. A Christmas Carol; Robert Zemeckis Click here to see trailer

This classic story by Charles Dickens has been told time and time again, but never quite this well. Miserable old Scrooge watches on as his employees and family eagerly await the magic of Christmas, while he despises every second of the music, the decorations and the food. Scrooge is visited in the middle of the night by three ghosts of his past, present, and future, and is forced into the realisation that he is wasting his life being grumpy. This film is magical, scary, and beautiful - some parts of the graphics are so detailed that you wouldn't believe it is animated. 

4. The Lovely Bones; Peter Jackson Click here to see trailer

Based on the novel by Alice Sebold this is one of the few films which did the book justice. This fantasy-crime-thriller-romance, will have you on the edge of your seat with stunning graphics and emotive performances. Young girl Susie Salmon (Saoirse Ronan) is brutally murdered by her neighbour (Stanley Tucci). She watches from heaven as her family and friends grapple with the loss of a sweet girl. Susie also needs to decide whether to let them go and venture beyond, or to stay and watch their daily lives and feed her thirst for revenge. 

5. The Da Vinci Code; Ron Howard Click here to see trailer

This book and film are now infamous for leading a generation of middle aged readers to believe in the conspiracy of the Da Vinci code, written by Dan Brown. Although the film was painfully long and boring in parts, it is still a classic murder mystery. A murder in a Paris museum leads to a series of cryptic clues in some of Leonardo da Vinci's most famous paintings. These clues not only solve a murder, but a 2000 year old religious mystery. 

6. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas; Mark Herman Click here to see trailer

No film could quite grasp the horrors of the holocaust, but this one nearly does by using the naivety and innocence of war seen through a child's eyes, based on the novel by John Boyne. During this terrible time, 8 year old Brune (Asa Butterfield) and his family are forced by their commandant father to move out out of Berlin. Lonely and bored Bruno begins exploring his new backyard and stumbles upon a boy in striped pajamas, behind a huge barbed wire cage. 

7. Serena; Susanne Bier Click here to see trailer

Another great example of this dynamic acting duo leaving audiences weeping or cheering. This film, based on the novel by Ron Rash, is set in the depression-era North Carolina and follows newlyweds Serena and George (Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper) run their tree felling business. Yet the Serena is plagued by mental illness, the inability to birth a child, and jealousy of George's ex-wife and son. 

8. The Secret Garden; Agnieszka Holland Click here to see trailer

This is one of my childhood favourites, and another one of the few films which can positively be compared to the original book by Frances Hodgson Burnett. When pouty and spoiled girl Mary Lennox (Kate Maberly) is orphaned, she is shipped to the English countryside to live in a mysterious and dark mansion. She begins discovering secrets not only about the house, but of her family.