Misery (1990): Favourite Films Series

 
Misery (1990): Favourite Films Series

Over the course of my Stephen King-athon, there was one movie that I kept mentioning, but avoided reviewing, because I knew I wanted to end the month of reviews on a high note, and for me, there’s no higher note in the library of horror movies based on one of King’s novels than Misery. 

The premise is deceptively simple. A famous writer, Paul Sheldon (James Caan) goes up to a secluded lodge in the mountains to finish his latest novel, which is a departure from the work he’s most famous for: a romance series about a character named Misery (a name which, as you could guess, quickly becomes ironic) whom he killed off in his previous novel, to avoid writing about her forever. 

On his way down from the lodge he gets caught in a snowstorm, crashes his car, and is rescued by Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates), a woman who lives alone in a remote home on a farm. She just happens to be a former nurse, and Paul’s number one fan, and is insane. After reading the latest Misery novel and discovering he killed her off, she intends for him to stay at her house forever, and continue writing about Misery. With two injured legs and no apparent way of escape, Paul has little choice but to go with it. As he heals up and starts plotting ways of escaping or killing her, Annie becomes more mentally unstable, and his chances of survival grow ever slimmer. 

I’m going to talk about this movie as if you the reader have seen it, so if you haven’t seen Misery, stop reading and go watch it, because I can’t recommend it enough. It’s one of the most intense, frightening, and simply entertaining horror movies I’ve ever seen. Spoilers from here on out. 

The first time I watched Misery was on TV, and I didn’t tune in until the moment when Annie puts Paul’s manuscript on the barbeque and gets him to burn it. Even though this is well into the film, I was able to fill in the blanks and continue watching and enjoying. As someone who has always been interested in writing and the fandom surrounding writing, the premise instantly hooked me. 

When I bought the DVD and re-watched it, I was none too surprised to find the first act is as good as the rest of the movie. It starts out with a short intro to Paul Sheldon that gives you the essentials to understand him, then before the opening credits are even over, you’re already on the edge of your seat from witnessing his car crash. The story slows down after this burst of action, but it never gets boring, it just slowly ramps up with intensity. 

I’ve watched this movie many times, and though I can never see it again with that initial shock and uncertainty of what will ultimately happen to Paul and Annie, I still find it a tense, thrilling watch, and everything about it works for me. There’s not a single weak element to it. But what makes Misery so great, and so scary? As I said, the concept is straight-forward—it’s one of those ideas that once someone writes something about it or makes a movie about it, everyone else goes, “Oh, why didn’t we think of that?”—but the ideas are really frightening: being held against ones will, being forced to do something you don’t want to, being cared for by an insane person, being isolated from the rest of the world, just to name a few. Ultimately it’s the execution of the story all these ideas are wrapped up in that’s so perfect. 

But story aside, what is so good about it? The music isn’t outstanding but it gets the job done, making specific scenes more tense or giving them a distinct feel. The house is confining and claustrophobic, yet the exterior shots of the cold winter landscape make it feel sort of cozy inside, despite the house being Paul’s prison. The camera work and direction by Rob Reiner keeps the single-setting from getting boring or stale, the pacing is excellent, the escalation of intensity perfect…I could go on. But the three main things that make this movie so exceptional, to me, is 1) the overall concept, as I’ve already covered, 2) the acting/characters, and 3) the effective (albeit few) “horror scenes” in what is otherwise a thriller.

To date, this is the only movie based on one of Stephen King’s novels to win an Academy Award. Others have been nominated, but never won. Kathy Bates won Best Actress for her role as Annie Wilkes, which is still her most well-known role (the one that launched her to stardom) and I still think it’s her best. Sometimes playing a crazy person, especially one of this magnitude, can be tricky. Some actors undercook their performance and don’t sell viewers on their craziness, others overcook it and become too over-the-top and impossible to believe. Bates finds that balance, and is able to make that oh-so-disturbing turn from seeming sweet and kind one second then turning dark and angry the next. 

Though Bates is incredible, and absolutely deserves all the praise, it’s easy to forget how good James Caan is too, as well as the other supporting characters, like the literary agent, the sheriff, and the sheriff’s wife. Bates and Caan have excellent chemistry together, and the final physical clash between them is an acting spectacle. I can’t help but half-grin-half-cringe as Caan slams Bates’ head repeatedly on the floor and then shoves burnt pages of his book into her mouth.      

This is another case, like The Shining, where both the novel and the movie are excellent, but unlike The Shining, with the movie and novel being quite different, Misery the novel was like an expansion on the movie for me when I read it afterwards. There were small moments I noticed upon repeat viewings altered from the source material, but altered in brilliant ways. 

In the novel, there’s extensive explanation that Paul’s new book he wrote at the lodge was about kids and cars and crime. In the movie, Annie asks him what his new book is about, to which he simply responds, “I don’t know.” It works so much better than having an extensive explanation, and shows his mindset about the new project. Springing off that, in Misery the novel it’s explained he studied picking locks for research on his new book, and that’s why he’s able to pick the lock of the bedroom door and get out. In the movie, he still picks the lock, but responds excitedly, saying he didn’t know that it actually worked. Again, a change for the better—one that makes for a funny little moment, and doesn’t require extensive explaining. 

But I can’t conclude this review without talking about the most horrific and shocking scene of all, the hobbling scene. In the book, it’s actually even more violent and disturbing, with Annie fully chopping off one of his feet and cauterizing the stump. It’s written in agonizing detail, but had it been done in the movie that way, it may have been too cheesy or too brutal. What ended up in the movie was nearly as bad. It’s a super-violent act, and may be the grossest mutilation I’ve seen in a movie that doesn’t involve massive amounts of blood. In fact, this whole movie is mostly bloodless, and yet still sickening. Seeing Paul’s foot snap to the side as Annie hits it with a sledgehammer is not only sadistically creative, but extremely painful to watch. James Caan sells it completely. 

Misery is right up there as one of the best of all the Stephen King movie adaptations, and is one of my all-time favourite horror movies. It’s shocking and brutal at points, psychologically haunting throughout, but also has a darkly comic streak (the two moments that always make me laugh are when Paul types “fuck” repeatedly when he first tries to write Misery’s return, and when he gives Annie the middle finger through the window after the hobbling scene). Most often, the greatness of a movie comes down to its story, and this one is, in a word, great.