Scary Movies: Misery

Misery is a rarity–a top-shelf, major studio produced-horror film, directed by Rob Reiner (!) and starring big stars like James Caan, Catherine Bates, and Lauren Bacall (!). It’s a movie I’ve heard a lot about over the years and wanted to see for a looong time. I don’t know why I haven’t before now, I guess it just never worked out.

One thing I didn’t realize was that Misery is really as much a black comedy as a horror movie. I mean, it’s really funny, at least in parts. I don’t normally think of Stephen King stories as being comedies, at least not intentionally, though both Creepshow and Cat’s Eye had humorous moments, so maybe that’s just my misconception. Anyway, let’s get to the plot.

Paul Sheldon is a famous novelist who spends every winter in an isolated cabin in Silver Creek, Colorado, finishing that year’s novel in his bestselling Misery series, starring Misery Chastain. It’s a little vague what the novels are really about, but they seem to be some kind of formulaic gothic romance. Paul started off writing real literature and would really like to get back to it, so in the latest Misery novel he’s decided to kill off the heroine.

Unfortunately, there’s just been a big blizzard, and the roads are barely passable. His car skids and he drives off the road, his car flipping multiple times. He would almost surely die, except that a mysterious figure emerges in the snow and pulls him out, dragging his body free of the burning car.

When he wakens, he’s in a comfortable bed in a cozy house. His legs are broken and his arm is in a sling, but he’s obviously under somebody’s care. His host soon introduces herself, a plain but sturdily built woman by the name of Annie Wilkes. She says she’s a nurse and it also turns out she’s a big fan of his books–“his number one fan,” she claims.

At first she seems kindly and as if she only wants to help him–she’ll keep him just until the roads are clear from the snowstorm, and then she’ll take him to a hospital. Soon, it becomes clear she actually has something else in mind. Even though days go by, the roads never seem to become passable. Moreover, Annie has read the latest Misery novel and does not like the ending where her favorite heroine dies. She insists that Paul needs to write a new Misery novel correcting his mistake, and brings him a little desk, typewriter, and his favorite writing paper (she knows all the details of how he works from interviews of Paul she’s read).

Understandably, Paul doesn’t want to write a new Misery novel, he wants to leave and return home. He gradually realizes that he doesn’t have a choice–he’s not a guest in Annie’s house, but a prisoner. And when he tries to make an escape one day when Annie’s left to pick up some items in town, a battle of wills commences–one that he’s at a decided disadvantage for, considering his two broken legs.

Both Paul and Annie think that the outside world believes Paul is dead. After all, his totaled car is at the bottom of a nearby hill. But the county sheriff has noticed there is no body, even after an extensive search of the area near the car. And it so happens that he notices how eager Annie is when Paul’s new book appears in the town general store. And he happens to know that Annie has a…checkered legal history, to put it mildly.

Will the sheriff finally put two and two together and find Paul? Will Paul figure out a way to escape Annie’s clutches? Or will he be forced to finish a new novel bringing Misery back to life…after which maybe Annie will release him? While all these are possibilities, and I don’t want to give too much away, I will say the actual way things turn out are not what I expected.

Misery (1990)
Story/Plot/Characters— Paul and Annie are both fully rounded characters, James Caan’s and Catherine Bates’s acting is exceptional, the plot is tight and the script sharp. Maybe just a notch off as the dogged sheriff and his sarcastic secretary and loyal wife are a bit cliched, though the execution is top-notch. (3.5 points)
Special Effects— Not particularly a special effects movie, but what few effects as are in the movie are highly effective.. (1 point)
Scariness— A tense scenario that gets weirder and more twisted the further we get into the movie. (2 points)
Atmosphere/Freakiness— What appears at first to be a cozy little cabin in the woods turns out to be anything but, as Paul gradually discovers that Annie is far from the caring, dedicated nurse she pretends to be. (1.5 points)
Total=8 points (Best Horror Movies Ever)

A movie I’ve long heard acclaim for, and after watching it, I agree that the acclaim is fully deserved. Pitch-perfect mix of horror and black comedy, with Stephen King’s air-tight story providing the basis for a script with far sharper dialogue and timing than one usually finds in the horror genre. Second only to the The Shining in the ranks of King movie adaptations.