Day 8: Misery

     It's embarrassing to me that I'm running a blog where I predominantly talk about horror films and that I'm just getting around to seeing this. Needless to say, after watching B movie after B movie it's pretty easy to invest emotionally into a major production that many consider a classic. Misery did not disappoint.

     Paul Sheldon is the author of a series of romance novels focused on a female character named Misery. Wanting to move on to different work, Paul has written a draft for a brand new novel. When taking a trip back to his home, Paul is caught in a blizzard and drives his car off the road. Paul is discovered by Annie Wilkes, who brings him back to her home and nurses him back to health though both of his legs are severely broken. Annie claims to be Paul's number 1 fan, but she shows signs of instability. Annie reads Paul's latest book and discovers that he has killed off the Misery character. Enraged, Annie forces the crippled Paul to write a new book keeping Misery alive. Paul must now play along in order to stay alive.

     Misery is as deliberately paced as you would expect any film about a crippled man trapped in a house would be. But the slow pacing does nothing to take away from the tension. Each scene slowly builds and builds the tension within the house until everything explodes in one of the better climactic confrontations you can expect from these types of thrillers.

    The acting is exceptional across the board. Kathy Bates' (who I recognize from The Office) performance launches Annie Wilkes into the stratosphere of most frightening horror characters ever in cinema. She deservedly won an Oscar for her work on this film. James Caan's portrayal of the talented author is very believable. Because of how well the two play off of each other it becomes near impossible not to empathize with Caan. The final scene revealing that he may never escape the fear of Annie is perhaps more haunting than his actual predicament.

    Misery is an extremely effective horror-thriller boosted by strong performances and great direction. There are even surprising scenes of gore so even the gorehounds can quench their thirst as well. Most people reading this review have probably already seen it. But if you haven't, make sure you look into this one.

Body Count: 2
Side note: Will I ever be able to look at Jo Bennett the same again?