Misery (film): The only Oscar-winning King film
When we think of Stephen King adaptations, and there are a lot of them, a great many winners and duds come to mind. Misery, I would imagine, was kind of a surprise hit seeing as how nearly the entire film takes place in one house.
I actually read this book a bit before the film was made. I blame this on the fact that my parents would take us (force us) to spend a few days a week in the library (thanks for that mom and dad, even though I didn't appreciate it at the time.) Misery was a gripping novel, and a terrifying movie.
The story is about a famous romance author named Paul Sheldon (James Caan) who after a car accident ends up in the care of Annie Wilks (Kathy Bates) who happens to be a local nurse. One other side-effect of her finding him is that she also happens to be a massive fan of his series of books, but she doesn't realize that he actually intends to transition to more serious writing and has the manuscript of his latest book in the car with him.
Upon reading the draft, Annie becomes enraged that Paul Sheldon is killing off her favorite character named Misery Chastain in the book that is yet to be published. She tells Paul that no one knows where he is, forces him to burn the manuscript, and get working on another one where her favorite character doesn't die.
Like most of my write-ups, I am not doing a great job of making this movie sound captivating. Well, it is and you should definitely see it. It is very highly regarded in the horror genre and despite the fact that Stephen King is responsible for both The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile, this is the only Academy Award that has ever been given to any King film. Kathy Bates received the Best Actress award in 1990 for her chilling portrayal of Annie Wilkes.
I am not going to spoil anything, but for those of you out there that have already seen the film, the "Hobbling" scene is currently ranked as the 12th most terrifying moment in horror films, ever.
Overall I would say that this movie does take a bit of patience, because it takes about 30 minutes for any action to take place in the movie. However, like most things in life that are nice, it is worth waiting for. They somehow managed to spend $20 million making this, presumably on salaries for the most part. They ended up tripling their money at the box office.
Great review dude, I’m a huge Stephen king fan - personally I preferred the book to the film but I will always watch a King film. The recent one of Gerald’s game was real good. Christine probably my favourite, along with Carrie.
Again, I though the book IT was better than the film, did you?
I’m hoping a remake of pet cemetery or Salem’s lot comes out in near future 😀
I may add Annie wilks character does get crazy and what a performance
@sunsethunter - My favorite part of Pet Sematary is the Ramones song from the credits. King was a huge fan of their music, so he asked them to write the song specifically for the movie.
Yea that’s so awesome isn’t it 😀 the Ramones are great, and the song is perfect! Love it :) thanks for reminding me, listening to the tune right now! 😀🤘
Sweet! I always wondered why cemetery is spelled incorrectly in the title as well. I probably used to know at some point but forgot..
Yea it’s because in the book the kids that wrote the sign misspelled it so he had it for the title! Kings super smart man, and what an imagination that dude has! Amazing! Im so glad you reminded me of the ramones song haha I hadn’t heard it in ages and almost forgot about it 😀
that is exactly right (about the spelling i mean) and it was a fantastic was to market the book (and film)
Yeah, that song is the jam. And thanks for the trivia, now that you mention it, I do remember being told this before but it was years ago. I am pretty weak when it comes to reading books so I wouldn't have gotten it from reading the novel.
It is something that I get annoyed with myself about. I buy piles of books but can't read them because it takes me all day to get through a chapter. I don't know what it is! I always fall asleep when I try to read a book. I can read text online just fine, though. I suppose it is the light.
Yea to be honest I am the same with books, it’s why I pretty much only read horrors as I can get engaged! Recently I sadly use my phone before I go to sleep but reading for 30mins is much more beneficial... unless it gets super scary haha!
Yes, keeping in mind that I was much younger in the 80's and we didn't have entertainment on tap the way we do now i spent a lot of time with my nose in King novels, some of which gave me nightmares. Most notable was Pet Semetary - which actually caused problems with my sleep schedule as a kid because of nightmares. I can't say for certain, but I think IT was too daunting a read for me since it was like a billion pages long. I may have started that one but libraries only let you check books out for 2 weeks at a time, so it is highly unlikely that i finished it.
Yes for sure, IT is massive, I read it not too long ago actually. My dad had a large Stephen king book collection when I was younger and IT was the one that stood out and scared the crap outta me! I had nightmares from the front cover haha. Either way, I’ve always had a fascination with horror and will only read horror books, and 75% of films I watch are horrors :)
Annie Wilkes is one of those characters that you really hate, believe me when I saw the movie I was waiting for the moment that Paul gave to her what she really deserved. hehehe
"Oh, you bought the wrong paper, Annie, I can't write on this paper, Annie!" Well, I'll get your stupid paper but you just better start showing me a little appreciation around here, Mr. MAN!
I don't know why King movies are always so terrible when the stories are so great; but Misery was definitely the exception! That gave me some serious nightmares.
terrifying. I haven't seen this movie in years. Might have to remedy that situation this afternoon :)
Definitely a classic, and the best King movie for me. Annie must be one of the best villains in movie history. It is one of my favorite movies in this genre, and it is one of the best adaptations that have been made. I also read the book, but in my case, it was after watching the movie.
Ms Bates really steals the show in this, shes awesome.
I totally would have thought shawshank redemption would have won oscar but nope you are right.
Is this movie dubbed in hindi or subtittle then i watch,i
am from india.
If you tell that the movie has won Oscars, then obviously the expectations(for who haven't watched) becomes high! but if you are giving a rating of 7 that would be an average movie for sure. I liked the thorough review. keep up with good content.