Misery (1990)

Plot: Paul (James Caan) is a writer who's famous for his successful series of novels featuring a character named Misery. Wanting to branch out, he writes a new manuscript. While leaving a cottage in a snow storm, his car goes off the road. He's rescued by a nurse, Annie (Kathy Bates), who brings him to her remote home. Annie claims to be his number one fan. He allows her to read his new novel, but she is upset by the swearing content in the novel. She later shows unusual behavior, including a scene where she goes in a complete rage when she says Paul killed Misery. She makes him burn his manuscript and forces him to write a new novel, Misery's Return, where the famed character comes back to life. Meanwhile, a local sheriff (Richard Farnsworth) looks into Paul's disappearance. But will Paul be rescued?

Review: This is one of many adaptations of Stephen King's novels. I like Stephen King and I've seen many of his adaptations but this is one of my personal favorites and without a doubt in the top 5 of the best adaptations.

What I really like about the plot is that it works well with creating the psychological horror. We have moments of suspense and horror that build up the tension. There are so many horror films that use blood and gore, hoping to make the film scary. This film is scary throughout and uses psychological scares so well. Another aspect of the film's plot that I enjoy is that it has a good balance of humor and horror. There's one scene that will scare you and just moments later you'll be laughing. Some of the humor is absurd, like a scene with a pig named Misery (after the character). But this absurd humor works well for this kind of movie.

The acting is very good. James Caan is very good as Paul, our suffering hero. What I like about Paul and James' portrayal is that he doesn't play dumb. He knows something isn't right in the situation and he does what he can to help himself, even though Annie remains one step ahead of him for the most part. He's resourceful and even though it comes back to haunt him when Annie finds out, it still works. But the true star of the movie is Kathy Bates. I cannot emphasize how great she is in this movie. Her ability to go from a nice lady to a complete psychotic in just seconds is fantastic to watch. Her ability to show vulnerability in such a crazy character and I actually do feel bad for her for some parts of the movie. Kathy Bates provides some good laughs and some good scares in her performance. She won the Oscar for Best Actress for her performance and it was well deserved.

This is a scary, entertaining and suspenseful horror film which is one of my favorite Stephen King adaptations.

Rating: 4/5