Misery (1990) | 31 Days of Horror: Oct 30

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If my number one fan is reading this, I’m doing just fine without you.

Misery is yet another film based on a Stephen King novel. It’s not the first but it certainly is one of the best featuring an Academy Award winning villain and enough tension to snap your ankles.

Before Viewing

Writer Paul Sheldon has been in a horrible car accident one winter when his number one fan Annie finds him and nurses him back to health. When she finds out he has killed her favorite character, Misery Chastain, she goes a little nuts. How can Paul escape with two broken legs and a number of other injuries. The trailer ends with Annie putting a block of wood between his ankles and raising a sledgehammer. This Stephen King adaptation will leave you in Misery.

Presented below is the trailer for the film.

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After Viewing

At the Silver Creek Lodge in Silver Creek, Colorado, novelist Paul Sheldon (James Caan) finishes his latest manuscript and celebrates as he always does by smoking one cigarette and having a glass of Dom Perignon champagne. He leaves during a blizzard, and while driving down the twisty road he loses control of his car and crashes. Someone finds the wreck soon after, pries the door open, drags the battered writer out of the car, and drives away with him. A flashback shows Paul in his hometown of New York, meeting with his agent, Marcia Sindell (Lauren Bacall) about his upcoming work. He has just published his final Misery Chastain book, killing his popular heroine off, and is eager to try something new.

Two days later he awakens in a small farmhouse off the beaten path to meet his rescuer and caregiver, Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates). She is a nurse and also his number one fan. She explains that the blizzard knocked out the phone lines and closed the roads, which is why he’s convalescing at her house, rather than in a hospital. He has a dislocated shoulder and two broken legs, and she promises to take care of him until he can leave. Marcia calls the local sheriff, Buster (Richard Farnsworth) to report Paul missing.

Being such a big fan is the reason that Annie was able to find Paul. She knows about his rituals and was observing the Lodge when she saw him leave. He thanks her, and when she asks to read his new manuscript, he agrees–hoping she might give it a title. She is most concerned with the swearing in the new book. So much so that she turns from a grateful fan into an obnoxious loudmouth. Later she returns home with Misery’s Child, the most recent book. Paul wonders about the roads, and Annie says that only the one into town is working, and her phone is still out.

After reading the new book, Annie confronts Paul. She’s not happy that he killed off her favorite character Misery, not happy at all. She forces him to burn his newest manuscript so that he can concentrate on writing a new Misery novel, where he brings the character back to life. She also admits that no one knows he’s here. Annie buys him the best typing paper, but he shows her how it’s no good–it smudges. She flips out at how needy he is and heads into town to get a different kind. While she’s away he sneaks out of his room and discovers the telephone is only a shell and steals some more pain medication before getting back into the room in time.

Paul bides his time, hiding the pain pills Annie gives him. After she reads the first few chapters of the new book, she claims it’s a cheat and tells him to start over. He does and after a successful reworking invites her to dinner where he plans to drug her with the stockpiled medication. Unfortunately she spills the wine which he put the drugs in and must continue writing. As Paul writes, he works out using the heavy typewriter as a weight. She realizes he’s been out of the room however. Annie drugs him and places a piece of wood between his ankles before smashing his feet with a sledgehammer.

Buster, having ideas that Paul is not dead, follows a series of clues that leads him to Annie’s house. Annie drugs Paul and puts him in the basement. But a noise from him alerts the sheriff who is distracted and killed by Annie with a shotgun. Annie has two bullets left in her handgun for both of them. Paul offers to finish the new book so Misery can live forever. He holds the final chapter answering all Annie’s questions, and then burns it and the remainder of the manuscript. Annie attacks him, shooting him in the shoulder, but Paul retaliates. He manages to knock her out and she falls striking her head on the typewriter. Eighteen months later Paul is lunching with Marcia on his successful new book. He sees Annie coming towards the table, but it’s only a hallucination. Paul claims he still thinks about her once in a while.

“I thought you were good Paul, but you’re not good. You’re just another lying ol’ dirty birdy.” – Annie

Misery was a turning point for many involved with it. The film was not the first adaptation of a Stephen King novel, but it was one of the most successful. Fan’s of King’s work still enjoy the first film adapted from his work, Carrie. The Shining is also an extremely popular and well loved adaptation, even though it deviates from the source material. In between these hits were at least nine other films based on King’s work that held modest success including Cujo, Firestarter, The Dead Zone, and Pet Sematary. Misery became both a fan favorite and a critical success. It was the second adaptation of a King story by actor/director Rob Reiner. Known mostly for comedies like This Is Spinal Tap, and When Harry Met Sally… he brought Stand By Me to screens in 1986 which is based on the short story “The Body.” That and this film allowed him to branch into more serious films like A Few Good Men and Ghosts of Mississippi.

It also was a life and career changing film for Kathy Bates. She was a working stage actress with a couple of film credits to her name when writer William Goldman recommended her for the iconic part. Her portrayal of the frumpy Annie starts as a curious examination of fan entitlement but that soon changes. She begins to let her facade slip away as she becomes more and more unhinged by the weirdest and littlest things. She flies off the handle when Paul corrects her usage of “chapter plays” by calling them “cliffhangers.” She also loses her tenuous grip on reality when Paul tells her he can’t use the “most expensive” paper she bought. Hers cost the most, so how can it smudge, she asks. He demonstrates and she blows a gasket! These are just the first moments that Bates uses to showcase what a nutjob this character is. Her portrayal is nuanced and heartfelt, inviting the audience to be scared of, and also pity this poor woman. For her efforts she received an Oscar for Best Actress. It was the first time an actress was awarded an Oscar for a horror or thriller film. The following year both Best Actor and Best Actress would go to Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster for horror/thriller The Silence of the Lambs.

Of course, Bates’ performance would be nothing if not for James Caan’s reaction to her. His passive acting as Paul helps sell the horrific, smothering actions that Annie has towards her favorite author. He provides the audience with examples of what a viewer might do in a similar situation. Who hasn’t been trapped in line, or an elevator, with someone equally annoying? Hopefully it was not a person that wanted to kill you. As he discovers each new piece of information about her, from the phone that has no working parts, to the disturbing scrapbook that keeps track of all the people she killed through news clippings of the obituaries, the audience (as well as the character) realizes he’s in way deeper than anyone might have expected.

And when things seem to start going Paul’s way, King, Goldman, and Reiner pull the rug out from under the audience. In what is one of the most chilling and disturbing moments in any horror film, Annie begins to place a block of wood between Paul’s ankles while he is tied to the bed. She tells the story of corrective measures used against diamond miners, which would allow them to work, but keep them from running away. As she tells the story, the audience begins to realize what is about to happen, as does Paul. But there’s nothing anyone can do to stop her. The first ankle is shown taking a hit from the sledgehammer. After that, Caan’s expression sells the second smack. The viewer can feel the pain from blows, as Paul is successfully hobbled.

Misery is an effective thriller as any of Alfred Hitchcock’s best work. The limited cast and setting provides a claustrophobic feel which forces the audiences to think about what they might do in a similar situation. But it also provides extreme anxiety and tension, since the protagonist is unable to escape or defend himself in any way. Kathy Bates would return to the world of Stephen King with a small role in the TV miniseries The Stand, and the 1995 adaptation of Dolores Claiborne, but no appearance of hers has yet topped her iconic turn as the insane Annie Wilkes.

Assorted Musings

• Season 2 of the Castle Rock television series on Hulu serves as a prequel to Misery and Annie Wilkes’ story.
• Annie is such a big Liberace fan she has candid photos around the home, including one by the “phone.”
• Director Rob Reiner cameos as the helicopter pilot. In the thirty years of viewing this is the first time I noticed him in this role, as it does not look like him.