Movie

Misery (1990)

This adaptation of Stephen King’s novel earned Kathy Bates an Academy Award for her portrayal, which took obsessed fandom to a new level. It’s essentially a “can he escape?” story with the main character trapped in a remote house with the villainess. The movie captures the claustrophobic feel, with limited locations and camera angles from the captive’s point of view.

As the film begins, Paul Sheldon (James Caan), author of the popular Misery romance series, finishes an untitled manuscript and travels from Colorado to New York. Perhaps he should have waited for the blizzard to pass. Instead, he winds up in an accident and loses consciousness.

When Paul comes to, he has serious leg injuries and is under the care of Annie Wilkes, a former nurse who lives alone on a farm. Paul is grateful for Annie’s help, but things become tense when his rescuer shows a deeply religious attitude towards profanity. She’s also named her pig after the Misery character – think she might be crazy? Paul figures as much, and since Annie reads the unpublished work, maybe he ought to be worried he’s killed off the fictional hero she adores so much.

Yeah, Annie doesn’t take that well at all. In fact, she screams abuse at Paul – in a brilliantly insane and scary way – and revels in her deception that she never phoned for help. The victim tries to escape, but can only crawl a short distance, and the locked door is a seemingly impassable obstacle. To ensure Paul stays focused (at God’s behest, apparently), Annie has him burn his manuscript on a portable barbecue.

Paul’s agent (Lauren Bacall) is now concerned and asks the local sheriff to search for the missing writer. His investigation becomes a subplot that unfolds in parallel. After initial questions turn up no leads, the authorities locate the car wreckage and assume the worst, but the sheriff doesn’t believe Paul is dead. Still trapped with the deranged Annie, help from the outside world may be his only hope of survival.

Villainess

Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates)

Annie brings Paul a second-hand typewriter, sets up a writing studio, and demands he resurrect Misery in a reworked novel. Understandably, he doesn’t share her enthusiasm, but he notices a hairpin on the floor. To get Annie out of the house, Paul tells a convincing lie: he needs special writing paper to avoid smudging. She gives him a piece (or several pieces) of her mind before leaving for town, but once she’s gone, Paul fashions a makeshift lock pick.

The daring escape plan works, but he’s still trapped in the house. In a wheelchair, Paul’s movement is limited, but he discovers a Misery shrine with the novels lined up behind a picture of himself. Too bad the phone is a useless prop with the mechanism removed. Yes, the kidnapper really is nuts, and there’s no way to call for help. Realising he’s alone, Paul finds Annie’s stockpile of sleeping pills, secretes a packet, and returns to his room.

Paul uses the few tools available, and plans to turn the tables on Annie during an evening meal. Having emptied the pills into a paper sachet, he proposes a toast and insists on drinking wine by candlelight. Paul drugs Annie’s drink, but she spills it and foils the plan. With no other viable strategy, he works on the novel and waits for another opportunity.

When Annie leaves the house again, Paul looks around. He arms himself with a kitchen knife and finds a scrapbook of news clippings about his captor’s past. Seems she was a nurse whose infant patients died, and she was put on trial (as if we needed any evidence of psychosis). Paul stows the knife and returns to his room, now ready for violence. Eventually he drifts off, only to find Annie standing over the bed with a syringe of morphine when he wakes.

She knew of Paul’s escape because he accidentally knocked over a ceramic penguin and put it back the wrong way. The fussy woman noticed and discovered Paul’s hairpin and knife (and likely spilled the wine on purpose). To dissuade any further breakouts, Annie hobbles Paul. Tat translates as breaking both his ankles with a sledgehammer in a graphic scene that often makes “top scary movie moments” lists.

Away from the torture, the sheriff reviews news archives and connects a quote to something Annie said at her trial. He follows up with a visit to the Wilkes farm, but Annie sedates Paul and dumps him in the basement, while spinning a convincing yarn that she’s a harmless devotee. The sheriff thinks he made a mistake until he hears Paul’s muffled cries for help. Annie kills the nosy sheriff with a shotgun blast to the back and informs her despondent prisoner that she’s loaded a revolver with two bullets. The intent is clear.

Paul – realising he will only get one more chance – finishes the manuscript and demands his customary cigarette and champagne. When Annie leaves, he douses the pages in lighter fluid (which he found in the basement) and sets them alight. This enrages the villainess, and Paul strikes the distracted woman’s head with the typewriter. That’s not enough to kill her, so we get a drag-out fight – during which the gun goes off and wounds Paul – that ends with Annie banging her head.

Just when Paul thinks it’s over, the villainess launches a surprise attack. After a struggle, Paul grabs an ornament and bludgeons Annie, finishing her for good. Upon his return to New York, Paul has lunch with his agent. He sees the psycho wheel a serving tray towards him, but this turns out to be a hallucination. Of a waitress who tells Paul she’s his number one fan.

Honourable Mention: Stephen King

Carrie (1976) – Margaret White (Piper Laurie), Chris Hargensen (Nancy Allen)

This is the adaptation that started it all, based on King’s first published novel. Now considered a classic, Carrie has spawned a sequel and several remakes, but the original is the most loved and acclaimed. It features several prominent stars in early appearances, notably Nancy Allen, John Travolta, and a breakout role for Sissy Spacek.

The title character is a schoolgirl tormented by her classmates, a group of mean girls led by the sadistic Chris Hargensen. Carrie is an oddball who doesn’t fit in because of a tyrannical upbringing by her religious mother. Margaret beats her daughter, forces her to recite passages from the Bible, and locks her in a prayer closet to atone for her sins (anything she can think of, basically).

Carrie smashes an ashtray – the first sign of telekinetic powers. Eager to find out more, she reads up on the phenomenon and learns to amplify and control her abilities. Most of the movie is a slow burner as Chris plots revenge for a detention she blames Carrie for, and a repentant student convinces her boyfriend to invite the outcast to the school prom. That’s the big event the film is known for, which makes the final twenty minutes worth the wait.

Thanks to a pretty homemade dress and a rigged contest, Carrie gets voted prom queen and receives applause from those present. However, it’s a prank planned by Chris, who drops a bucket of pig blood on Carrie while she celebrates on stage. Terrible mistake, because now this girl is really upset.

A powered-up Carrie slams the doors, sprays the crowd with water, and electrocutes them. Nobody escapes her wrath, not even the sympathetic gym teacher, who was genuinely happy and supportive. Many kills are off screen, but the carnage is clear from the burning school Carrie leaves behind.

With the main cast almost wiped out, Chris and her boyfriend – lucky to escape – attempt to run Carrie over. A stupid move against a psychic, who flips the car over by concentrating. Margaret White – convinced her daughter is a witch – stabs her, only to be impaled by flying objects and crucified. Despite the prom bloodbath, it’s easy to feel sympathy for Carrie as the house collapses. Margaret and Chris are the true villains in this story.