Misery
released 1990

“Misery” is an American psychological horror film based on a Stephen King novel. It stars James Caan, Kathy Bates, Lauren  Bacall, Richard Farnsworth, Frances Sternhagen and it was directed by Rob Reiner. It was produced by Rob Reiner, Andrew Sheinman, Jeffrey Stott and Steve Nicolaides. The music was by Marc Shaiman. Kathy Bates won an Academy Award for best actress for the role of Annie Wilkes.

“Misery” is the story of a fictional famous writer named Paul Sheldon (played by James Caan) who writes a series of successful romance novels about a character called Misery Chastain. He gets caught in a blizzard while driving from Silver Creek, Colorado to New York City. His car goes off the road and he is knocked unconscious and has several severe injuries that require medical care and bedrest. He is rescued by a mentally unstable nurse named Annie Wilkes (played by Kathy Bates) and that is where his nightmare begins.

At first Annie is delighted to have helped the author of the Misery Chastain series. She calls herself his “number one fan”. This is however, not an accurate description of Annie because she is simply bonkers. When Paul gives her his latest manuscript of the series she flips out at the way Paul wants to end the series. Paul ends up a prisoner in fear of his life and at one point she hobbles him to keep him from leaving.

This is a classic tale of fandom gone horribly wrong and someone caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. The protagonist has no hope of reasoning with his insane captor and some parts of this movie are just disturbing. This movie will have you saying “Oh crap!” over and over again. This is a horror film with a good story and that is why I highly recommend it. It is an old film but very good.
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