29 Days to Halloween- 1990 Misery

Over the next 100 days, I will present one movie of significances in horror, suspense or thrillers for each year from 1919 to 2018. The next film presented here is the 1990 thriller "Misery" starring James Caan, Kathy Bates, Lauren Bacall, Richard Farnsworth, Frances Sternhagenand directed by Rob Reiner.

Misery (1990) 

Dir- Rob Reiner

We all dream of fame and fortune, but what many don’t realize is that hero worship is part of the plan and that your fans may very well be your worst nightmare. James Caan plays Paul Sheldon, a romance novelist whose bread and butter came from the heroine, Misery Chastain. Paul decides to kill off Misery to open up for new work. With a completed manuscript he goes on a drive but his car runs off the road and thanks to luck he is rescued by a nurse who saves his life. Annie heals Paul and is pleased to do so because she is one of his biggest fans. Everything is fine as Paul is being cared for by a woman who has read every word he has written and loved Misery. Unfortunately, Annie finds the final Misery novel and is angered, and with this, the movie takes a dark turn as the deeply disturbed Annie begins to torture Paul in most cruel and unusual ways. She chains him to his bed and gives him a typewriter and paper and demands he rewrite Misery to continue her saga. With Paul disappearance, the local sheriff begins to follow the trail and turns to the Misery novels to find clues. In a fresh change of pace one of Stephen King’s books was turned into an excellent feature film thanks to Director Rob Reiner, with the talent’s of James Caan as Paul we have a true sympathetic hero, but the real nods to Kathy Bates who makes her mark as Annie. Bate's over the top performance garnered both a Golden Globe and an Oscar in one of the most recent of King’s works which I liked and one I can enjoy for its creepy undertones and very scary scenes of torture. Look for cameos by J.T. Walsh as a Park Ranger and Director Rob Reiner as a helicopter pilot.