Hello horror fans! Slick Dungeon here and I’m back to review yet another Stephen King movie. This time, I’ll be talking about the exercise in toxic fandom known as Misery. The film features James Caan as author Paul Sheldon caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. And it stars Kathy Bates in her tour de force performance as Annie Wilkes, Sheldon’s number one fan. There will be spoilers in this review so if you haven’t seen it yet, drive your car through the snow, get in an accident, be fortunate enough for a good Samaritan to help you recover, ask them to rent the movie for you, give it a watch, and come on back here to read the review.

Misery Background

This is the second Stephen King film Rob Reiner directed. His first was the highly acclaimed Stand by Me. And Misery proved to be another critical success earning an Academy Award and Golden Globe for Kathy Bates for Best Actress.

Luckily for the world, the producer of the film, Andrew Scheinman read the novel on an airplane, recommended it to Rob Reiner who then asked William Goldman to write the screenplay.

Several big name actors were considered for the role of Paul Sheldon, including, but not limited to, William Hurt, Kevin Kline, Harrison Ford, Robert De Niro and Robert Redford. They all turned it down. The actor who got closest was Warren Beatty but he had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts. James Caan won the role.

But the real star of this film is Kathy Bates who plays Annie Wilkes. We almost had an Annie played by Bette Midler or Angelica Houston. I think this casting choice was much better because Kathy Bates was not well known at the time and it just works for the part.

A crash in Career And in Reality

Paul Sheldon is a famous, wealthy writer, known for his hit Victorian romance novels starring a character named Misery Chastain. Feeling unfulfilled in his creative life, Sheldon writes a new book. This one is a serious literary effort which is likely to lose him money but gain critical stardom.

After meeting with his agent in Colorado, Sheldon drives towards his home in New York. A blizzard hits and road conditions become extremely dangerous. In white out conditions, Paul crashes his car and sustains major injuries.

A Good Samaritan

Annie Wilkes finds Sheldon, brings him back to her home, and tends to his wounds. The author has a dislocated shoulder and two broken legs. Annie does have some skill she can put to use because she was a nurse at one point. The conditions outside remain horrendous so she can’t get through to a hospital and the roads are not clear. But she also tells Sheldon, “I’m your number one fan.” It’s the line that sticks in your memory the longest after watching this movie.

Paul is at the mercy of this woman. She discovers he has a manuscript for his latest Misery novel in his bag and asks if she can read it. Sheldon doesn’t have much choice but to allow her. And things get serious from here on out.

Toxic FAndom

It starts small. Annie tells Sheldon how much she loves the new manuscript but she has one criticism. There is too much swearing. Sheldon patiently explains that the type of characters he is writing about would use profanity. Annie flies off the handle and yells at Sheldon in the most disturbing manner possible. She calms down. But this woman is unhinged.

But then Annie discovers Misery dies at the end of Sheldon’s latest novel. She burns the only copy of the manuscript right in front of the author and tells him she never called anyone for help. No one knows where Sheldon is. And he is at the mercy of Annie’s whims.

A New Misery Book

Annie forces Sheldon to write a new book. He takes advantage of any downtime he has. He snags a bobby pin so he can pick the lock to his door. At the first opportunity, he gets in his wheelchair and snoops around Annie’s house while she is gone. He finds disturbing newspaper clippings about Annie involved in a trial where she was suspected of infanticide at the hospital she worked at.

Annie finds out Paul has left his room and she is outraged. In the most brutal scene of the entire film, Annie puts a wooden block between Sheldon’s legs and breaks his ankles with a sledgehammer. I don’t care who you are, if you watch that scene and don’t cringe in pain, you are not human.

Paul needs to finish the novel. Otherwise, Annie will kill him. But she’s so unhinged she’s likely to kill him even if he does complete it.

The sheriff

Meanwhile, the local sheriff investigates the disappearance of Paul Sheldon. It takes forever but this guy figures out Annie Wilkes has something to do with the case. He visits Annie only to die by shotgun moments later. This guy is the most useless sheriff in all of the Stephen King books, and that’s saying something.

The Final Showdown

Annie wants to commit murder suicide with Paul. But he’s crafty enough to convince her to let him finish writing the book. He hides lighter fluid in his pants. Once Sheldon finishes the novel, he asks Annie to have dinner with him. Annie brings her gun. Sheldon doesn’t let Annie read the manuscript. Instead he lights it on fire and says, “I learned it from you.” There’s a massive struggle. Annie shoots Sheldon. But Sheldon wins the fight, bashing Annie’s skull with a metal doorstop shaped like her pig named Misery.

Living past trauma

Eighteen months later, Sheldon is back on his feet. He’s got the literary acclaim he wants but everywhere he looks he still sees Annie. And people still say to him, “I’m your number one fan.”

Misery in Conclusion

The name Misery works on multiple levels in this film. First, it’s the name of the character in the fictional novel series and it’s a perfect name for a Victorian romance. Second, it’s what Sheldon goes through in the course of the story.

Stephen King said when he wrote the book this was basically a metaphor for his struggle with cocaine addiction. And I can just see King imagining bashing cocaine in the face with a metal doorstop.

In a weird twist of fate, years later Stephen King would get hit by a car himself, although it doesn’t seem he was kept locked up by a toxic fan.

Whatever you think of the story, the movie is memorable for the incredible performance of Kathy Bates. And it’s one of the King films that will endure for as long as film does. This predates other capture films like Saw but it’s an escape film nonetheless.

As far as psychological thrillers go, this is top tier film making. To me, it’s incredible how well this film holds up. When you think about the way fandom can be lately, with the audience dictating how a creator should make something, it feels more relevant than ever before. I think more creators should take a page out of Sheldon’s book and fight back against their “number one fans” if it doesn’t serve the story well. But that’s just my opinion on the matter.

Fanatically yours,

Slick Dungeon

Want More?

Want to see some of my other King reviews? Take a look here!

Looking for a good King read? Check out this one!

Love this review? Feel free to share on social media!