Day 1: Misery
Directed by Rob Reiner. Based on Stephen King's novel of the same title.
Starring: James Caan & Kathy Bates
Released: 1990
Genre: Psychological horror / suspense
Why this movie, of all movies, to start my Mayterm challenge?
I am a fan of Stephen King's work (not his #1 fan, mind you...). I'm currently working through Wolves of the Calla, the fifth book in his Dark Tower series.
And, let's face it--the man likes to write. He likes to write long books. I won't have time to read the novel Misery for a while, so I figured there's no harm in seeing the film.
Plus, it's only available on Netflix until tomorrow.
The meat: Misery is a horror movie, but not a horror movie from 2012. It has everything it needs to be completely creepy--a horrendous antagonist, a struggling protagonist...rugged nature preventing any escape.
Misery also has a few things that seem to be missing in the horror movies produced in the last five years: widespread audience appeal, good acting, useful violence, and simple but EFFECTIVE horror.
Widespread audience appeal: Misery is a horror movie, but it's not 108 minutes of bloodbath. The film has elements of horror, humor, action, and drama. I am by no means a horror film junkie, but I liked watching this movie. I think that most horror movies today are produced for a very niche audience, whereas I can see that the makers of Misery worked to reach out to a wider spread of viewers.
Good acting: James Caan and Kathy Bates know what they're doing. They're not horror movie hermits (although Misery was the launching point for Bates' career [according to Wiki]), so they have more emotions than cheesy fear and shock. Their characters are built and believable. Best of all, they're non-replaceable. I haven't seen many horror movies, but from the ones I have seen, I can see that there have been no Paul Sheldon knock offs. Similarly, Annie Wilkes is a singular character. She is a total nutso, but her brand of crazy hasn't been repeated in horror movies of late. Their performance together is a creation of credible, non-hokey action, for which the viewer is grateful.
Useful violence: This movie isn't a bloodbath, but it's not a set of white sheets in a virgin's bedroom, either. Annie Wilkes enjoys showing the viewer Sheldon's broken legs--swollen, fractured, and bruised in a rainbow pallette. Then, a bit later on, she smashes his feet with a mallet, punishing him for attempting escape. The awesome sheriff gets a gaping bullet wound to the chest. At the end of the film, Sheldon clocks Annie on the head with a typewriter, for God's sake. There is violence in Misery. But it's not overdone. It's realistic, believable, and, most importantly, serves a purpose. Characters in horror films today are cutting their limbs off and falling off balconies randomly--or, at least, only to turn a viewer's stomach. The violence that appears in Misery fits the story thematically and emphasizes the plot without diverting focus from story to gore.
Simple & Effective Horror: I screamed twice while watching this movie because I was genuinely surprised and frightened, not because I saw something obscene. How did Reiner plan this so well? He used the basics, and they worked.
-Surprise was surprising and scary. Kathy Bates' chubby creeper face illuminated by a lightning bolt and accented by a thunderclap, for example. Or the sudden discharge of a shotgun after eerie silence.
-Suspense, done the right way. Reiner didn't beat a dead horse when he worked elements of suspense into the movie. In fact, he toyed with viewers' expectations of suspense in this movie. For instance, there's the porcelain penguin. When Sheldon escapes his bedroom to poke through the house for a way to escape, he bumps a porcelain penguin off Annie's table and replaces it quickly, but he sets it facing the wrong way. I expected Annie to notice this flaw and deal out retribution quickly, but, alas...this detail of the movie isn't revealed for several more scenes. The viewer expects quick, freaky retribution. But Reiner draws it out, giving us uncomfortable, unexpected suspense. Well played, Reiner. Well played.
Still Interested?
-Good Horror Film Moment
-Bad Horror Film Moment
Directed by Rob Reiner. Based on Stephen King's novel of the same title.
Starring: James Caan & Kathy Bates
Released: 1990
Genre: Psychological horror / suspense
Why this movie, of all movies, to start my Mayterm challenge?
I am a fan of Stephen King's work (not his #1 fan, mind you...). I'm currently working through Wolves of the Calla, the fifth book in his Dark Tower series.
And, let's face it--the man likes to write. He likes to write long books. I won't have time to read the novel Misery for a while, so I figured there's no harm in seeing the film.
Plus, it's only available on Netflix until tomorrow.
The meat: Misery is a horror movie, but not a horror movie from 2012. It has everything it needs to be completely creepy--a horrendous antagonist, a struggling protagonist...rugged nature preventing any escape.
Misery also has a few things that seem to be missing in the horror movies produced in the last five years: widespread audience appeal, good acting, useful violence, and simple but EFFECTIVE horror.
Widespread audience appeal: Misery is a horror movie, but it's not 108 minutes of bloodbath. The film has elements of horror, humor, action, and drama. I am by no means a horror film junkie, but I liked watching this movie. I think that most horror movies today are produced for a very niche audience, whereas I can see that the makers of Misery worked to reach out to a wider spread of viewers.
Good acting: James Caan and Kathy Bates know what they're doing. They're not horror movie hermits (although Misery was the launching point for Bates' career [according to Wiki]), so they have more emotions than cheesy fear and shock. Their characters are built and believable. Best of all, they're non-replaceable. I haven't seen many horror movies, but from the ones I have seen, I can see that there have been no Paul Sheldon knock offs. Similarly, Annie Wilkes is a singular character. She is a total nutso, but her brand of crazy hasn't been repeated in horror movies of late. Their performance together is a creation of credible, non-hokey action, for which the viewer is grateful.
Useful violence: This movie isn't a bloodbath, but it's not a set of white sheets in a virgin's bedroom, either. Annie Wilkes enjoys showing the viewer Sheldon's broken legs--swollen, fractured, and bruised in a rainbow pallette. Then, a bit later on, she smashes his feet with a mallet, punishing him for attempting escape. The awesome sheriff gets a gaping bullet wound to the chest. At the end of the film, Sheldon clocks Annie on the head with a typewriter, for God's sake. There is violence in Misery. But it's not overdone. It's realistic, believable, and, most importantly, serves a purpose. Characters in horror films today are cutting their limbs off and falling off balconies randomly--or, at least, only to turn a viewer's stomach. The violence that appears in Misery fits the story thematically and emphasizes the plot without diverting focus from story to gore.
Simple & Effective Horror: I screamed twice while watching this movie because I was genuinely surprised and frightened, not because I saw something obscene. How did Reiner plan this so well? He used the basics, and they worked.
-Surprise was surprising and scary. Kathy Bates' chubby creeper face illuminated by a lightning bolt and accented by a thunderclap, for example. Or the sudden discharge of a shotgun after eerie silence.
-Suspense, done the right way. Reiner didn't beat a dead horse when he worked elements of suspense into the movie. In fact, he toyed with viewers' expectations of suspense in this movie. For instance, there's the porcelain penguin. When Sheldon escapes his bedroom to poke through the house for a way to escape, he bumps a porcelain penguin off Annie's table and replaces it quickly, but he sets it facing the wrong way. I expected Annie to notice this flaw and deal out retribution quickly, but, alas...this detail of the movie isn't revealed for several more scenes. The viewer expects quick, freaky retribution. But Reiner draws it out, giving us uncomfortable, unexpected suspense. Well played, Reiner. Well played.
Still Interested?
-Good Horror Film Moment
-Bad Horror Film Moment