Misery (1990) Dir. Rob Reiner

Kathy Bates gives her best performance yet as the seemingly average yet psychotic, Annie Wilkes.

Best selling novelist Paul Sheldon (James Caan) has a car accident and is rescued by
his biggest fan, Annie. The film takes place in the middle of nowhere snow filled town in the mid east of America.

When Paul finally awakes, he finds himself on a bed in Annie's house. All seems fine as she explains she is a nurse and that as soon as the roads are open she will drive him to a hospital.

Annie starts to show her true colours when she finds out Paul kills off one of the main characters in his novel. She demands he writes a new novel and gets him to burn a new manuscript which he has been working on due to the foul language.

The filming matures as the film goes on, adopting for a more Kubrick style of representing this psychological horror film. The close up's of Annie's face in the dark, the odd pauses in between conversations and the eerie room which quickly becomes his prison.

The film is based on Stephen King's novel and this adaptation is perfect for the screen, you will not be able to take your eyes off the film.

One of the reasons the film is so great is due to James Caan being so terrible at playing Paul Sheldon. On the other hand, however much bland his performance is in comparison to Kathy Bates, it highlights the sheer madness of Annie Wilkes.

Misery is a must see, it has a simple plot line and proves that Psychological Horrors must make a come back.

It doesn't take much, throw in a seemingly normal situation and put a microscope over it to unravel the dark side of an individual stuck in the suburbs with nothing to do but obsess.