Customer Reviews:
Best King films Ever!.......2004-05-22
Stephen King is quite possibly one of the best authors of our time. Mentioning no names, there are a lot of awful King adaptations, but this box set contains definately the best King films i have ever seen.
Carrie is the story of a telekintic girl who is constantly harrassed by her school friends. Her home life is no better living with her domineering, religious fanatical mother. she ulitimateley prevales over friends and family in truly horrifying ways. BE WARNED! this film is extreemly powerful and disturbing.
Misery is a psychological thriller about a writer, named Paul Sheldon who is rescued from a car crash by his psychopathic #1 fan. nice twist at the end but i think it is too much a departure from what i think the character would do. But what would you do?
The Dark Half is a genuinely scary film. Thad Baumont is a writer. He, however has a secret identity. When he is not writing his own books, he uses the psudonem George Stark to write violent and sexually explicit books. When Thad is forced to reveal his secret identity, he lays the name George Stark to rest. but George will not be silenced... ANNOTHER WARNING gory jumps!
Needful Things could easily have been annother bad King adaptation, but Max von Sydow, Ed Harris, Bonnie Bedelia and Ammanda Plummer head a fantastic cast in this brilliantly crafted ironic gothic horror/ thriller.
the only extras ont the latter three films are dissapointing but the booklets that accompany the discs are facinating to read. the Carrie D.V.D. is the best for extras : 2 behind the scenes features, documentary : carrie the musical, photo galleries and "the evolution of Carrie" biography. if you like a hell of a good scare GO FOR IT!
Amazon.co.uk Review
Based on the chilling bestseller by Stephen King, Misery was brought to the screen by director Rob Reiner as one of the most effective thrillers of the 1990s. From a brilliant adaptation by screenwriter William Goldman, Reiner turned King's cautionary tale of fame and idolatry into a mainstream masterpiece of escalating suspense, translating King's own experience with obsessive fans into a frightening tale of entrapment and psychotic behavior. Kathy Bates deservedly won an Academy Award for her performance as Annie Wilkes, an unbalanced devotee of romance novels written by Paul Sheldon (James Caan), whose books provide Annie with a much-needed escape from her pathetic life and her secret, violent past. After Annie rescues the injured Sheldon from a car accident, she seizes the opportunity to nurse her favorite writer back to health, but her tender loving care soon turns to terrorism as she demands that Sheldon write his latest novel according to her wish-fulfillment fantasies. From this point forward, Misery percolates to a boil as equal parts mystery, thriller, and cleverly dark comedy, with the helpless author pitched in deadly warfare against his number one fan. While Bates carefully modulates her role from doting kindness to sympathetic loneliness and finally to horrifying ferocity, Caan is equally superb as the celebrated author who must literally write for his life. It's essentially a two-actor film, but Richard Farnsworth and Lauren Bacall are excellent in supporting roles as they investigate the writer's mysterious disappearance. Frightening, funny, and totally irresistible, Misery was such a hit that some of Bates's dialogue entered the popular lexicon (particularly her nagging reference to Caan as "Mister Man"), and its nail-biting thrills remain timelessly intense. --Jeff Shannon
Customer Reviews:
No Misery here!!!.......2008-03-08
This is one amazing movie.
I think the best 'King'-novel-to-film adaptaion that has been done.
This came along at a time when James Caan needed a hit as he was just out of rehab'. Luckily for us he pulls it off perfectly, and delivers a brilliant compeling performance. But by anyone's measure; Kathy Bates delivers an absolutely stellar performance as the deranged 'Annie Wilkes'.
Some people have commented that there are bits missing from the book, true, but what is left here is 1st class.
With oscar winning performances, and a tight script plus one of the best (if not THE best) female leads ever; this is one to keep and watch again & again.
"...my little ceramic penguin in the study always faces due south.".......2007-11-02
The film (based on the Stephen King novel) has a plot so simple, it's brilliant.
Paul Sheldon, an author of a popular series of books has a car accident, he is rescued by his "Number one fan", Annie Wilkes who takes him back to her house in order to nurse him better. He has two broken legs and is thankful of the assistance.
However, his rescuer starts to show signs of obsessive mania and imprisons him after reading what is to be the last book in his `Misery' series which he has with him. He kills off a major character and Annie seems to have blurred views of reality and fiction. She accuses him of murder and forces him to write another novel to keep the series alive.
She constantly reminds him that she is his number one fan, and that she is there to help him. She continues to hold him captive and the film has a fantastically claustrophobic feel to it. Whilst she is out he manages to escape and get out of his room. He manages to sneak back in time before Annie gets back in, however, in a perfect example of her obsessiveness; Annie notices that an ornament is facing the wrong way and realises he must have been in the house.
What then follows is the scene the film is most remembered for, a rather gruesome act designed to prevent Paul from escaping. I won't give away what happens, but when I watched it I had a pot on my leg for a fractured ankle and it made me go numb!
The performance from Kathy Bates famously won her an Oscar. She was an unknown actress at the time, but played the part so well that it has been lampooned many times since, you can't imagine anyone else as Annie. She manages to put across the childlike mind of Annie so well, which is the main reason the film is so unforgettable.
Seasoned actor James Caan also gave a great portrayal of Paul. His career was gaining something of a comeback status after a dark period in his life during the `80s. Like Kathy Bates, he won numerous awards for his role in Misery, and well deserved they were.
This is a classic film with a unique feel, the small cast and the high tension will glue you to the screen.
Bates Powerhouse performance earns her Oscar.......2007-09-29
Caan gives a solid performance as the writer Paul Sheldon about to kill off Misery the key character of his best selling novels. However, Kathy Bates carries the film with her alternately hysterical or ridiculously-sappy Annie, the psychotic Sheldon fan. Her performance is something out of Hollywood's old days - it's not subtle, not quiet, and borders on over-acting. This is not method acting, this is showing off. But somehow Bates makes it work, investing Annie with enough pitifulness to make the character complex and, thus, hold the role together. She is absolutely terrifying and unforgettable in this role and perfect for it. Brilliant Oscar winning performance in a better-than-average movie.
A Fine Example of Minimalistic Horror.......2007-05-16
Though a quality Stephen King novel isn't hard to find whatsoever, a good movie adaptation of his numerous works is such a rarity that the mind boggles. Given the material the respective studios re-imagining the books themselves, it shouldn't be hard to successfully craft a superior Stephen King-based motion picture. Alas, Hollywood long ago ceased to be the cinematic geniuses they perhaps once were and instead fumble more often than not, even when the goods to build upon a successful, likeable movie are already written down for them. Thank god, however, that "Misery" -- one of King's best books -- hasn't received the unwarranted cinematical treatment laboured upon his previous and subsequent works. With the talented Kathy Bates and James Caan at the centre of the proceedings throughout, the movie already boasts a respectable leading duo. And with only a few fleeting characters other than Ms. Wilkes (Bates) and Mr. Sheldon (Caan) involved throughout "Misery" doesn't succumb to the pratfalls of King's detailed writing when on the big, now small, screen. Better yet, the suspense built up throughout "Misery" -- a story about a man taken in by his number one fan, a fan that isn't perfectly stable at that -- ultimately leads to a worthwhile if not entirely spontaneous pay-off/climax. Blessed with fine acting, tight scripting and a brilliant director, in the form of Rob Reiner (who also gifted us the remarkable "Stand By Me" in 1986), "Misery" is an altogether enthralling, engrossing horror movie that qualifies as one of the best Stephen King motion picture adaptations to date.
Following the completion of his latest book, revered author Paul Sheldon (James Caan) veers off a Colorado road amidst a devastating snowstorm. The unconscious Paul is rescued by kindly stranger Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates) and wakes up in her house. Confined to a bed due to brutal leg injuries, Paul is informed by Annie, who proports to be his number one fan, that when the phone lines begin working again she'll phone for an ambulance to take him to a nearby hospital. However, things quickly take a sinister turn after Annie reads Paul's last-published book, a conclusion to his series following a character called Misery Chastain. Enraged by the ending, which sees Misery killed off, Wilkes gives Sheldon an ultimatum. Write a new book reviving Misery, burn his latest book (a foul-mouthed one, at that) and don't leave the room in which he is confined. Soon it becomes clear that the obsessive Annie is unstable. Unable to escape from the madwoman, Paul must comply until someone somehow rescues him from the horrific situation, because Annie has no intentions of ever allowing him to leave.
Portraying the deranged antagonist Annie Wilkes, Kathy Bates is the most astounding characteristic of the entire motion picture. Juggling the conflicting personalities, one very much content and another murderously psychotic, Bates does a fine job of capturing everything conveyed about Wilkes' tendencies and mindset in the novel on which it is based. James Caan hands in a lesser performance as the troubled author placed through no fault of his own in an uncompromising, scary position. Where Caan's display is flawed is in successfully making the audience feel sympathetic towards his character. Caan doesn't play the role as well as another could have and isn't as likeable and helpless as Paul Sheldon should have been. In one of the latter roles of his lengthy career, Richard Farnsworth infrequently features as Buster, the town Sheriff attempting to figure out where the popular author has disappeared following the discovery of his abandoned car. Farnsworth surpasses Caan in quality when on-screen but, like everyone else involved, cannot compare to Kathy Bates' masterful performance.
This isn't your traditional, everyday horror movie. Essentially "Misery" is a minimalistic movie that some have already dismissed due to its slowburn style and execution. However, whereas some supposedly minimalist movies succeed only in being plodding and boring, "Misery" never once lets up for all the apparent emptiness throughout the middle minutes. Never does the movie become boring or uninteresting, it consistently retains the attention and inrigue of the audience throughout its entire running time.
The relationship built up between Annie and Paul needs to be accurately and realistically done for the movie to be able to retain such quality throughout. Storytelling is one thing, but if the on-screen adaption of "Misery" doesn't have the element that it hinges on correctly conveyed than its an empty, pointless effort more akin to the shallow "Pet Sematary" of 1989 which remains memorable moreso for the deep accent of Fred Gwynne than for anything else. Viewers can rejoice then that the most crucial plot element of "Misery" is retained and portrayed in a remarkably similar way to the source material, adding priceless quality to the overall outcome.
As it stands, "Misery" isn't the most exciting motion picture of all-time. And one could never claim it to be anywhere near the greatest. However, it considerately treats the respective audience with respect and restrains from cheating them with the potential Hollywood-style storytelling that has claimed an unimaginable number of motion pictures. "Misery" is a simplistic and entirely invigorating experience, to be remembered for a long time afterwards.
Truly Amazing.......2006-10-26
i watched this on Channel 4 on 25th October 2006, and the film is truly amazing, there is a twist in the middle which you would never think would happen, this is a must watch film for anyone who likes mystery films.
the phsycopathic woman is played by a marvelous actress, again, a must see film.
by Shaun McNally, Lincolnshire, 16
Amazon.co.uk Review
Based on the chilling bestseller by Stephen King, Misery was brought to the screen by director Rob Reiner as one of the most effective thrillers of the 1990s. From a brilliant adaptation by screenwriter William Goldman, Reiner turned King's cautionary tale of fame and idolatry into a mainstream masterpiece of escalating suspense, translating King's own experience with obsessive fans into a frightening tale of entrapment and psychotic behavior. Kathy Bates deservedly won an Academy Award for her performance as Annie Wilkes, an unbalanced devotee of romance novels written by Paul Sheldon (James Caan), whose books provide Annie with a much-needed escape from her pathetic life and her secret, violent past. After Annie rescues the injured Sheldon from a car accident, she seizes the opportunity to nurse her favorite writer back to health, but her tender loving care soon turns to terrorism as she demands that Sheldon write his latest novel according to her wish-fulfillment fantasies. From this point forward, Misery percolates to a boil as equal parts mystery, thriller, and cleverly dark comedy, with the helpless author pitched in deadly warfare against his number one fan. While Bates carefully modulates her role from doting kindness to sympathetic loneliness and finally to horrifying ferocity, Caan is equally superb as the celebrated author who must literally write for his life. It's essentially a two-actor film, but Richard Farnsworth and Lauren Bacall are excellent in supporting roles as they investigate the writer's mysterious disappearance. Frightening, funny, and totally irresistible, Misery was such a hit that some of Bates's dialogue entered the popular lexicon (particularly her nagging reference to Caan as "Mister Man"), and its nail-biting thrills remain timelessly intense. --Jeff Shannon
Customer Reviews:
No Misery here!!!.......2008-03-08
This is one amazing movie.
I think the best 'King'-novel-to-film adaptaion that has been done.
This came along at a time when James Caan needed a hit as he was just out of rehab'. Luckily for us he pulls it off perfectly, and delivers a brilliant compeling performance. But by anyone's measure; Kathy Bates delivers an absolutely stellar performance as the deranged 'Annie Wilkes'.
Some people have commented that there are bits missing from the book, true, but what is left here is 1st class.
With oscar winning performances, and a tight script plus one of the best (if not THE best) female leads ever; this is one to keep and watch again & again.
"...my little ceramic penguin in the study always faces due south.".......2007-11-02
The film (based on the Stephen King novel) has a plot so simple, it's brilliant.
Paul Sheldon, an author of a popular series of books has a car accident, he is rescued by his "Number one fan", Annie Wilkes who takes him back to her house in order to nurse him better. He has two broken legs and is thankful of the assistance.
However, his rescuer starts to show signs of obsessive mania and imprisons him after reading what is to be the last book in his `Misery' series which he has with him. He kills off a major character and Annie seems to have blurred views of reality and fiction. She accuses him of murder and forces him to write another novel to keep the series alive.
She constantly reminds him that she is his number one fan, and that she is there to help him. She continues to hold him captive and the film has a fantastically claustrophobic feel to it. Whilst she is out he manages to escape and get out of his room. He manages to sneak back in time before Annie gets back in, however, in a perfect example of her obsessiveness; Annie notices that an ornament is facing the wrong way and realises he must have been in the house.
What then follows is the scene the film is most remembered for, a rather gruesome act designed to prevent Paul from escaping. I won't give away what happens, but when I watched it I had a pot on my leg for a fractured ankle and it made me go numb!
The performance from Kathy Bates famously won her an Oscar. She was an unknown actress at the time, but played the part so well that it has been lampooned many times since, you can't imagine anyone else as Annie. She manages to put across the childlike mind of Annie so well, which is the main reason the film is so unforgettable.
Seasoned actor James Caan also gave a great portrayal of Paul. His career was gaining something of a comeback status after a dark period in his life during the `80s. Like Kathy Bates, he won numerous awards for his role in Misery, and well deserved they were.
This is a classic film with a unique feel, the small cast and the high tension will glue you to the screen.
Bates Powerhouse performance earns her Oscar.......2007-09-29
Caan gives a solid performance as the writer Paul Sheldon about to kill off Misery the key character of his best selling novels. However, Kathy Bates carries the film with her alternately hysterical or ridiculously-sappy Annie, the psychotic Sheldon fan. Her performance is something out of Hollywood's old days - it's not subtle, not quiet, and borders on over-acting. This is not method acting, this is showing off. But somehow Bates makes it work, investing Annie with enough pitifulness to make the character complex and, thus, hold the role together. She is absolutely terrifying and unforgettable in this role and perfect for it. Brilliant Oscar winning performance in a better-than-average movie.
A Fine Example of Minimalistic Horror.......2007-05-16
Though a quality Stephen King novel isn't hard to find whatsoever, a good movie adaptation of his numerous works is such a rarity that the mind boggles. Given the material the respective studios re-imagining the books themselves, it shouldn't be hard to successfully craft a superior Stephen King-based motion picture. Alas, Hollywood long ago ceased to be the cinematic geniuses they perhaps once were and instead fumble more often than not, even when the goods to build upon a successful, likeable movie are already written down for them. Thank god, however, that "Misery" -- one of King's best books -- hasn't received the unwarranted cinematical treatment laboured upon his previous and subsequent works. With the talented Kathy Bates and James Caan at the centre of the proceedings throughout, the movie already boasts a respectable leading duo. And with only a few fleeting characters other than Ms. Wilkes (Bates) and Mr. Sheldon (Caan) involved throughout "Misery" doesn't succumb to the pratfalls of King's detailed writing when on the big, now small, screen. Better yet, the suspense built up throughout "Misery" -- a story about a man taken in by his number one fan, a fan that isn't perfectly stable at that -- ultimately leads to a worthwhile if not entirely spontaneous pay-off/climax. Blessed with fine acting, tight scripting and a brilliant director, in the form of Rob Reiner (who also gifted us the remarkable "Stand By Me" in 1986), "Misery" is an altogether enthralling, engrossing horror movie that qualifies as one of the best Stephen King motion picture adaptations to date.
Following the completion of his latest book, revered author Paul Sheldon (James Caan) veers off a Colorado road amidst a devastating snowstorm. The unconscious Paul is rescued by kindly stranger Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates) and wakes up in her house. Confined to a bed due to brutal leg injuries, Paul is informed by Annie, who proports to be his number one fan, that when the phone lines begin working again she'll phone for an ambulance to take him to a nearby hospital. However, things quickly take a sinister turn after Annie reads Paul's last-published book, a conclusion to his series following a character called Misery Chastain. Enraged by the ending, which sees Misery killed off, Wilkes gives Sheldon an ultimatum. Write a new book reviving Misery, burn his latest book (a foul-mouthed one, at that) and don't leave the room in which he is confined. Soon it becomes clear that the obsessive Annie is unstable. Unable to escape from the madwoman, Paul must comply until someone somehow rescues him from the horrific situation, because Annie has no intentions of ever allowing him to leave.
Portraying the deranged antagonist Annie Wilkes, Kathy Bates is the most astounding characteristic of the entire motion picture. Juggling the conflicting personalities, one very much content and another murderously psychotic, Bates does a fine job of capturing everything conveyed about Wilkes' tendencies and mindset in the novel on which it is based. James Caan hands in a lesser performance as the troubled author placed through no fault of his own in an uncompromising, scary position. Where Caan's display is flawed is in successfully making the audience feel sympathetic towards his character. Caan doesn't play the role as well as another could have and isn't as likeable and helpless as Paul Sheldon should have been. In one of the latter roles of his lengthy career, Richard Farnsworth infrequently features as Buster, the town Sheriff attempting to figure out where the popular author has disappeared following the discovery of his abandoned car. Farnsworth surpasses Caan in quality when on-screen but, like everyone else involved, cannot compare to Kathy Bates' masterful performance.
This isn't your traditional, everyday horror movie. Essentially "Misery" is a minimalistic movie that some have already dismissed due to its slowburn style and execution. However, whereas some supposedly minimalist movies succeed only in being plodding and boring, "Misery" never once lets up for all the apparent emptiness throughout the middle minutes. Never does the movie become boring or uninteresting, it consistently retains the attention and inrigue of the audience throughout its entire running time.
The relationship built up between Annie and Paul needs to be accurately and realistically done for the movie to be able to retain such quality throughout. Storytelling is one thing, but if the on-screen adaption of "Misery" doesn't have the element that it hinges on correctly conveyed than its an empty, pointless effort more akin to the shallow "Pet Sematary" of 1989 which remains memorable moreso for the deep accent of Fred Gwynne than for anything else. Viewers can rejoice then that the most crucial plot element of "Misery" is retained and portrayed in a remarkably similar way to the source material, adding priceless quality to the overall outcome.
As it stands, "Misery" isn't the most exciting motion picture of all-time. And one could never claim it to be anywhere near the greatest. However, it considerately treats the respective audience with respect and restrains from cheating them with the potential Hollywood-style storytelling that has claimed an unimaginable number of motion pictures. "Misery" is a simplistic and entirely invigorating experience, to be remembered for a long time afterwards.
Truly Amazing.......2006-10-26
i watched this on Channel 4 on 25th October 2006, and the film is truly amazing, there is a twist in the middle which you would never think would happen, this is a must watch film for anyone who likes mystery films.
the phsycopathic woman is played by a marvelous actress, again, a must see film.
by Shaun McNally, Lincolnshire, 16
UK DVD:
- Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song [1971] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
- Tangled [2002] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
- Tarantino - Reservoir Dogs / Pulp Fiction / Jackie Brown [1991]
- Tempted [2001] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
- The 39 Steps [1935] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
- The Big Sleep (Special Edition) [1977]
- The Creeping Flesh [1973] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
- The Dead Next Door [1989] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
- The Devil [1972] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
- The Early Hitchcock Collection [1929]
UK DVD List
UK DVD
![Stephen King Collector's Set: Misery/The Dark Half/Needful Things/Carrie [1991] (REGION 1) (NTSC)](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/21Y5N54M5QL.jpg)
All Science Fiction & Fantasy
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Video
Stephen King's The Night Flier
![Firestarter [1984]](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B00004Y3Q7.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
Firestarter [1984]
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Stephen King's Cujo [1983]
Mist, The
![Stephen King's It [1990]](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B000FII3MY.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
Stephen King's It [1990]
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![Misery [1991] (REGION 1) (NTSC)](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/21ZkD84ljqL.jpg)
![Dolores Claiborne [1995]](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B00004U8NH.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
![Carrie [1976]](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B00005ABTU.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
![Pet Sematary [1989]](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B00005UPN9.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
![The Shining [1980]](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B00005B75C.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
![Misery [1991] (REGION 1) (NTSC)](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/219Y2Q8NWGL.jpg)