Day 13: 31 Days of Horror: Misery (1990)

Having a number one fan can be pretty exciting! Someone really looks up to you and thinks you're amazing! On the other hand, it can be petrifying, due to the number fan acting more like a number one stalker. Stalkers are not cool, they are terrifying. You never know when they're going to show up or where they might be watching you from. Imagine having this person keep you hostage and you have no ability to escape or defend yourself! Scary, right?

Misery is about a famous author, Paul Sheldon, who, one day after driving on the icy roads of Colorado after finishing another novel, ends up crashing his car. Paul is severely injured from the crash, but is rescued by a woman, Annie Wilkes, who happens to be a former nurse and his "number one fan."

Annie is an extremely strange woman, very secluded from society and overly sensitive about certain words. She decides to take Paul back to her home in the middle of no where, without telling anyone. At first, she seems intent on helping Paul make a full recovery, but all of that changes after she reads the most recent novel Paul's written about her favorite heroine, Misery, killing her off. This causes Annie to go berserk and torture Paul, while also forcing him to write a novel bringing Misery back to life. Will Paul ever escape her or will he be forced to be her prisoner for the rest of his life?

Misery is a fantastic book and horror movie. The movie is great because of the acting in it. James Caan is hilarious and perfect for the role of Paul Sheldon. However, Kathy Bates is the one who really steals the show. No one, and I mean no one, could have portrayed Annie Wilkes better than Kathy Bates. Kathy gave the performance of a lifetime when she played Annie. She was utterly psychotic and completely believable. She's talked about how that people have actually been afraid of her because of Annie. That's pretty impressive, if you ask me.