Misery
Summary
The infamousMiseryhobbling scene where Annie Wilkes breaks Paul Sheldon ’s articulatio talocruralis with a maul is the stuff of cinematic legend , but what she did to him in Stephen King ’s book was tough . Miseryis one of King ’s more informal tales of terror , focusing on almost only on two characters in a exclusive room , and director Rob Reiner ’s 1990 film version proceed this claustrophobic intimacy . Miserysaw Kathy Bates as Annie and James Caan as Paul turn in excellent , entrance performances as a psychopathic fan and the writer she takes hostage . However , one moment inMiseryhas assure the movie is still being discussed over three decades since releasing — the scene where Annie breaks Paul ’s ankles with a sledgehammer .
There are dissimilar type of horror , though , and while it might not feature a slasher killing stripling , Miseryis one of Stephen King ’s most underrated horror version . In the book , Annie Wilkes is even more sinister and unstable than she is in the celluloid . Of naturally , it ’s impossible to guess ofMiserywithout relive the shockingMiseryhobbling scene in which Annie accept a sledgehammer and uses it to break Paul ’s ankle . The human action have it seem truly hopeless for Paul and is tough to watch , and the moment is now synonymous withMiseryas a story . However , the most surprising thing about theMiseryhobbling moment is that it does n’t happen in the Stephen King Novel — because in the book Annie does something even more dire .
Related : miserableness : Why Paul Is A Perfect Protagonist ( & Annie Is A Perfect Villain )
Misery’s Hobbling Scene Is Worse in Stephen King’s Book
In the book version ofMisery , when Annie decides she take to make totally certain Paul wo n’t escape his room again , she does n’t but break in his ankles with a sledgehammer . After all , it ’s possible his legs could finally reclaim . Instead , rather than the iconicMiseryhobbling aspect , Stephen King wrote Annie to straight up chop Paul ’s base off with an axe , then apply a propane torch to burn the wound so that he would n’t shed blood out .
When it descend time to adaptMiseryfor the projection screen , the decision was made to have theMiseryhobbling tantrum instead of amputating his base due to two factors . One of the reasons fortheMiserymovie differenceswas that there was concern over the level of gore if they stag King ’s original scene . The change worked well though , and Reiner ’s alternative — Annie convey a sledgehammer to Paul ’s tibia after an agonizingly force - out buildup while she places the wooden blocks and strap — was perhaps even more unsettling than an out - and - out Albert Gore Jr. - fest with an axe .
secondly , Rob Reiner wanted Paul to emerge victorious at the destruction of theMiseryfilm , and matte up that Paul lose his understructure was too harsh a penalty for him to have to deal with going ahead . At the end of theMiserymovie , Paul is seen walking with the use of a cane , usher that he at least partially recovered from having his ankles broken . However , lose a tree branch and having the lesion callous without anaesthesia is a much hard thing to physically and psychologically move on from .
Why The Moment Annie Breaks Paul’s Ankles In Misery Still Works
While the hobbling scene inMiseryis arguably worse in Stephen King ’s book , the moment Annie break Paul ’s stage in theMiserymovie is still catgut - wrenching . Stephen King is one of the most talented living horror author , and his intense descriptive style ( and close - unending imaging when it comes to gore and torment ) imply that this instant inMiserywas always operate to be horrific on the page . King is n’t an author who leaves the worst minute of his stories to happen off - page to be only alluded to by other characters later on . Some law-breaking and horror writer write around the grimmest events in their narrative , but Stephen King is n’t one of them .
However , literature is a very different medium to cinema . An argumentation can be made that it ’s easier to make such intuitive reaction with a combination of words and a proofreader ’s imagery , and the changes made for theMiseryankle - breaking picture give it weighting . The hobbling here and now in Rob Reiner ’s flick adaptation ofMiseryis just as difficult to watch as King ’s original passage is to read , regardless of the dissimilar levels of hurt experience by both respective versions of Paul Sheldon . In theMiserymovie , the scene in which Annie breaks Paul ’s ankle is incredibly tense , thanks in part to the tv camera being hyper - focussed on Paul ’s legs for most of the view — making the distended angle Annie ’s hammer - reverse leave them at out of the question to look away from .
The fact that the hobbling moment in1990’sMiserywas achieved totally without CGIis equally impressive . Paul ’s " pegleg " in the movie are prosthetic . When Kathy Bate ’s Annie swung a echt full - weight sledgehammer ( at full force to boot ) it was guarantee thanks to SFX team KNB EFX Group his ankles would " crack " at the most wince - induct slant possible . The moment is nowhere near as butcherly as mod equivalents would likely depict a similar wound , but this works inMisery’sfavor - the sound design of the " crush " when Annie ’s sledgehammer connect with Paul ’s feet is more than enough to make the scene near - unsufferable to blank out .
The Misery Ankle Breaking Scene Isn’t The Only Change Made For The Movie
TheMiseryhobbling scene is n’t the only variety that was made when it came to adapting the volume to the cover . One of the keyMiserydifferences is that it takes Paul a stack longer to catch on to the fact that Annie is sickly in the movie than it does in the novel . In one of the best Stephen King books , Paul is aware pretty betimes on in his stay that Annie is a villainous fictitious character , but is unable to get by . Another thing the picture allow out is the story - within - a - write up of Paul ’s Misery role herself . Paul has a very litigious human relationship with his macrocosm that Annie is so wholly obsessed with .
Another major difference between theMiserymovie and the book is the fire that burn Paul ’s work . After Annie is infelicitous with Paul ’s ending , in the novel , he ’s capable to get aside with burning a stack of papers rather than his creation . He is n’t so prosperous in the moving-picture show . The Sheriff ’s death in theMiserymovie is another difference . In the movie , the Sheriff is merely shot in the chest of drawers with a shotgun by Annie , whereas in the Good Book , he is brutally killed by being dig and then run over with a lawnmower .
A cardinal difference between the book and the picture is the aforementioned burn holograph . Since Paul escapes with his manuscript in the record , he is actually able to have it print in the remainder of the Stephen King novel . In act , the novel ends up being a global best seller . Outside theMiseryankle fit , the terminal major conflict is the nature of Annie ’s death . In the book , Annie does still reach her head teacher on the typewriter and gets back up , but she eventually succumbs to her injury while she is trying to get a chain saw to finish Paul off .
