Kathy Bates disagrees with the one change the 1990 Misery made to Stephen King’s story. Adapted from the 1987 novel of the same name, the horror thriller sees King’s protagonist, novelist Paul Sheldon (James Caan), being rescued by a former nurse, and his self-professed number one fan, Annie Wilkes (Bates), after a car accident. However, he has to resort to self-rescue after discovering Annie’s truly sinister nature. Bates won an Oscar the following year for her performance in the movie.

Per IndieWire, during the 16th annual TCM Classic Film Festival, Bates revealed one change the movie made to King’s novel that she wasn’t fully on board with. Speaking to director Rob Reiner, the actor shared that she wished the film had preserved the gore in the novel, and she was “crushed” to find out that Paul’s foot amputation and the scene where Annie ran someone over with a lawnmower weren’t included. Read her comments below:

I was crushed that you took that out. I didn’t agree with that at all.

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In the same panel, Reiner’s response to why he cut the amputation scene was that he felt Paul shouldn’t lose something after having learned something. Misery changed the most brutal scene by having Annie break his ankles with a sledgehammer instead of a full amputation of his foot, which was sufficient to demonstrate the clear hostage situation. In addition to the scenes Bates talked about, her character also cut off Paul’s thumb.

While King has never specifically addressed the lack of gore in the 1990 movie, he thought it was a great adaptation. Previously, the novelist had opened up about Misery being a manifestation of his own struggles with cocaine. In the same panel, Reiner shared that Warren Beatty, who was once attached to the project, made a comment about Misery being a “prison movie” instead of a horror or thriller, and what made Caan’s casting brilliant was the contrast between his constraint and his athletic physique.

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It seems clear that Reiner’s work leaned more toward the psychological horror of Paul’s imprisonment in Misery instead of the gore and violence of Stephen King’s favorite character. Bates’ performance as a terrifying antagonist was partially why the director’s plan worked so well. It’s true that the 1990 movie adaptation left out several gory scenes in the book, but it still remains a classic.

Bates also has a point, especially from the perspective of what’s best for her character. Taking out the gory scene made Annie much less extreme, which is something that a modern adaptation is less likely to do. However, Misery would’ve been a very different film if Annie’s most horrifying scenes were included.

Source: IndieWire