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Paul Sheldon (James Caan) is a bestselling author whose main character, Misery Chastaine, has made him famous. One night he gets in a car accident during a blizzard and is rescued by a kindly nurse who just happens to be a huge fan.

And, you know, completely crazy.

Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates) seems like the perfect rescuer at first, but when she finds Paul’s latest manuscript where he kills off Misery so that he could explore other projects, she goes a little, well, bonkers. She threatens to set him on fire, flies into a rage about profanity, locks him in the house, drugs him, and when he tries to escape, Annie does something that has become the most iconic moment of the film - she breaks his ankles with a sledgehammer.

Stephen King’s huge library of titles has been fodder for a plethora of films, both good and bad - Misery is one of the good. Kathy Bates made a name for herself with this film, even winning an Oscar for her chilling performance.  She would take on King’s material five years later with Dolores Claiborne, but it would always be Misery that made her a star.

The Blu-Ray collection includes two discs; the film in Blu-Ray (duh), and a bonus disc in DVD format. Now, if you’re anything like me, you just said, ‘huh?’,  because honestly? That’s weird, and a little disappointing. All of the bonus features are on the DVD - and to the set’s credit, there are many, many bonus features. Two commentaries - one by director Rob Reiner and one by screenwriter William Goldman (yes, that William Goldman - the one who wrote The Princess Bride) - come with this set, as well as seven - count ’em, seven -  featurettes: “Misery Loves Company”, “Marc Shaiman’s Musical Misery Tour”, “Diagnosing Annie Wilkes”, “Advice for the Stalked”, “Profile of a Stalker”, “Celebrity Stalkers” and “Anti-Stalking Laws”.  I suppose one could also count the fact that the film is in both Blu-Ray and DVD format as a bonus, as you’d have easy comparison of the two formats right there should you be bored enough to do your own taste test sort of thing. Otherwise, this Blu-Ray is cool in principle, but not so much in execution.

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