History YMMV / Misery

* MoralEventHorizon: Annie was already a [[spoiler:SerialKiller, so she's well past it by default]], but her on-screen ones are her [[spoiler:murder of the sheriff and breaking [[note]]In the book, cutting off his feet[[/note]] Paul's ankles with a sledgehammer to prevent him from trying to escape, all while deliberately not giving him the painkillers she'd otherwise ''always'' keep Paul sedated with]].

* SignatureScene: Annie breaking both of Paul's ankles with a sledgehammer. Notorious for marking the peak of the film's violence, it had a profound impact not only on general audiences, but on the crew itself. In the DVD commentary, director Rob Reiner commented on the scene's notoriety, reporting that Kathy Bates herself broke down crying after the shooting was done.

** Two decades after Kathy Bates played Annie, she appeared in ''Film/MidnightInParis'' as Gertrude Stein, and the protagonist desperately ''wanting'' her to read his writing and hear her opinion is a plot point.

* NoYay: Annie Wilkes and Paul Sheldon, especially in the book. She's an ex-nurse LoonyFan of the disillusioned writer who saved him from a car crash and slowly nurses him back to health. It's eventually revealed that Annie has killed several of her patients, and her mood constantly swings between cheerful and psychotic. It culminates with Annie [[spoiler:amputating Paul's leg.]]

* MoralEventHorizon: Annie was already a [[spoiler:SerialKiller]], but onscreen her [[spoiler: murder of the sheriff and broken [[note]]in the book, cutting off[[/note]] Paul feet]].

** Five words: "And now I must cauterize."[[labelnote:explanation]]After Annie chopped off Paul's foot to make sure he won't wander around the house ever again, she proceeds to close the wound by cauterization. That is - burning. And he's deliberately not given painkillers, despite being otherwise purposefully dosed up all the time.[[/labelnote]]
* NoYay: Annie Wilkes and Paul Sheldon, especially in the book. She's an ex-nurse {{LoonyFan}} of the disillusioned writer who saved him from a car crash and slowly nurses him back to health. It's eventually revealed that Annie has killed several of her patients, and her mood constantly swings between cheerful and psychotic. It culminates with Annie [[spoiler:amputating Paul's leg.]]

* TheWoobie: Paul. The whole story is basically about him stuck in ''Hell!''

** Annie breaking Paul's legs gets even more horrifying given then--13-year-old Thad Phillip's 1995 ordeal at the hands of Joe Clark--kidnapped and held prisoner for 43 hours while Clark broke the bones in his legs. Phillips finally escaped by throwing himself down the stairs and dragging himself to a phone, by which point he was within two hours of death from internal bleeding. He survived, but needed numerous surgeries and walks with a limp to this day. [[note]] And he was the ''lucky'' one--Clark ''murdered'' two other boys in this manner[[/note]]

* MoralEventHorizon: Annie was already a [[spoiler:SerialKiller]], but onscreen her [[spoiler: murder of the sheriff]].

** It's lucky that Annie hadn't read ''Misery's Child'' before finding Paul, or she may have left him to die or been abusive to him right from the start.

** Paul continually tries to expand his writing work, only to constantly get tons of complaints from fans who only want the next ''Misery'' book and can't stand the ScheduleSlip caused by his taking time away from it. He'd probably get along well with [[Creator/GeorgeRRMartin a certain real writer]].

* ValuesResonance: With the rise of online culture allowing far more direct contact between creators and fans, which inevitably leads to a good number of them feeling entitled to pressure the creators into bending the work toward just what they want, Annie has taken on a new life as the ultimate avatar for the dangers of toxic fandom.

** When the book came out, King had to establish to his fans that Annie is a fictional character and a LoonyFan that is the exception rather than the norm, when hearing that they took offense. Shortly after, one LoonyFan tried breaking into King's house when his wife Tabby was home alone, threatening her with a bomb. She ran out and got help from the police. (This is why King's house in Bangor has a spiked gate and he no longer offers trick-or-treating to the local kids).
** Just the rise in visibility of real life [[LoonyFan Loony Fans]] in general who do things such as sending death threats to writers if they stray off the narrative that they have chosen with a work. Viewpoints not dissimilar from Annie's on the world at large are even given as backing for their behavior, with offenses against fictional characters being treated as something real people must be hurt for.

** Paul's ''Misery'' series is focused on a pretty but flighty young woman who is the focus of two guys who do all the cool stuff. The series is obscenely popular. Fans, but especially middle-aged women, adore it. Critics everywhere skewer it. [[Literature/{{Twilight}} Almost twenty years later...]] Even more hilarious what with Stephen's [[{{TakeThat}} reaction]] to said novels...

* WTHCastingAgency: Although Creator/StephenKing has said he really likes the film adaptation, he said once that he never really liked the casting of Creator/JamesCaan as Paul Sheldon.

** Averted in-universe. Annie is particularly square, to the point of not even swearing - even Paul finds it lame that she's so very... {{GoshDangItToHeck}}! Of course. Her psychotic rages are not cool to Paul. She's a terrifying force with zero sense of humour.

* SignatureScene: Annie breaking both of Paul's ankles with a sledgehammer in the film.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: Quite a bit.

** In 2021, in Chester, England. A nurse named Lucy Letby went on trial for murdering seven babies - and ten more. If guilty, the Dragon Lady has a new rival.

* NoYay: Annie Wilkes and Paul Sheldon, especially in the book. She's an ex-nurse LoonyFan of the disillusioned writer who saved him from a car crash and slowly nurses him back to health. It's eventually revealed that Annie has killed several of her patients, and her mood constantly swings between cheerful and psychotic. It culminates with Annie [[spoiler:amputating Paul's leg.]]

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** In the book, Paul theorizes that the reason Annie got away with her earlier murders is because she did them in different towns, and police departments weren't able to properly investigate her past doings. [[TechnologyMarchesOn Today, police departments have online databases]] that store all available information on a person's criminal activity, where and when it was done. Annie should have been placed in a prison or mental ward by her late teens.

* CatharsisFactor: After the hell she's put him through, Paul [[spoiler:taking his revenge and finally killing]] Annie during the climax is made of this for many.

* CatharsisFactor: After the hell she's put him through, Paul taking his revenge and finally killing Annie during the climax is made of this for many.

** Just the rise in visibility of real life [[LoonyFan Loony Fans]] in general who do things such as sending death threats to writers if they stray off the narrative that they have chosen with a work.

** Paul's agent suggesting [[spoiler:he write a memoir about his captivity]]. The agent gives the reasoning that it would be a bestseller immediately, but when you remember their friend went missing for months and is visibly traumatized, perhaps they're asking [[spoiler:Paul to find a healthy outlet for his trauma]]. Note that the agent doesn't push Paul when he refuses, sensing he needs space.

* FridgeHorror: When reading through Annie's "Memory Lane" book, Paul finds out that she was married and then divorced by her husband, Ralph Dugan, with Annie's writing on the divorce page showing that she was ''pissed'' about it. There's no clipping about the ex-husband meeting a nasty death afterwards, so it seems like the poor guy got away okay. Except that much earlier on, Annie refers to herself as a "poor ''widow''" and her MO has been shown to evolve to hiding bodies after she kills them, making it possible that she ''did'' kill him but his remains were never discovered and Paul simply didn't connect the dots.[[note]]Though it's also possible that Annie just pretends her husband died instead of divorced her, and it bears noting that Annie's book contains obituaries for ''all'' her other victims. Since the album contained a news clipping about Paul's disappearance, it stands to reason there would have been a similar clipping present if Annie's ex also disappeared.[[/note]]

** Paul is in the middle of an ongoing series when he gets in a serious car accident before finishing it. King nearly died in 1999 after being hit by a van while writing the ''Dark Tower'' series.

* SpecialEffectFailure: The incredibly obvious dummy of Annie when her head hits the typewriter during the climactic fight is quite obviously a dummy.