Paul Sheldon (James Caan) is an author who has written a series of very successful romance novels. He's been staying at a mountain retreat in Colorado where he has just finished his latest book. He takes his manuscript, gets into his Mustang and begins the long drive back to New York City. Still in the icy grip of winter, the roads are treacherous and his vehicle goes right off the edge of a steep hill and flips several times. Seriously hurt, he is pulled out by an unidentified person who carries him back to an isolated ranch surrounded by wilderness.
The unknown individual is Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates). She is a nurse who lives alone, she is Sheldon's number one fan, and as he later finds out, is a homicidal maniac. Little does the injured author know just how crazy she actually is. From the minute he regains consciousness in her house, his nightmare begins.
Everything seems normal at first. Annie appears to be a compassionate and gentle soul, and she cares for Paul's injuries which are quite severe. There are multiple bone fractures in both of his legs, and his right arm is broken. She insists the road leading to Silver Creek is closed, and the phone lines are down. Paul has no reason to doubt her claims at this point since he definitely isn't going anywhere.
Until he gets his first clue that Annie might be unstable.
Paul made a big mistake when he killed off one of the most important characters in his book. This upsets Annie and after a fit of explosive anger, she forces him to destroy his new book by setting it on fire. Unfortunately for Paul this is the only copy he has. Annie demands he write an entirely new story just for her, and it becomes clear he is in deep trouble when she finally tells him that nobody knows where he is because she never called the hospital, his family or the police.
But, somebody is looking for him. Richard Farnsworth plays Buster, the sheriff of Silver Creek. He has a nagging suspicion that Sheldon is somewhere nearby, but he can't pinpoint his whereabouts just yet. After the Colorado state police find the wrecked Mustang, Buster begins to intensify his search.
Fearing for his life, Paul tries to get out of the house, which is exceedingly difficult to do since he can't walk. He succeeds getting into the living room, and finds evidence in a scrapbook that confirms his worst fears. Annie has killed people, lots of them. Her victims have included her father and numerous patients at a maternity hospital. Annie realizes Paul has escaped and in the most gut-wrenching scene proceeds to incapacitate him with a sledge hammer.
Buster finally pays a visit to Annie's house, where she dumps Paul in the basement to hide him. She shoots Buster stone dead with a shotgun, and fully intends to kill Paul in a twisted murder-suicide pact.
In the final struggle, Paul kills her by ramming a statue of her pet sow, Misery, into her face.
Eighteen months later, Paul is walking again but with a cane. While sitting down to lunch with his agent Marcia Sindell (Lauren Bacall) it's clear he's still haunted by his experiences when he mistakes one of the waitresses for Annie.
Director Rob Reiner provides all the fear you could stand, but without the gore. The lack of any blood and guts is what makes this King adaptation so wonderful. Satisfying comic relief is given by Richard Farnsworth's sheriff, and while he is determined to solve the case he shares an amusing relationship with his wife played by Frances Sternhagen. Viewers will no doubt cheer for James Caan, the underdog of the film who tries to get out of the Wilkes house of horrors.
