GERALD'S GAME 2017
"If there's a monster under your bed it won't bother you if you're asleep," Gerald whispers to Jessie, and in that moment Gerald's Game is summed up in one beautiful sentence.
First of all, Gerald's Game is one of my favorite Stephen King novels. I read it far too young at a tender age of 12 where I learned far too much about the scary world of adults. But it has always stuck with me. I learned a lot from Gerald's Game that didn't scar me, life lessons that I subconsciously carried with me as I grew up. I re-read the story when I was 18 and it was like a light bulb went off in my head. Gerald's Game had taught me to fight so incredibly hard despite the odds. And in the tumultuous year where my Dad had left my family and my Mom had mentally checked out and I had to drop out of college....I never once stopped fighting. Because when I was 12 I read a book where a woman was in a lose/lose situation and against all terrifying odds, she fought and battled her inner demons and came out triumphant. And that woman never left me.
That might sound dramatic, but there's a reason I'm such a huge Stephen King fan, because I'm not exaggerating when I say his books have changed my life.
Tonight I watched the new adaptation, Gerald's Game, directed and written by Mike Flanagan and Jeff Howard. And I am happy to say that this film exceeded my expectations and kept what was the most important about this story and brought it to the screen.
Jessie and Gerald are a married couple who are slowly falling apart, they decide to escape up to their cabin for the weekend and play a sexy game where Jessie is handcuffed to the bed. But when things get quickly out of hand, and Gerald has a massive heart attack, dropping dead on the floor, Jessie finds herself in an impossible situation she must escape from. Or else she'll die, whether it be from dehydration, her organs shutting down, or that wild, starving dog that's sniffing around.
Ultimately this story is about survival, but it also speaks to the lengths we go to keep our darkest secrets buried. Jessie experienced something when she was younger that she has never told anyone, and without realizing it, it controls every decision she makes in her adult life. It isn't until she's locked in this situation that she's finally forced to deal with her trauma. It's an important lesson that we all learn in life, that holding secrets will slowly destroy us from the inside out. This film is incredible at how it handles the dark story line. It touches just hard enough that you completely understand what's going on, but not enough that it discredits the careful line its walking.
The story is also one about the fear that you never truly know the ones you love the most. You can be married to someone for ten years and one day they'll say something or do something and you suddenly realize you don't know that person at all. That maybe they were also keeping a deep dark secret they didn't want you to know.
Stephen King always understands the darkness that lies within every person. And Flanagan has brought that to life in this amazing adaptation.
I'm going to get into a little bit of spoilers here so skip ahead if you need to:
First of all, I'm so thankful that Flanagan kept the Dolores Claiborne reference in this film. It's so important to the story and it's a nice little nod for hardcore King fans. There was also a fun little Cujo reference which I appreciated.
Secondly, I want to talk about the horror element of it - there's some real creepy scenes in this movie that keeps the tension high and keeps the story going. Raymond Andrew Joubert, played by Carel Struycken, is incredibly creepy and his first scene caught me totally off guard. I also loved the final court scene with him. Obviously, I also need to touch on the wrist cutting scene. Reading it in the book had me squeamish but seeing it come to life...wow. I was completely unprepared. It was one of those moments where I realized I was yelling out loud and clutching my face, and actually had no idea how long I'd been yelling for (once again, I'm so sorry to my neighbors). I had been pondering how they would pull that off and they WENT THERE. The camera did not pan away once. It was horrific and so well done. An absolutely amazing scene!
Thirdly, I want to talk about the acting performances. Carla Gugino plays our lead Jessie with perfection. From the losing of her mind to the multiple personalities showing through to the final scene, this was an award winning performance. She was so believable, and raw, and emotional, and tough. Bruce Greenwood plays Gerald and it's another great performance. The scenes where Gerald is taunting Jessie, just hanging over her in bed whispering anxieties into her ear were so realistic and such a great portrayal of how having chronic anxiety really feels. Such great casting.
End of spoilers...
Flanagan is proving to me that he can't make a bad movie. This man is a powerhouse who, in my opinion, has already cemented himself as a master of horror. Gerald's Game is just another notch on the belt of a near perfect career and I honestly can't contain my excitement for whatever he has coming next.
Overall, Gerald's Game is a stunning, almost perfect adaptation of an author who many people have struggled for years to adapt. I will aggressively recommend it to everyone I know.
Solid 10/10
Now, I have some sad news. This will be my last review on this blog....
BECAUSE I'VE BOUGHT A DOMAIN NAME FOR HORROR BOUND AND AM MOVING TO A REAL WEBSITE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I've wanted to create my own horror site for awhile now but wanted to do it the right way. In April I bought the domain name for my birthday and I've spent the last few months creating the site. It will officially go live this Sunday on October 1st for the 31 day horror movie challenge.
It's time for Horror Bound to go big and not be just a little blog anymore. I've spent almost 6 years writing on this blog so I will be sad to not come here anymore and yell at everyone about how great horror movies are. I will keep this archived though for those of you who want to read old reviews, and mostly for my own nostalgia.
Going forward, you will need to visit horrorbound.net for all your horror bound needs. A MASSIVE thank you to those of you who have visited this blog over the years. It's been so much fun to watch my stats grow and have you reach out on twitter about my reviews. It's helped me blossom into a real writer and move into writing for other great websites like morbidlybeautiful.com and addictedtohorrormovies.com and now my own website! I hope you follow me over there.
As always, follow me on twitter, follow me on instagram, and on Sunday, October 1st, check out the new and improved and OFFICIAL Horror Bound.
Stay spooky forever,
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