10 More Horror Characters That Appeared Outside Their Own Movies

3. Annie Wilkes - DirecTV Commercial

Annie Wilkes DirecTV
DirecTV

DirecTV are an American television provider that have been supplying homes with entertainment since 1994. In 2008, they supplied the world with one of the craziest and funniest commercials ever made.

The ad opens on the famous scene from the 1990 film Misery, where imprisoned author Paul Sheldon gets his ankles broken by demented fan, Annie Wilkes.

Wilkes places a wooden block in between Sheldon's legs and picks up a sledgehammer, but before she can go through with this heinous act, she turns to the camera and addresses the audience.

With actual Kathy Bates reprising her role (a role she won an Oscar for, lest we forget), Wilkes talks about how her original plan was to cancel her DirecTV subscription, so that Sheldon couldn't watch all of their "fancy sports in high-def."

She eventually backs down from the idea, saying it would be too painful to inflict this on the writer. The voiceover then calls for the viewer to "put an end to the torture" as Annie uses the hammer off-screen.

James Caan is also in the ad, but seemingly only through stock footage. (He was clearly more of a Dish Network guy.)

Contributor
Contributor

Jacob Simmons has a great many passions, including rock music, giving acclaimed films three-and-a-half stars, watching random clips from The Simpsons on YouTube at 3am, and writing about himself in the third person.