10 Terrifying Scenes In Psychological Thrillers

Stephen King adaptations are like guitar solos - just because you can, doesn't always mean you should. Luckily for King and movie fans, Misery is one of the best King adaptations so far and it manages to capture the spirit of the source material and bring something fresh at the same time.

Misery went on to snag Kathy Bates a well deserved, if long overdue, Oscar and a Golden Globe award too. Hardly surprising, Bates performance was electric - her portrayal of Annie Wilkes has entered the realms of pure icon status, most people know exactly what is being referred to when they hear "I'm your number one fan..."

When writer Paul Sheldon (James Caan) loses control of his car in the snow, little does he know that his rescuer will soon become his enemy and capture. Totally obsessed and equally crazy, Wilkes resorts to 'hobbling' Sheldon, a brutal technique involving placing a length of wood between his ankles and breaking them both, one after the other with a sledgehammer to prevent him from escaping her clutches.

Those of squeamish dispositions should avoid this scene, it's exhaustingly brutal and one of the most disturbing sequences in movie history.

Director Rob Reiner had actually toned the scene down from the events of the novel, in which Wilkes removes one of Sheldon's feet at the ankle with an axe, as both him and Bates had believed the scene would be 'too much.' It's hard to know if we should be thanking him or trying to find the deleted scene...