9 Best Changes Stephen King Movies Made From The Books
3. Replacing The Amputation - Misery
Misery is one of King's best known works, exploring the often toxic relationship between fans and their heroes.
When writer Paul Sheldon crashes his car in a blizzard, he is rescued by mega-fan Annie Wilkes and held captive in her home while she forces him to revive a recently killed-off character.
Misery was faithfully adapted to the screen in 1990 with James Caan and Kathy Bates starring, and the movie was every bit as tense as the book.
After Paul is caught up and out of bed by Annie, she decides she must take drastic measures to keep him as her helpless captive. In the book, Annie uses an axe to remove one of the writer's feet, then cauterises the wound with a blowtorch.
Deciding that this might be a little much for Hollywood, director Rob Reiner instead had Annie hobble Sheldon using a log and a sledgehammer. It was still brutal and made for uncomfortable viewing, but taking the less-is-more approach was the right thing to do.
Holding the book and movie up side by side, it's easy to see that Reiner made a wise decision, and Bates even won an Oscar for her performance.