October Horror Challenge 2017 #71: "1922"

This was one of my favorite of the more recent Stephen King novellas. I was really impressed with it because it was as good as (if not better than) his older stuff. Since I liked it so much, I was excited to hear they were adapting it into a movie. I was also cautious, though, because let's be honest, a lot of movie adaptations of Stephen King's work just plain suck. I've seen enough of the bad to despair that none of them would ever be good (or at least not enough of them to make it worthwhile to watch every new adaptation that comes out, for fear of wasting my time). I guess we'll see.

This story is about a husband whose wife inherits a big piece of land from her father. The wife doesn't like the farming life, though, so she wants to sell the land and move to the city, but her husband wants to stay, so they become embittered and begin to hate each other. The man convinces his teenage son that the only solution is to do something horrible. Why do people always go for the worst case scenario in times like this? There's no other solution possible, so we have to do the most drastic, horrifying thing possible that will make everything a thousand times worse instead of solving anything. It makes me want to tear my hair out, I swear.

Adapting a story like this can't be easy. You had your work cut out for you, Zak Hilditch (the director and screenwriter). None of the characters in this story are especially likable, but you have to find a way to MAKE them likable enough for people to care about your story. As for me, reading the story, I wound up liking the husband more than I thought I would. I want to punch him in the face for what he did, but I also kind of understand why he did it, how desperate he must have been. That kind of role must be a pain in the ass to play. It's hard to find a balance. Thomas Jane does a great job with the role, as does Molly Parker as his wife. I liked and hated both of them, which is a difficult mix to achieve.

There's not a lot of gore in this story. The horror is almost all psychological, which I appreciate. I'm the kid who had Edgar Allen Poe's "The Telltale Heart" memorized when I was 12 years old, so I can get behind a story where hate and anger drive someone to do something horrible, and then the guilt slowly drives them to madness. That's exactly what happens here, and though the movie has to cut some details out for the sake of brevity, it manages to retain enough of the story's tragic nature to be haunting (moreso than most ghost stories I could name). The movie perfectly captures that desolation and tragedy from the story. I still feel chilled and sad from it. The movie is very well done and I'm glad I gave it a chance. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go cry in a corner and rock back and forth.