PopHorror Let's Get Scared
If there’s one person capable of capturing the psychological unraveling of a tortured writer, it’s Stephen King. His novella, Secret Window, Secret Garden was published in the collection, Four Past Midnight (1990). It depicts a writer whose life is in shambles and whose mind is sure to follow. Adapted for the screen in 2004 by David Koepp (Jurassic Park, 1993), starring Johnny Depp (A Nightmare on Elm Street, 1984) as the troubled writer, Mort Rainey, Secret Window is turning 20, and despite some low ratings, still remains at the top of many of King’s “Constant Readers” lists as one of the best adaptations of his work.
Author Mort Rainey has caught his wife sleeping with another man and has begun divorce proceedings. He retreats to the cabin he and his wife, Amy (Maria Bello, Lights Out, 2016), called their summer home by the lake as his new permanent residence. Unfortunately, better times haunt him. Especially the little secret window which overlooks a quaint secret garden below that his wife loved.
He keeps the separation as amicable as possible despite harboring obvious hatred for Amy’s new boyfriend, Ted (Timothy Hutton, The Dark Half, 1993). But he suffers terrible writer’s block and depression out of sight of his ex wife. One day, Mort is visited by a mysterious stranger in a black hat who calls himself John Shooter (John Turturro, The Batman, 2022). John Shooter claims that Mort plagiarized his work and now Mort feverishly tries to prove that isn’t the case as Shooter’s visits become more and more threatening.
Depp and Turturro give subtle, but effective performances, complimented by an equally unassuming, and rather picturesque lake house setting which adds to the ominous effect of the presence of evil which you cannot easily see beneath the surface.
The conversations that Mort has with himself are an especially interesting peek into the character’s mind as he begins to lose touch with his chosen façade, and must face the reality of his actions and the man he truly is. As the story progresses, we receive visual affirmations that his mind has been playing tricks on him all along, and even he begins to question who John Shooter is and where he really came from.
Sometimes the large set pieces and heavy atmosphere of the thrillers and horror films we’ve come to expect can overshadow the more modest category psychological thrillers that this one falls into – especially when it comes to Stephen King, an undisputed master of horror.
Secret Window is definitely worth a re-watch. It is currently available on Roku Channel.
What are your top five Stephen King film adaptations? Does this one make the cut? Tell us in the comments!
