Welcome to my blog! It’s called Hannah’s House of Horrors because I watch horror movies and then come here to talk about how much I liked them. This week’s pick is Gerald’s Game, a movie on Netflix that was adapted from a book written by Stephen King. Deemed “unfilmable” until the creation of this movie, it explores topics both terrifying and confusing. Gerald’s Game is a 2017 American psychological horror thriller film based on Stephen King’s 1992 novel of the same name. The film stars Carla Gugino and Bruce Greenwood as a married couple who arrive at an isolated house for a holiday. When the husband, named Gerald, dies of a sudden heart attack, his wife is left handcuffed to the bed without the key. With little hope of rescue, must find a way to survive and escape, all while battling her inner demons.
This concept is phenomenal. The wife, named Jessie, fights her inner demons and begins to resolve long-buried trauma concerning both her husband and father. However, we come to find out one demon is external. It is a man covered in shadow who comes to visit her during the nights she is cuffed to the bed. She believes, like her other horrors confronted during this time, that this man is not real, even calling him the “moon man” as he only appears at night. When she finally does escape, she sees the moon man again and tells him that “he isn’t real; he’s only made of moonlight”.
Except the moon man is real, the audience finds out. Because of spoilers (and also, I hate it), I won’t be revealing who the moon man really is. Watch it for yourself. What I hate is the existence of his character. This isn’t really the director’s fault, so I guess I have beef with Stephen King. Jessie still could have resolved her trauma without the moon man, and it messes up the story by adding on a moon man subplot that did not add to the resolution of the overarching story. Also, the moon man is supposed to “look weird”, and the reason he looks weird, Jessie and the audience find out, is because he has acromegaly. Known more commonly as gigantism, it is seen in the media most prominently through Andre the Giant. I have issues with this because I don’t think a human condition should be seen as scary. I couldn’t imagine having acromegaly and seeing this movie, and suddenly seeing my disability as “monstrous”. And to top it off, he is completely devoid of hair. This is NOT a trait of acromegaly and seems to be a little extra “creepy” factor Stephen King added on. But you know what else isn’t a trait of acromegaly? Breaking into a house to terrorize a woman handcuffed to a bed.
There are a few differences between the book and the movie. The book explores many different internal demons that Jessie has, while the movie focuses primarily on her husband, her father, and herself. I believe this was a good idea to cut down on the plot to better lend itself to movie format. The moon man is also called “Space Cowboy” in the novel, after the 1969 Steve Miller song. This was also likely cut to prevent any unintentional humor. It may have also been to cut down on paying royalties.
All in all, I would not watch this movie again. It has a gore and stress factor, but it explores topics that I don’t want to. I might recommend it to a seasoned horror vet who just wants to feel disturbed, but this is not a movie for the light-hearted (aka my boyfriend, who I made watch this with me).
– Hannah Tubacki, Assistant Poetry/Art Editor and Blogger
Hannah Tubacki – Asst. Poetry Editor, Art & Design Editor, Blogger: Hannah is a junior at Lewis University majoring in English with a concentration in writing. She hopes to combine her love of writing with a business perspective to bring English creativity to her future in professional business and development. She spends her free time writing, drawing, painting, and finding ways to channel her creativity in challenging and entertaining ways. She loves to try new food and consume any media horror-related. Some of her favorite authors are Edgar Allen Poe, HP Lovecraft, Ray Bradbury, and George Orwell.