reviewed by Charity Bishop
    

Stephen King is a master of psychology. His eerie tales have sparked the grotesque of imagination to produce some truly terrifying experiences. His short story Secret Window, Secret Garden has been transformed into an intense nail-biter with a disturbing twist ending. It's not for the fainthearted. 

Mort Rainey (Johnny Depp) has just gone through a nasty divorce. A well known writer with a quaint little cabin in the backwoods, Mort lives a solitary life with his trusty canine. Pressed with writer's block and self-denial over his smoking habits, he's about to enter into a living nightmare. One morning a knock comes at his cabin door. It's a man who calls himself Shooter (John Turturro). He claims Mort has plagiarized his story about a man who plots to kill his wife. He leaves a manuscript as proof. Disinterested but unable to evade his curiosity, Mort pages through the volume. To his shock and horror, it's word for word a story he penned nearly a decade before. Believing the man to be a nutter, Mort ignores the whole thing... until his dog turns up dead. The poor animal is discovered with a screwdriver stuck through his neck. 

Since there have been no death threats, the local cross-stitching, seventy-year old sheriff can't do anything. Having dealt with rabid fans in the past, he calls on an old friend and paid bodyguard for protection. Together they scheme how best to get rid of Shooter while Mort entertains doubts about how he obtained that story in the first place. He has proof it was published four years before Shooter said he wrote it, but getting the evidence becomes difficult... and his stalker isn't about to hand him any favors. Soon his ex-wife (Maria Bello) becomes involved, and Mort suspects her lover (Timothy Hutton) of being at the root of his problems. 

One complication after another will lead to a gruesome showdown of murder, madness, and revenge. From the very first scene to the final blackout, Secret Window keeps you transfixed. I've seen Johnny play a lot of parts... a non-communicative gypsy, a weak-stomached investigator, an addict, a fun-loving eccentric, and a rum-crazed pirate, but this is without a doubt one of his finest performances. From the bed head appearance he constantly undertakes to the charm and wit displayed in his moments of tranquility, the movie belongs completely to Depp. The supporting cast are great as well but nowhere near his level of intensity. The film is just plain creepy. It also has a very horrific ending -- Stephen King fans won't be surprised, but others will be shocked. It also differs in conclusion from the short story, so if you've read it don't think you know all its nuances.

Like most thrillers of this genre, many acts of violence and intimidation are implied. Most of the violence is unseen since the director wanted to keep it as tolerable as possible. The worst actual content is a man being hit in the face with a shovel. It's then implied he's killed with it. A screwdriver is driven through a woman's foot. Dead bodies are found. Mort discovers his dog impaled. He stumbles across a bloodied car with two figures inside. One still has a screwdriver stuck in his brow (Mort is forced to pull it out). Shooter roughs him up several times. A man brandishes a gun, and breaks his bathroom mirror and shower door with a poker in a terrified rage. Some smoking and drinking are present. There's also an abundance of foul language, including one f-word, two harsh abuses of Jesus' name, and many profanities. (Mort uses the word s---t all the time.) Sexual content is minimal. Mort's bodyguard is seen stretched out in his motel room without any pants on. Several flashbacks are shown of Mort finding his wife and her lover in bed together.

The elements in this movie are often more disturbing than actual visuals. It's not a thriller to be entered into lightly and you'll find your emotions wrung out like a dish rag by the conclusion. It's worthwhile fodder for those familiar with Stephen King's tactics in the use of horror and psychology but might stand the hair on end of those expecting your normal stalker flick. In fact, three out of four friends who rented this around the same time I did had a profoundly uneasy feeling after watching it. Like me, they could not wait to get it out of the house!