In the 1990 film "Misery", lead antagonist Annie Wilkes' rage and insistence that Paul Sheldon should re-write his book leads him to becoming a prisoner in her home. It's a situation with lots of standard tension tactics borrowed from the eminently superior "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane"(1962). As such it resembles a slick reworking of that film but without the classier script or direction. Where it is significantly elevated is in the terrifyingly convincing performance by Bates as a schizophrenic psychopath. Both films share many camera and lighting techniques, personal psychosis and oppression as main themes, and stereotypical characters that parallel each other's roles from each film.

Although the modern-day technology present in the making of "Misery" is far superior to that of the equipment used to produce "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane", both films use subtle cinematography and lighting to create terror and immerse the audience in...