The Woman in the Room

The Woman in the Room (1983)

*** (out of 4)

Frank Darabont made his directorial debut adapting the Stephen King short story. The film deals with a son (Michael Cornelison) who is growing tired of seeing his mother (Dee Croxton) slowly dying from cancer so he weights the option of killing her. THE WOMAN IN THE ROOM is a pretty impressive film even with the few flaws that it does have. I was quite impressed that Darabont, considering this was his first film, was able to hold the viewers attention for so long and especially since this is mainly a dialogue driven film. I think one of the highlights is a sequence where he's defending a man who is probably going to be put to death for murders that he committed. The two's discussion on what it's like killing someone was very effective. There's one horror element during a dream sequence that is very effective and quite memorable on its own. Another major plus is that the performances are all very good. I was really impressed with Cornelison being able to hold your attention and make you feel sorry for what he's going through. Brian Libby is also good as the prisoner. Darabont also wrote the screenplay here and he certainly mixes the right elements of drama, horror and just downright moral opinion.

The Woman in the Room (1984) is the directorial debut of Frank Darabont who has gone on to adapted three other movie based on Stephen King novels and this was the first time he did that. Well I just finished watching the short film and it was good.

Positives for The Woman in the Room (1984): For me, this short film was a excellent showcase of Frank Darabont as a writer and director. The interactions with these characters is very deep and personal. The acting from the cast is very good. And finally, the ending to this short film was very emotional.

Negatives for The Woman in the Room (1984): Because this is a short film, there isn't enough time to explore the themes or characters and I would like to see someone adapt this into a feature length movie.

Overall, The Woman in the Room (1984) was a great short film and a fantastic directorial debut for Frank Darabont.

Stephen King calls this the best film based on his works. It is easy to see what he likes about it.

Frank Darabont directed this short film at the age of 24. At about 30 minutes in length, it tells the story of a man who is watching his mother slowly die in great pain. He must make the decision of whether to allow her suffering to continue or to help release her from her pain forever.

The story was a tough one for King to write, and was loosly based on his own mother's death. The acting by Michael Cornelison is fairly good and the performance by Dee Croxton, who relies on simple facial movement, is also done well.

Don't watch the film if you are looking for King horror, for there is none (except one nightmare sequence). Darabont, in his directing debut, shows why he became such a force in the film world. His style here is very good, and forshadows his extraordinary King adaptions, The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile.

An interesting side note, is that Croxton later appears in The Green Mile. Brian Libby, who plays a prisoner in Woman, also reappears in both Shawshank Redemption and Green Mile.

If you are a fan of King's short stories or a film scholar who wants to see how a short film can be done right, check this out.

With this medium-length film, Frank Darabont already demonstrated that he was capable of making good adaptations of the works of Stephen King. This medium-length film has a good script and character development. The original story is short and brief and although some things were omitted here, Frank was able to expand the story a little more to give Johnny's psychological profile more depth. From applying that he is a lawyer who talks with a death row inmate, to the nightmare he has, he does a lot to show the mental crisis that Johnny is going through. Also, that makes the medium-length film somewhat Stephen King-esque, as the original story is a dramatic story that describes Johnny's emotional state through some of his memories. The Woman In The Room is an acceptable adaptation and one that served to lead Frank Darabont to bring some of the best Stephen King adaptations. My final rating for this medium-length film is 8/10.

The film is not very popular among King's screenings. The author said that it is based on his personal experience that took place with his mother. So the tragedy of cancer illness is that the death comes slowly and there is much pain inside the patient. The main character decided to release his mother's constant cancer pain by giving her poison in order she stopped suffering. Later on the horror of murder follows him in his nightmares. He is haunted by his dead mother spirit . Well, not for entertainment at all. Serious and hard to see life story. Another necro realism masterpiece. I would not recommend this for people with strong imaginative nature, as it gives serious thoughts , not those modern day computer effects and funny Gothic monsters.

www.myspace.com/neizvestnostlab