The Woman in the Room

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.

The directing debut of Frank Darabont, a man who signs cult adaptations of Steven King, "The Shawshank Redemption " and "The Green Mile", is also an adaptation of King's story. "The Woman in the Room" (1983) is a thirty-minute psychological drama about a lawyer whose mother is dying in pain and his emotional and moral dilemma of whether to release her from her agony. The film was done almost without a budget, with only three actors in two rooms, and it's based almost entirely on facial expressions and the building of the atmosphere. It is interesting that the actress who plays mother also appears in "The Green Mile", and the supporting actor also has roles in both, "The Green Mile" and "The Shawshank Redemption". King stated that this is the best short film made on one of his stories.

7,5/10

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.

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The Woman in the Room (1983) was a decent debut for future male weepy film maker Frank Darabont. The future king of chick-flicks-for-guys makes total use of a shoe string budget and directed a surprisingly watchable film. Unlike the other film that was included on the tape, this one follows the original story (found in the short story collection Night Shift).

A man is being feeling conflicted over a decision he feels that he must do. His mother is dying of a fatal illness. Everyday he visits he and watches her waste away. The doctors can't do anything for her except kill her pain. But the mother doesn't want to live like this anymore and asks him to help her. Can the good son make his mother's final request come true? What is her final wish? To find out you'll just have to watch THE WOMAN IN THE ROOM!

Like I said in the beginning. A nice adaptation that was made on a minuscule budget. Not a masterpiece but a nice short.

Recommended for Stephen King film fans.