1922 Review

I am a huge fan of Stephen King, I have been since I was too young to be. His stories interject terror into the most common and relatable everyday life situations with immaculate precision. His books, however, have had a somewhat rocky path when transfering to the big screen. Some of them have had huge success, while others fell to the wayside. This film seems to me to be one that slipped through the cracks. I found it to be very entertaining and captivating. The filmmakers did very well adapting the Stephen King feel to this film.

1922 (2017) was written and directed by Zak Hilditch, based on a novel by Stephen King. It stars Thomas Jane, Dylan Schmid and Molly Parker. In 1922, Wilfred James (Thomas Jane) was a farmer with a wife and a son. When his wife (Molly Parker) inherits 100 acres of land, she decides she doesn’t care for the farm life and wants to sell the land and move to the city. It soon becomes apparent to Wilfred that she was not going to be stopped from taking his farm, so Wilfred convinces his son (Dylan Schmid) to help him murder his wife to save their way of life. But can he ultimately live with himself?

This film felt very dry and gritty which actually worked in its favor. There was a sense of realism to the story brought about by the excellent set design and overall feel of the movie. Stephen King stories tend to have a knack for getting in your head and making you contemplate major morality issues. This film shows that even if you get away with the crime of hurting another person, even if there is no way in a million years that you could get caught, you still have to live with yourself. That can be just as bad as paying for it with the law. Maybe worse.

This was an excellent movie, but it was a little gory in a couple scenes. Graphic violence seems to be a Stephen King staple no matter what kind of movie it is. I don’t mind the gore but I thought I should warn my readers. Also, I hate rats. This movie had a lot of rats. If you can’t handle that, skip this one. Otherwise, it's a great story and you will even get some chills out of it.

• This film was released on October 20, 2017. it was produced by Campfire and distributed by Netflix.
• This movie was filmed in British Columbia, Canada.
• Based on the Stephen King novella "1922" originally published in his 2010 collection "Full Dark, No Stars".
• This is Thomas Jane's third starring role in a film based on works by Stephen King. The other two are The Mist and Gerald's Game.
• Hemingford Home is also where Abigail Freemantle resides in Stephen King's The Stand.