HorrorHR Tamnica

When a harmless game between a married couple in a remote retreat suddenly becomes a harrowing fight for survival, wife Jessie must confront long-buried demons within her own mind - and possibly lurking in the shadows of her seemingly empty house.

The gore is very much all there. So especially a scene towards the end is not for anyone with a weak stomach. Blood and gore in a very realistic and necessary way. I cannot believe Mike Flanagan went there, but I do adore him for going there!

While Flanagan has already proven himself to be one of the new masters of horror, Gerald’s Game shows that he’s more than a one-trick pony. He’s taken a nearly unadaptable story and turned it into an emotional, thought-provoking, intense, and even more so important powerhouse of thriller that will prove to be as timeless as Misery.

Mike Flanagan has become a household horror name for Oculus, Absentia, Hush, and Ouija: Origin of Evil. Now he’ll be known for bringing audiences a powerful, tense, inspiring Stephen King adaptation. If that doesn’t make him one of horror’s brightest names, I don’t know what will.

I found Gerald’s Game to be a compelling horror/thriller – intense, suspenseful, teeth-grittingly graphic and exceptionally emotionally nuanced – complete with hallucinations, vicious dogs, and a protagonist who engages us in her personal hell and traumatic battle for survival…and yes, there is even a final twist.

GERALD'S GAME isn't a thing of perfection. There's an extended epilogue that halts the incredible momentum that had been built up. To go too far into it would be spoilery, but it doesn't gel with the rest of the film. I know why this epilogue is there, and on a certain level it is necessary for the audience, but there's no denying that GERALD'S GAME - on purely cinematic terms - doesn't stick the landing.

Clumsy conclusion aside, GERALD'S GAME is a masterfully crafted thriller, boasting two terrific performances and at least one sequence that is so harrowing it's a cinch to become an instant classic. (You'll definitely know it when you see it.) It handles horror of every shape and form skillfully.

Kudos to the filmmakers behind GERALD’S GAME. They’ve solved the unsolvable: how to properly utilize and shoot a story taking place almost all in one location and entirely through one character’s perspective. Director-co-writer Mike Flanagan, along with co-writer/ frequent collaborator Jeff Howard, have put evident passion behind their adaptation of Stephen King’s previously thought “unfilmable” novel, turning it into a gripping, visceral thriller that, yes, gave me anxiety nightmares.

It’s an incredibly well-made film, and Flanagan gets the best performances he’s directed yet from Gugino and Greenwood—it’s great to see them get such juicy roles.