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.

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.

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.

I bought this film in a 2'nd hand store about 2 years ago and i have only watched it once since then. it is a low tamed collage film that feels very hollow. it is only 30 mins long. it is alright to watch when you have nothing better to do. but i don't agree with the cover when stephen king says that this is the best movie made from my stuff... this story comes from stephen kings book night shift and it is about a man who has to make a choice with his mother who is dying slowly he can help her die or he can watch her die which is killing him???? this comes with two more stories the bogey man and a bouns story. the bogey man is stephen kings as well and is a lot better. all in all it is worth watching once if you are a stephen king fan. (5/10)