I've read the story, and listened to it, more times then I know. And yet, this version got under my skin like the first late night reading. The experience is one that is going to sit with you for a while, and need 'digestion', which to me, has always been the mark of a good movie. It doesn't let you go quite willingly.
The story is written in first person, and is mostly composed of the characters mental deterioration and circumstances, which makes it a very hard thing to translate into a visual format, but this team did a stunning job of it. The hand-held camera, usually a pet peeve of mine, really comes into its own in the movie, and the main actor (and, I dearly hope, his make-up team) took it the rest of the way, conveying in the actors appearance all the anguish and desperation of the story. His performance is intense, and the eye contact with the camera is nothing short of haunting. There wasn't a lot of gory effects, which could easily have become a crutch in this particular story, so your never really taken out of the story mentally, but left on the edge of your seat the whole way through.
It isn't something I'd share with just anyone, some people won't really get into it at all, expecting a Stephen king fright, and others, like myself, will feel it just that little, unsettling, bit deeper then visual stories usually go. But for anyone who loves that aspect of a good read, the feeling of getting really close and personal with a character, this one is Perfect.
