Secret Window is the story of Mort Rainey, a successful novelist who has recently separated from his wife and is struggling with his next project. One day Rainey, played by Johnny Depp, is confronted by an angry farmer who claims that he has stolen his story. John Shooter, played by John Turturro, threatens to kill Rainey unless the writer changes the ending to match the one he has written. Rainey, who is positive that he is the original author, dismisses the man's claim. This leads Shooter to show the novelist that he means business and gives him three days to change the ending. What follows are Rainey's attempts to prove he wrote the story and appease the homicidal farmer.

I'm a relatively new fan of Stephen King's novels and short stories. I started reading King in 1997 and to this day I've read 15 of his books. I have yet to read Secret Window, Secret Garden, the short story upon which this film is based. As I wrote in the forum some time ago, "...movies have no chance of being better than the book because reading the book always puts the IDEAL movie in our mind." So I went into this experience with a clean slate and what I received was a movie I really enjoyed. It's a movie that can be catergorized as Horror-Suspense. This film is in the same mold as Frailty and The Sixth Sense in that there is little to no blood or gore but it holds your attention all the way through to the credits.

Another thing that I enjoyed was the performance of the two main characters played by Depp and Turturro. The more I see these two actors in ANY type of movie, the more I believe they can play any role thrown at them. Whether it is a veteran poker pro in Rounders or a flamboyant swashbuckler in Pirates of the Caribbean, these two shine in just about every role they are given. This movie was character driven and they carried the movie on their backs.

With good characters, an interesting story, and an unusual ending, this movie has a little bit of something for everyone. There will be people who complain about the lack of blood and gore and if that is all you look for in a horror movie then this is definately not the flick for you. But if you're looking for an intelligent and suspenseful "light" horror movie, check out Secret Window.

7 out of 10 corns on the cob