[KING'S CORNER] The Moving Finger (1991)

The Moving Finger (Monsters) - King's Corner Review

Welcome to King's Corner. A recurring series of reviews based on the film and TV adaptations of Stephen King's novels and collections, reviewed and released in order of the original source material publishing date.

Director: Kenny Myers

Starring: Tom Noonan, Alice Playten, Sharon Cornell, Richard B. Shull

Written by: Haskell Barkin

Produced by: Michael Gornick

Cinematography by: Irek Hartowicz

Original Score by: Donald Rubenstein, Joe Taylor

Synopsis:

When a mysterious, impossibly long finger inexplicably and creepily pokes up out of the drain of his bathroom sink, a family man is pushed to the brink of sanity in his attempts to get rid of it.

Thoughts:

In Season 2, Episode 11 of 'Family Guy' there is a cutaway joke featuring Stephen King and his publisher. In the clip King is struggling to come up with an idea for his "307th novel". After spotting a lamp he says his next book is going to be about a young couple who are terrorised by a spooky lamp. Exasperated, his publisher tells him he isn't even trying anymore before asking when he can hand him the final copy. It's a great parody that tackles the trope that from time to time King will try to draw horror from any bog standard object in an attempt to frighten his audience. 'Christine' had a killer 1958 Plymouth Fury, 'The Mangler' had a possessed industrial laundry press and 'The Shining' even had a ghostly fire hose. Whilst there were varying degrees of success in how these objects frightened an audience, perhaps one of the strangest examples of this was the use of a disembodied digit in the short story, 'The Moving Finger'. 

The story was first published in 'The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction' in December 1990 before being added to the anthology book 'Nightmares and Dreamscapes' in 1993. The story follows average Joe, Howard Mitla who makes a startling discovery in his bathroom sink one night, a human finger that is poking out of the drain. Confused, he tries to remove it as quickly as possible but he ends up getting more than he bargained. It is a creepy story laced with arch humour that stands out as being one of King's strangest stories to date. 

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The story was eventually adapted as an episode on the television show 'Monsters' in 1991. It acted as the final episode in its 3 season run which lasted 72 episodes. After his work as producer on 'Tales From the Darkside' producer Richard P. Rubinstein wanted to work on a new anthology show that was strictly horror, steering away from the science fiction and fantasy elements of 'Tales From the Darkside'. This led to the creation of 'Monsters' (which did not involve the influence of George A. Romero like the previous show) which (as the title suggests) was a "monster of the week" anthology based show featuring a new creature story every episode. 

From the intro to the show, which features a family of rubbery looking creatures sitting down to watch their favourite TV show 'Monsters', you know exactly what to expect with this adaptation of 'The Moving Finger', one which seems to be very much in the spirit of the source material. We then move into the average apartment of Howard (Tom Noonan) and Violet (Alice Playton) Mitla. They are sitting in front of TV watching 'Jeopardy' (a show Howard is an expert of) while a hokey woodwind based score plays in the background. When they stand up the height difference between the two is amusing and clearly played for laughs but it doesn't outshine the sweetness of their dynamic (especially in the way Howard leans down to let Violet kiss his forehead goodbye). When Violet leaves Tom begins to hear the tapping of the titular digit setting the escalating madness in motion. It feels like the story of how an intrusive element that breaks the mundanity of American living can lead to bloody madness, how most people seem to be a powder keg of violence waiting to go off. 

Although there isn't a lot to Howard as a character apart from being a Jeopardy obsessed man who has stage fright whenever he needs to use the toilet, Tom Noonan stretches the most out of the light character work in the material. As an actor Noonan had a towering presence with his physique and could be utterly terrifying without saying a word as he has shown on multiple occasions (most prominently with his role as serial killer, Francis Dolarhyde in Manhunter) but here he is an average Joe faced with something beyond comprehension. He is a very gentle speaking mild mannered individual at the start of the show but as the episode progresses and the more the finger taunts him he becomes increasingly unhinged. When it reaches breaking point his performance embraces a form of splatter-stick akin to a Sam Raimi film. For what is essentially a leading role in a small B level TV show Noonan most certainly doesn't phone it in as he is fully committed to his role and keeps the viewer locked in right until the bloody finale. 

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As with the creature effects in the show's intro, the puppet work to bring the moving finger to life is not entirely convincing but there is a charm to it that makes it surpass anything you could attempt with CGI. It also sits well within the arch tone of the episode where so many elements become increasingly heightened as the episode progresses. Howard's priority is to get rid of the finger. Director Kenny Myers handles this escalation of violence between Howard and his newfound nemesis really well. He tries to drown it only for it to taunt him, he engages in chemical warfare by using drain cleaner only from it to attack him before he chops it up using an electric hedgeclipper. It is similar to another King story, 'Battleground' but here it isn't realised as well as that other story despite them both being similarly fantastical in nature. 

When it comes to the finger Howard doesn't care how or why it is there, he just wants it gone so he can use his bathroom in peace without his wife being altered to the thing's presence. The source material offers a little ambiguity over the existence of the finger and Noonan plays it that way because it is such an over the top idea that you question how it can be real but the show clearly shows that it most definitely is real with the appearance of the cop at the end of the episode playing things up to the show's target audience. 

'The Moving Finger' has always been one of the strangest of any of King's short stories but it is also one that is perfectly suited to something like a short television show in the vein of 'Monsters'. It is a simple one location, mostly one character piece that relies heavily on the lead performance from an unravelling Tom Noonan. Thankfully (despite the light character work in the script) he gives it his all by not only delivering a performance to match the material but one that does a fine job at externalising a very internal story. 

Verdict: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

-Joseph McElroy