From the previews, it’s hard to get a grasp of what “Secret Window” is really all about. At first, it appears to be just another horror movie, with a creepy killer and a token blonde. However, “Secret Window” is more psychologically thrilling than it is horrifying.

Johnny Depp commands the screen in this 90-minute adaptation of Stephen King’s novella “Secret Window, Secret Garden.”

Depp’s talent for portraying unbalanced, odd characters, when paired with the foundation of Stephen King’s storytelling abilities and Director David Koepp’s mind-bending, introspective screenplays, has created a film that is difficult to find fault with.

The majority of the movie is just Depp. He sleeps a lot, wanders around and sometimes even talks to himself. He does a fantastic job carrying these mundane scenes, and somehow, the movie never feels as if it’s dragging. This is due also in part to the camera angles, which are reminiscent of those used in “Fargo.”

Mort Rainey, Depp’s character, is a reclusive author going through a divorce. He lives in a semi-dilapidated cabin on a lake deep in the woods with his dog. The film opens with Rainey trying to talk himself out of checking at a local hotel for his wife, whom he suspects of cheating.

The dialogue is sparse throughout the film, and characters other than Rainey are significantly underdeveloped. But they don’t need to be. The movie is an introspective look into the mind of Rainey; the rest of the characters are only shown as he sees them.

The central plot follows Rainey’s struggle with a dairy farmer, John Shooter (played by John Turturro), who arrives at his door and claims Rainey stole his story. The full reaches of this struggle are not revealed until the last 20 minutes of the film, when the tagline “Some windows should never be opened” starts to sound a lot less cheesy.

The movie makes sense and is believable up until the climax, when a dramatic plot twist causes the whole story to make sense in a much different way.

There are certainly moments of gore, mostly involving screwdrivers. However, it is the plot twists and character development that make this movie stand out. The mental depth and intrigue found in this film make it a candidate for multiple viewings without becoming monotonous.