From the deep creepy opening music, you can feel a sense of dread beginning to form. The payoffs in this movie take their time coming, but that's why it works. It's a portrait of a man's slow descent into insanity. Well, maybe not THAT slow. We are talking about Jack Nicholson here, after all.
Stephen King wrote the original novel, so of course he deserves all the credit for this creepy "haunted-hotel" story. But as far as the movie version, Stanley Kubrick is the star. His stylistic camerawork and smooth motions make The Shining into a bona-fide movie experience.
From the opening helicopter shots that show Jack's long drive up a mountain to the way the camera flows through the deserted hallways of a cursed hotel, Kubrick easily displays his visual flare.
To the 3 people unfamiliar with the plot, here it is: Jack brings his skinny wife (Shelly Duvall) and creepy son (complete with talking finger) to the Overlook Hotel to act as caretaker. This requires the weird family to spend 5 months completely alone in the gigantic hotel, completely cut off from society. (I'd probably kill my whole family if it were one month, so I can relate to this movie.)
Unfortunately, the hotel seems to come complete with all sorts of evil vibes and terrible legacies. After about 90 minutes of impending dread, the kid’s finger starts turning out to be right on the money regarding the horrors and then all hell breaks loose.
It's a pretty basic story, actually. The reason The Shining remains a favorite among horror fans is how Stanley Kubrick shows us this particular story. It is deliberate, but never boring. We slowly learn the past about the hotel and also some unpleasant things about Jack as well. While his impending madness seems evident to the audience, his annoyed (and annoying) wife realizes a bit too late that Jack is maybe a few quarts low.
The look of the movie is truly beautiful. The hotel itself is pretty wild, and watching young Danny ride his Big Wheel through the empty hallways is cool as hell. When the horror stuff kicks in, Kubrick's eye for detail is just as powerful. Quiet jolts are as prevalent here as loud bangs. (I especially hate those two little girls. I first saw this when I was about 12, and I've always been terrified of them.)
The glue between the visual thrills is Jack Nicholson. Some have said that his transition from sane to loony is unconvincing, as he seems pretty creepy in his first scene! I choose to see Jack as a character that was pretty close to losing it anyway, and this trip to a deserted and haunted hotel probably didn't help matters much.
Anyway, Jack gives an unforgettable performance. Whether that's because he's a genius or a ham doesn't really matter. You remember the job he does in The Shining. It will probably stand as one of his most memorable ever, and that's saying a lot. When he kicks the dementia into high gear, it's just a joy to behold.
No, not an all-time classic, but it's a big scary dog of a movie and you need to see it if you wanna beat it. Lights out. Alone. Do it. Then do it with The Exorcist. If you need a good therapist after all that, call me.
DVDS. "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" -- or, rather, a homicidal boy in {$Stanley Kubrick}'s eerie 1980 adaptation of {$Stephen King}'s {...More at DeepDiscount.com
Think of the greatest terror imaginable. A monstrous alien? A lethal epidemic? Or, as in this harrowing masterpiece from director Stanley Kubrick, is ...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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