The Shining

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The Shining

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The Shining

Barry Nelson, Danny Lloyd, Jack Nicholson, Joe Turkel, Scatman Crothers

Frustrated writer Jack Torrance takes a job as the winter caretaker at the ominous, mountain-locked Overlook Hotel so that he can write in peace. When he arrives there with his wife and son, they lear...( read more  read more... )n that the previous caretaker had gone mad. Slowly Jack becomes possessed by the evil, demonic presence in the hotel.

Id: 6858677

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The Shining Recent Reviews
  • garyX
    December 18, 2009
    garyX
    A writer and his family move in as caretakers to a secluded mountainside hotel for the winter, but a presence inhabiting it causes his mental disintegration leading to the urge for bloody murder. I'm not a fan of Stephen King. In fact, I'd go as far as to describe him as "a bag o...( read more)f cock". But what Kubrick did was to strip away the hokey nonsense of King's original novel, and create a masterclass in haunting imagery and suspense. In fact, the supernatural elements of the story are almost irrelevant. The horror lies in the subtext of domestic violence; it's difficult to see a plaid wearing, balding middle-aged man as a terrifying monster, and Nicholson is hardly the most physically formidable presence. But in the classic scene in which he finally snaps, it is easy to see why waif-like Shelly Duvall (or anyone like her) would be incredibly intimidated. Without resorting to unnecessary gore Kubrick's visuals are disturbingly intense, and complimented by one of the eeriest soundtracks ever written, the sense of unease is as creepy and atmospheric as any created. Far from being dated, compared to what passes for "horror" these days The Shining has actually improved with age. Another example of Kubrick being Jack of all trades and master of all.
  • AgentLexi2132
    November 10, 2009
    AgentLexi2132
    ''Darling. Light, of my life. I'm not gonna hurt ya. You didn't let me finish my sentence. I said, I'm not gonna hurt ya. I'm just gonna bash your brains in. I'm gonna bash 'em right the fuck in. Ha, ha.''

    A family heads to an isolated hotel for the winter where an evil a...( read more)nd spiritual presence influences the father into violence, while his psychic son sees horrific forebodings from the past and of the future.

    Jack Nicholson: Jack Torrance

    Shelley Duvall: Wendy Torrance

    The Shining as soon as it begins, as soon as the music eerily plays and the landscape zooms in and past, you instantly know this is a piece by Kubrick. I mean it's so blindingly obvious.

    The film is based on Stephen King's novel and the combination of Stanley Kubrick bringing it to life on the big screen, we have before us gold.
    We get a boy who right from the off is made apparent he has a psychic gift and visions of things best not seen.
    Danny Lloyd plays Danny Torrance with remarkable skill for a boy so young which is a wonder to behold.
    Shelley Duvall who portrays Wendy really annoyed the hell out of me. I mean here we have this strange looking woman who delivers her lines in such a flimsy fashion, and I mean some of the clothes she wears are so distasteful it makes The Shining in areas a horror movie for all the wrong reasons. Her scared disposition is believable in parts though and she doesn't do a totally bad job.
    Moving on to the main attraction of Shining and yes you have guessed it, it's Jack Nicholson as Jack Torrance who steals the limelight and ultimately the show. He's so insanely nuts and off the chain, my humour called for me to laugh every single time he went psychopathic. I mean he totally captures and freezes onto frame the sheer madness of Jack's character. Whether it be visions from his mind perhaps of figures from the past or real supernatural influences from the Hotel, we are treated to his mind and left to make up our own conclusions. Are the figures real or merely part of his sub conscious being drawn out? It's definitely an excuse for discussion and Jack going completely ape is an excuse to re-watch this horror masterpiece.

    ''Little pigs, little pigs, let me come in. Not by the hair of your chiny-chin-chin? Well then I'll huff and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house in.''

    The Shining features some of the most warped music which reminded me of the other greats of Kubrick like 2001 and Orange. The Cinematography especially the last scene in the dizzying maze and the start with the countryside being shown is virtually faultless.

    Be it the creepy visions the boy has of past occurrences, rooms splashing with blood, or a pair of twins who were blatantly murdered by a previous caretaker. Be it Jack's spiraling maddened journey into the dark side, or his conversations with a surreal bar man who appears to be from the past and part of Jack's weathered conscience. Shining really shines as a masterful piece in the horror stakes and will remain a shining performance for Jack Nicholson and a directorial achievement for the late Kubrick.
    The REDRUM and ''HERE'S JOHNNY!'' has become iconic and it's not hard to see why.

    Overall I felt Shining is a work of genius that obviously will be replicated and copied by many more horror films trying to achieve the same shocking outcome but alas they all pale in comparison. The ending wasn't as bloodthirsty as I would of hoped, and the closing part with him in the picture wasn't totally understood by me. But the more I think about it, the cleverer it appears to be, like The Shining is telling me Jack has been consumed and become one with a Hotel and place that has buried an ancient angry foreboding embodiment of anger.

    The shining grand achievement of Kubrick.

    ''Heeere's Johnny!''
  • irisheyes686
    November 6, 2009
    irisheyes686
    Pretty creepy...but it was really slow until the last half an hour. Nicholson is amazing as a crazy person though.
  • SirPant
    September 4, 2009
    SirPant
    Stephen King quite famously condemned this film which I?ve always thought was unfair. This is probably the best film to be made based on one of his books, it's certainly one of the greatest Horror/Thriller films ever made and Kubrick's rewritten ending is far superior to King's. ...( read more)Nicholson is at the top of his game and Duvall and Crothers are great in supporting roles.
  • sononothing
    April 27, 2009
    sononothing
    Stephen King hates this movie. Hates it with a passion. He hated it so much he had it re-made for TV. King felt that it was butchered, mis-cast, and a total abomination to the original novel. You must also remember that Stephen King directed Maximum Overdrive and Stanley Kubrick ...( read more)directed 2001. Need I say more.

    It's hard to say what exactly The Shining is about. I can throw out the basics: A man, his wife, and their son travel to an isolated Colorado hotel so that the father can act as caretaker through the harsh winter months. While there he slowly cracks and goes nuts while weird things appear to be going on. That's the basic plot, but what IS The Shining exactly. Is it a ghost story about an old, haunted hotel? Is it a family's breakdown from being cooped up alone together for so many months? Is it about a gift that apparently the father, son, and cook share? Is it an abusive father finally going totally ape shit? What Stanley Kubrick does with The Shining is weave all of these together to the point that we don't know what's really going on... and we do know what's going on.

    You can take so many things from The Shining. Depending on what road you traveled will depend on how you see The Shining. Kubrick seems to intentionally not call it a ghost story, yet lays the possibility right there before you. Honestly, does anything really supernatural actually happen in the hotel that couldn't be explained by the occupants going nuts one by one?

    Jack Nicholson once again plays the perfect psycho almost too well. He looks crazy even on the ride up to the hotel, which could be an allusion to what's coming up. Danny Loyd plays the son, acting like your typical little boy. Curious and scared all at the same time. The only real weak link in the cast is possibly Shelly Duvall. I say possibly because her performance could have been exactly as Kubrick wanted.

    Kubrick directs the film with relish, giving us a nice open feeling in this cooped up hotel. He throws visions throughout the film, doing it before it was the cool thing to do. He has created a modern masterpiece, though it's hard to call it horror. Yeah there's an elevator of blood and one axe murder, but can we really call it a horror film. It's more like a psychology project. Just like 2001, when you get right down to it The Shining presents us with more questions than answers- classic Kubrick.

    So what's my opinion on The Shining? I see it as the ultimate dysfunctional family. Dad is an abusive, ex-drunk who combined with cabin fever, writer's block, and his son's over imagination is driven to snap. Everything else falls like dominoes. But don't take my opinion for the concrete truth. It's up to you to answer your questions. In the end Kubrick is like a great professor that makes you crave more.
  • photomaestro
    December 29, 2009
    photomaestro
    A lot of people around me loves this movie. But I tried with all my might I find nothing great. I know the director (rip) is considered one of the best, this say the images are pretty ugly and gray and white are the frames are nothing exceptional.
  • coldbluefairy
    December 28, 2009
    coldbluefairy
    One of the best films by Kubrick.
  • jason12794
    December 28, 2009
    jason12794
    brilliant film, didn't scare me... BUT i liked the suspention build up. Jack nicholson plays his part perfectly. The ending didnt dissapoint me like it did in the exorcist. The best was saved untill last... brilliant ending... the only thing that i didnt like was the kid danny an...( read more)d his "imaginary friend"... but apart from that excellent.
  • hajaryusof18
    December 28, 2009
    hajaryusof18
    ; Kubrick's adaptation of Stephen King novel is executed with great cinematic precision. The film is layered with many different motifs,
  • Ztephiie69
    December 27, 2009
    Ztephiie69
    >.< every single time its on the tv, i only see the ending ¬.¬ ... the book is so good though :D
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