The Shining: Hotel of Horrors
The horror is driving him crazy.
This may be the most incoherent horror movie ever made that also happens to be one of the best. You shouldn’t think too hard about it, just surrender to its unforgettable horror sequences and its wintry, chilling beauty. Ten years ago, a friend of mine and I had a nerdy contest where we decided to crown the greatest horror movie ever made. After plenty of heartbreaking comparisons and heated discussions, we agreed on one candidate that we both could accept as the scariest movie ever made. The Shining is still very potent and shows Stanley Kubrick proving to his younger colleagues at the time that he was the master, even when it came to ghost stories.
Writer Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) is hired as the new caretaker at the remote Overlook Hotel somewhere in Colorado over the winter but the manager also feels compelled to tell Jack about Charles Grady, the former caretaker. The hotel is completely isolated for several months and Grady went nuts, killing his family and then blowing his brains out. Jack is not deterred; isolation is what he’s hoping for as a writer. He brings his wife Wendy (Shelley Duvall) and son Danny (Danny Lloyd) to the hotel where they meet Dick Hallorann (Scatman Crothers), the head chef. As he shows the family the kitchen and all the stored goods, he realizes that Danny shares his ability of seeing and feeling things other people can’t experience. When they’re alone, Dick explains this gift to Danny and calls it the “shining”; Danny tells him that he can sense that something is not right at the hotel. When the Overlook Hotel closes for winter the Torrances are left alone. Jack tries to write, but can’t come up with anything good. As the atmosphere at the hotel begins to have an effect on Jack’s mind, Danny has violent visions of blood and murder; the past events at the hotel won’t let anyone forget.
Mr. Kubrick starts his film with helicopter shots of a single car driving on a road that snakes into a mountainous landscape; the scene is accompanied by mysterious and frightening music based on Berlioz’s “Symphonie Fantastique”. The director cleverly uses various kinds of classical music (particularly by Penderecki) to get us in the right, uncomfortable mood. The Overlook Hotel and its maze are basically one huge set, if you can believe it; the overwhelming interiors almost take on a life of their own. Some of the visions are startling, to say the least; the blood gushing out of the elevator, the murdered twins, the sexy woman who turns into a rotting, laughing corpse in Jack’s arms. Stephen King admitted that there was much in this film that would be remembered but he hated the choices that Mr. Kubrick made. The movie can’t make up its mind if it wants to be a ghost story or a portrayal of mental illness; movies need to stick to their own rules, but this is one instance where few have cared that it didn’t. I like the director’s playfulness, the way he shot some sequences; there’s a terrific scene where Jack stares at a model of the maze and suddenly you can see his family walking inside of it. Mr. Nicholson is amazing to watch, but his burning charisma also leaves few doubts about where he’s headed; he goes crazy too soon, too obviously.
I’ve been to the hotel where Mr. King began writing the book. It doesn’t quite look like the Overlook, but it has similarities. As you stand in front of it, facing the beautiful Rockies, you can’t help but think of the indelible images Kubrick and King both had part in creating. Even if they did hate working together.
The YouTube clip shows Danny meeting the twins.
The Shining 1980-U.S. 140 min. Color. Produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick. Screenplay: Stanley Kubrick, Diane Johnson. Novel: Stephen King. Cinematography: John Alcott. Production Design: Roy Walker. Cast: Jack Nicholson (Jack Torrance), Shelley Duvall (Wendy Torrance), Danny Lloyd (Danny Torrance), Scatman Crothers, Barry Nelson, Joe Turkel.
Trivia: European version runs 115 min. Robert De Niro and Robin Williams were allegedly considered for the part of Jack. Remade as a miniseries, The Shining (1997).
film movies stanley kubrick jack nicholson IMDb
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