The Shining

A masterpiece. Kubrick chose a perfect cast and uses the timing and music to create a greatly opressing atmosphere.

Nicholson is superb, but Duval and the kid are not less good.

This rum is red, man!

In spite of author Stephen King not being happy with Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of his novel, The Shining (1980) has proved to be a critical and commercial darling.

It may not be in the spirit that King wanted, but it's undeniably a skillful piece of film making, a mixture of beauty and terror, of bravura techniques and simple but effective scares. With quality acting performances to match as well. The story unfolds at a deliberately slow pace, claustrophobia oozes from practically every frame, while the narrative smarts brings to bear the ghosts of the human and supernatural kind, all bone chillingly rendered for great effect by the vast spaces - the cold winter grounds outside - of the Overlook Hotel.

It's not all perfect, the screenplay is very average, which makes Kubrick's work even more impressive, but with that comes the wave of feeling about style over substance. A churlish gripe? Maybe? But with Jack Nicholson on scenery chewing overdrive and Kubrick pulling the strings, The Shining still represents a highlight in horror. A horror movie that all horror fans should see at least once - and in the best format available as well! 8/10

Probably my favorite of the Stephen King adaptations (though not much for many of the others save for a one or two) but not amongst Stanley Kubrick's, watched this one for the first time in many years (maybe a decade) and while I did immensely enjoyed it, and really liked Nicholson towards the end, I never really bought into him early on. Still, atmospherically it was amazing and at times creepy. But can't place this as some sort of classic in my book, anyway. 4.0/5

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With Doctor Sleep, an almost 40-year sequel to The Shining, being released this week, now it’s the perfect time to revisit one of the greatest horror movies of all-time, as well as one of the most influential directors ever, Stanley Kubrick. I know, I know… Spoiler-free? For a movie released in 1980? Well, first of all, there’s always someone who still didn’t watch it. Secondly, as deeper we get into the 21st century, the more the 60s/70s/80s/90s movies are forgotten. And finally, if there’s a movie which I don’t need spoilers to explain how outstanding it is, it’s The Shining. With that said …

It has always been one of my favorite horror films ever. It’s not perfect (no film is) and some aspects don’t work as well now as they did 5/10/20 years ago. When it came out, Kubrick’s adaptation of Stephen King’s novel was received with mixed reactions. King himself criticized the movie. However, less than 10 years later, Kubrick’s film was already being reevaluated. Nowadays, it’s considered a cult classic, and it’s easy to understand why. From the countless homages to the hundreds of comedic parodies, The Shining has some of the most memorable lines ever. Just this year, we had It: Chapter Two mimicking Jack Nicholson’s “Here’s Johnny!” scene, for example. And then there’s the mysterious “redrum”…

However, the movie’s biggest influence is its technical achievements. I apologize in advance if this review becomes too technical, but it’s impossible not to address the arguably best component of the film. This movie was one of the first to use Steadicam (a camera stabilizer mount which allows for smooth shots, even on irregular surfaces, isolating the operator’s movement), something that became so common that people don’t even praise anymore. Honestly, there are still a bunch of recent movies that have terrible camera work, so I’m one of those who defend that the Steadicam use shouldn’t be taken fo...

"Darling, I'm not gonna hurt you. I'm just gonna bash your brains in."

The Shining is a great example of how musical score and cinematography can elevate a movie to the best-of-the-best.

I tend to agree with Stephen King that Jack Nicholson looked like a crazy loon from the beginning, making his decent into madness less dramatic.

But that can be forgiven by all the iconic scenes masterfully weaved into a horror classic.

"Darling, I'm not gonna hurt you. I'm just gonna bash your brains in."

The Shining is a great example of how musical score and cinematography can elevate a movie to the best-of-the-best.

I tend to agree with Stephen King that Jack Nicholson looked like a crazy loon from the beginning, making his decent into madness less dramatic.

But that can be forgiven by all the iconic scenes masterfully weaved into a horror classic.

"Jack Torrance" is a writer who suffers from a chronic lack of inspiration. To help overcome his block, he takes a job as a winter caretaker and relocates his family to the remote, huge, "Overlook Hotel" where he hopes he can focus! Gradually, the bleak Arctic conditions outside and the never ending, brightly lit, corridors and rooms long since abandoned start to affect his mind. When he ventures towards the expressly off-limits room 237 it all begins to get truly out of hand. Shelley Duvall is fabulous as his put-upon wife "Wendy" as is Danny Lloyd as their gifted, but largely terrified son "Danny". Kubrick is on top form as he cleverly capitalises on Stephen King's terrifying story helping the star create a wonderful sense of madness and menace tinged with quite a bit of comedy that leaves us with an horror film that is truly scary for a change! Credit also to the make up folks - they manage to help Nicholson transfer from obnoxious writer to axe-wielding psychopath; especially around the eyes, with real impact. 40 yeas on, it still packs a punch.