Review of The Shining (1980) by Tony P — 09 Feb 2017

The first time I had ever got around to watching this much celebrated horror from 1980. Based on a Stephen King novel.

With a cast that includes Jack Nicholson as an alcoholic Jack Torrance and Shelley Duvall as his poor wife Wendy Torrance.

Jack (how weird is it having the character and actor with the same name?) gets a job as winter caretaker at an isolated hotel in the Colarado mountains called the Overlook Hotel.

The Hotel is snowed on and basically cut off from the rest of the world during the winter and has seen previous caretakers what shall I say, go mad. An axe murder several years before etc.

Anyway Jack doesn't mind the isolation to get away from the alcohol demons as well as make progress with his literary career.

The hotel is a series of grand sets at the United Kingdom's Elstree Studio.

Jack moves his wife and young son Danny (Danny Lloyd) with him.

Over the next couple of hours Jack especially, Wendy and Danny all succumb to some sort of delusional behaviour.

Nicholson has this unshaven, unkept look that along with his general demeanour anyway is just damn scary.

Blood is shed, people are attacked and The Overlook Hotel is as isolated as ever.

Add to the mix a great music score and direction by Stanley Kubrick and all the ingredients are there for a classic horror film.

Nicholson is quickly becoming my favourite actor. Every film I have seen him star in from Easy Rider, Five Easy Pieces, Chinatown and now this have been great.

Kubrick adds the colour and camera angles from his other films such as A Clockwork Orange.

The film is best renowned for Nicholsons scary scene shouting "Here's Johnny!".