Review of The Shining (1980) by Dillinger P — 09 Mar 2015

It's easy to place The Shining in the horror genre and just forget everything else special about it, sure by now we've all either seen it or at least watched that one scene where Jack Torrens knocks the seven shades of shit out a door and manically utters the phrase, "Here's Johnny!", to do that however would be a sin.

The Shining bolsters an atmosphere, concept and cartridge full of shocks, while also managing to make you howl in uncomfortable laughter. Okay, Jack Nicholson brings most of the comedy to the table, but its his turn as Jack, that really sets the bar high for best nut job ever portrayed in cinema.

No wonder it would take decades until someone else would ever come close. The Shining is based on the Stephen King novel, based on the same name and unfortunately despised by King himself, where a writer and handy man Jack Torrens, takes on the duty to look after the Overlook Hotel, while its closed down in the winter months.

Him, his wife Wendy and son Danny all make their way up, with prospects of a fun getaway and some much needed space for Jack to finish a writing project he hasn't really started yet. It's all gravy until, well, until it all goes wrong, I dont think id be spoiling it almost 4 decades later saying it doesnt end well for the Torrens but the start point and end point are in themselves just bookends for some seriously tense and supernatural goings on.

Once again who else could helm such a film apart from visual miestro and the lord of awkward Stanley Kubrick, who was literally the shape shifter of film directing, approaching every genre and bringing his bleak and stunning eye to each.

This is his attempt at horror and in some cases, this is where a lot of his strengths lie. Kubrick has a nack for filling the screen with awkward wide shots, sparse and beautiful imagery and bizarre and haunting characters, almost isolated from reality themselves.

The Shining really plays up to these strengths, with an arsenal of steadi-cam shots, constant slow tracking shots and wide angles that just force you to be on a convayor belt waiting to be massacred. Kubrick also shows his nack for not exactly getting an oscar worthy performance but a true show of emotion from Shelly Duvall, Wendy, by giving Nicholson a free pass on set and bullying Duvall so that by the time it got round to take 39, she was at breaking point.

Now this obviously didnt create any lasting partnership between the 2 and from interviews with Duvall, it is clear that she stays reserved about the director, however what were left with on screen is really a woman at her most helpless and exhausted.

It's an unorthdox way of doing things but it works, Jack Nicholson on the other hand just plays it right up from the word go, he constantly has this tension behind him, this layer of unsettled that waiting for him to crack is inevitable but a wonder to watch.

Danny does his job as well as a child actor could do, in the midst of the off screen hardships. Even Scatman Carruthers pops in to try and push the supernatural element a bit and although his screen time is limited, his character is loveable and at points a sign we can breathe for a couple of minutes.

The film itself looks and sounds stunning, the location is clearly unmatchable, from a wonderfully huge hotel to the hedge maze outside, even in the opening credits the helicopter shot of the one car heading up the snowy mountain is luxurious to watch and equally as haunting, as we get the sense of dread straight from the score.

Kubrick litters the film with surreal and unsettling elements, this is all through either how he shot it or by the addition of the Overlook becoming alive, everything from the twin girls, to Lyod the barman, even Mr Brady, all bring a haunting and other worldly addition to an already nightmarish trip.

These additions also question your mental state, is Jack really watching these events unfold, or is the house up to something, an element the book hits home harder than the film. However having a house swallow itself up in film may not have been the best route, no wonder Kubrick changed the ending.

It leaves it more open to interpritation, thus allowing a bigger demographic to enjoy the film. As mentioned it is stunning to look at, everything lit and shot perfectly, performances that either ring true or are just so downright maniacal they are magnetic and a score that fires the whole thing intro the stratosphere.

Low points? Very few, the end just kind of happens and the script at the beginning seems a bit alienating, however that was really a Kubrick trademark by this point. It is the Archetypal horror movie, one modern day directors should study a bit more in depth.