Horror Theme- The Shining

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

Cast: Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd

Directed by: Stanley Kubrick

So I haven't made a post in quite awhile now. I was going to write an unfavorable review about Looper recently, but I had worn myself out talking about it with friends and had no motivation to rant about it on this blog. Anyways, every year before Halloween I always dive into horror movies to get into the mood. I try to find fresh ones I haven't seen before, but I always watch the classics too. The Shining is widely considered one of, if not THE best horror movie ever created. It's pretty much in everyone's top 5. I'm going to begin doing a horror theme where I will review mostly horror movies (aside from big theatre releases) for a week or two. Since my horror themed reviews are going to be scattered through time periods, I'll try my best to acknowledge when they were made.

So, The Shining. Did I like it? Read on.

Review

The Shining was made in 1980 by famous director Stanley Kubrick. This was my second time watching the movie in its entirety and probably the hundredth time I've heard REDRUM or "Here's Johnny!" in one way or another. This movie is indeed a classic for many reasons, but I can't say it soars by without flaws. At 2hrs and 22mins the length is considerably long for a horror movie. This contributed to what I thought was a really boring first 40 minutes of the movie. We're introduced to this family of 3 (father, mother, son) and we're told 2 things: the father has accepted a job to look after an abandoned hotel during the winter where no one can go in and out of easily due to the tremendous amount of snow the area gets & that the son has visions and an imaginary friend. This is a pretty sweet set up, but it takes 40 minutes to do! I'm not sure what the intention of starting his movie out so slow was, but maybe Kubrick wanted to slow burn his way into people's minds. Maybe the little horror during those 40 minutes was good enough in 1980 to keep an audience creeped. Not for me though.

Everything that happens after is both a Jack Nicholson home run of a performance and a creepy thrill ride with ghosts, demons, and a psycho. Oh, and there's a scene with a naked old lady that creeped the hell out of me. It turns into one of those movies that you can't help but love and think about for hours after watching.

Topic of the Day

I'm going to keep this one nice and short. I've mentioned it numerous times on my blog, but here it is again and I can't help but point it out. Location is absolutely KEY to making a good horror/thriller movie. You have to have your characters in a place where they can't easily escape. They should be trapped. In The Shining, the location is in an area where only certain snow vehicles can get to. When psycho Jack Nicholson rips out the engines in their vehicle, there's nowhere to go. It also benefited from the fact that an abandoned hotel is huge and creepy as it is.

Consensus

The Shining is one of those movies that stands out to many as a classic. I'd agree that for the time it was made the horror is outstanding and there are many classic quotes to go along with it that have lasted to present day, but I can't help but acknowledge the flawed 40 minutes in the beginning of the movie. I'd have this chalked as a classic if it weren't for those, but I'm forced to dock points. Still, anyone who is into horror and wants a great one for Halloween - watch this one, Jack Nicholson is at the top of his game.

8.5/10