After a few of my friends gave a few dirty looks when I said "I have never seen The Shining", I went out and bought a cheap DVD of the movie to watch it, and I am glad I did. This was one of the creepiest and strangest movie experiences I have ever have-and it was so cool and chilling to watch.
Jack Nicholson plays Jack Torrance, the new caretaker for the Overlook Hotel. He and his family are there for the whole winter until May, which is fine for Jack, as he wants to get some writing done-at first. His young son, Danny, is revealed to have a special power to see past and future images, dubbed the "shining", and throughout, Danny sense something wrong and Jack descends into madness.
I call myself a casual Stanley Kubrick fan. I think he is a great director, but I have only seen two other films of his before this one (Dr. Strangelove and 2001: A Space Odyssey) and thought both of them were masterpieces. Kubrick's direction here is once again masterfully done. He really created a creepy unease even at times when nothing scary or threatening was happening. The music score by Wendy Carlos was placed perfectly at times. There were also no real special CGI effects in the movie-just good old set-up and acting.
Jack Nicholson was brilliant to watch. It was so creepy and fun to see him descend into the madness he gets to throughout the movie. He was the perfect choice for this role, but what was even more perfect was Danny Lloyd as Danny, Jack's son (How is it that the actors names are the same names as the characters?). I am very impressed with this kid. He was calm when he needed to be, scary when he needed to be, and "Tony" when he needed to be. I can not believe an actor that young could pull off something like Tony. That voice was something I would never expect an actor that young to nail down. Shelley Duvall is also well-cast and provides for the common person watching the movie. She was thinking what I was thinking-"get the hell out of there!"
The plot was really fascinating to me, even though I was at a disadvantage. I am a big Simpsons fan, and I know their Shining spoof by heart, so when certain parts of the film were on, my mind went back to that spoof. However, the plot still had some things I did not see coming and I did really enjoy it. Seeing Danny be told of his power really added to the creepy and supernatural vibe the film gives off. Stephen King wrote the novel this was based off of, but I have been told it strays far from it. Even so, Kubrick picked an excellent ending and a great plot to show some suspense, but I do wish some things were explained better, or at all. Seeing Jack interact with the past was a joy, and the scene in Room 247 was nice to watch at first, but then changes to be creepy as hell. Not many plots can show that well.
This film offers some great suspense and scares that are brought by a masterful direction and wonderful actors. I am just starting to get into horror films and I am glad I saw this. Despite my personal problem with the plot not explaining as much as I would like, this is a film for the ages and one I would recommend.
Grade: A
Also, I hear rumors that they are in production on a prequel to this film and, to be honest, I wouldn't mind! It would be cool to see what went down before Jack got there (for the 1980 time).
Also, what was the deal with the guy in the dog suit giving Grady a blow-job?
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