31 Days of Halloween - Day 30 - The Shining (1980)
The Shining – for us – is second in line as the ultimate Halloween horror movie. Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece is beautiful, with sweeping interior shots of the isolated Overlook Hotel, as well as being genuinely terrifying. There’s quite a few scenes where we whimper. On repeat viewings.
Based on Stephen King’s novel, caretaker Jack Torrence (an amazing, amazinnggggggg Jack Nicholson) arrives at the hotel with his family to take care of it over its closed winter period. Son Danny (Danny Lloyd) feels bad vibes – if bad vibes can be constituted as a river of blood coming out of the hotel’s elevator door – and can also communicate telepathically with head chef Dick (Scatman Crothers). The previous hotel caretaker killed his family and then shot himself in the head, and it seems like the hotel is still holding onto those memories and ghosts – plus has a plan for Jack and his family.
Whether it’s the spooky twins – ‘Come and play with us Danny, forever…and ever…and ever….’ – through to the horrors behind the door of room 237, The Shining has iconic horror scenes which stay with you. Some of its best scenes however are the Kubrick classics of long, sideways-shooting tracking shots, with Jack in the hotel’s Gold Room meeting the ghostly, posh barman Lloyd (Joe Turkel).
Nicholson conveys his confusion, terror and ‘possession’ with just the raise of his eyebrows, whilst poor Shelley Duvall as his wife Wendy is really put through it – in the film and on set too.
Once you’ve seen The Shining, it’ll have you forever. A bit like the Overlook.
ALL WORK AND NO PLAY: *smashes typewriter*
GORE RATING: 5/5
SCARES: 5/5
DISTURBIA: 5/5
TOTAL HALLOWEEN VIEWING RATING: 10/10
Watch it for: Kubrick’s vision and Jack Nicholson. Plus it’s one of the greatest horror films ever made
Watch out for: REDRUM! REDRUM! REDRUM! REDRUM!
The Shining – for us – is second in line as the ultimate Halloween horror movie. Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece is beautiful, with sweeping interior shots of the isolated Overlook Hotel, as well as being genuinely terrifying. There’s quite a few scenes where we whimper. On repeat viewings.
Based on Stephen King’s novel, caretaker Jack Torrence (an amazing, amazinnggggggg Jack Nicholson) arrives at the hotel with his family to take care of it over its closed winter period. Son Danny (Danny Lloyd) feels bad vibes – if bad vibes can be constituted as a river of blood coming out of the hotel’s elevator door – and can also communicate telepathically with head chef Dick (Scatman Crothers). The previous hotel caretaker killed his family and then shot himself in the head, and it seems like the hotel is still holding onto those memories and ghosts – plus has a plan for Jack and his family.
Whether it’s the spooky twins – ‘Come and play with us Danny, forever…and ever…and ever….’ – through to the horrors behind the door of room 237, The Shining has iconic horror scenes which stay with you. Some of its best scenes however are the Kubrick classics of long, sideways-shooting tracking shots, with Jack in the hotel’s Gold Room meeting the ghostly, posh barman Lloyd (Joe Turkel).
Nicholson conveys his confusion, terror and ‘possession’ with just the raise of his eyebrows, whilst poor Shelley Duvall as his wife Wendy is really put through it – in the film and on set too.
Once you’ve seen The Shining, it’ll have you forever. A bit like the Overlook.
ALL WORK AND NO PLAY: *smashes typewriter*
GORE RATING: 5/5
SCARES: 5/5
DISTURBIA: 5/5
TOTAL HALLOWEEN VIEWING RATING: 10/10
Watch it for: Kubrick’s vision and Jack Nicholson. Plus it’s one of the greatest horror films ever made
Watch out for: REDRUM! REDRUM! REDRUM! REDRUM!
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