The Shining (1980)

User Rating:

8.5/10   

Director:

Stanley Kubrick

Writers:

Stephen King (novel)
Stanley Kubrick (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

23 May 1980 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

The tide of terror that swept America IS HERE[UK Poster]

Plot:

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.

Plot Keywords:

Hotel | Caretaker | Ghost | Insanity | Colorado

Awards:

1 win & 5 nominations

Cast

Jack Nicholson	...	Jack Torrance
Shelley Duvall	...	Wendy Torrance
Danny Lloyd	...	Danny Torrance
Scatman Crothers	...	Dick Hallorann
Barry Nelson	...	Stuart Ullman
Philip Stone	...	Delbert Grady
Joe Turkel	...	Lloyd the Bartender
Anne Jackson	...	Doctor
Tony Burton	...	Larry Durkin
Lia Beldam	...	Young Woman in Bath
Billie Gibson	...	Old Woman in Bath
Barry Dennen	...	Bill Watson
David Baxt	...	Forest Ranger #1
Manning Redwood	...	Forest Ranger #2
Lisa Burns	...	Grady Twin Daughter

Also Known As:

Stanley Kubrick's 'The Shining'

Runtime:

142 min (cut) | 119 min (cut) (European version) | 146 min (original version)

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

New Zealand:R16 | Spain:13 | Italy:VM14 (re-rating) | Italy:VM18 (original rating) | Finland:K-15 (DVD rating) | Iceland:16 | Portugal:M/16 | Canada:14A (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) (re-rating) (2007) | Canada:R (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) (original rating) | Brazil:14 | Ireland:15 (re-rating) (2007) | UK:15 (re-rating) (2007) | Denmark:15 (DVD rating) | Denmark:16 (video rating) | Malaysia:U | USA:R (Rated R for intense sequences of violence and terror, language, and graphic nudity) | UK:18 (video rating) (1986) | Argentina:18 | Australia:MA (DVD rating) | Australia:M | Canada:18+ (Québec) | Denmark:15 | Finland:K-18 | France:-12 | Hong Kong:III | Ireland:18 | Netherlands:16 | Norway:18 | Singapore:M18 | South Korea:(Banned) (original rating) | South Korea:18 (DVD rating) (2004) (uncut) | UK:X (original rating) | West Germany:16 | Philippines:X | Japan:R-15 | USA:R | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Colorado, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

During an interview for the UK'S The 100 Greatest Scary Moments (2003) (TV), Shelley Duvall revealed that due to her role requiring her to be in an almost constant state of hysteria, she eventually ran out of tears from crying so hard. To overcome this she kept bottles of water with her at all times on set to remain hydrated.

Goofs:

Continuity: As Wendy enters the bathroom to escape from Jack, the lampshade beside the bed is crooked. When Jack enters the apartment to break down the door with the axe, the lampshade is straight.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Jack Torrance: Hi, I've got an appointment with Mr. Ullman. My name is Jack Torrance.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "HBO First Look: The Haunting (#6.6)" (1999)

Soundtrack:

It's All Forgotten Now

Jack Torrance Meets David Bowman

What can I say about the scariest movie I have ever seen that has not already been said by others more articulate than yours truly? Do not view this film expecting to see a screen version of the Stephen King novel. Rather, this is a Stanley Kubrick film, and to fully appreciate it one should judge it within the context of Kubrick's entire body of work as a serious filmmaker. Thematically, THE SHINING relates most closely to 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, though flourishes of PATHS OF GLORY, A CLOCKWORK ORANGE and BARRY LYNDON do manage to figure prominently in the film's overall technique.

In a nutshell (no pun intended), Jack Nicholson and Shelly Duvall co-star with Oregon's Timberline Lodge - enlisted to portray the exterior of the Overlook Hotel - in a story that appears on the surface to be about ghosts and insanity, but deals with issues of child abuse, immortality and duality.

What the film might lack initially in terms of coherence is more than made up for in technique. Garrett Brown (the male voice in those old Molson Golden commercials), inventor of the Steadicam, chases young Danny Lloyd through hotel corridors and an amazing snow maze, providing magic-carpet-ride fluidity to scenes that ten years earlier would have been impossible to accomplish. If the film starts off too slow, remember who the director is. This man likes to take his time, and the results are well worth it: incredible aerial shots of the Overlook Hotel; horrific Diane Arbus-inspired twins staring directly at us; portentous room 237 and its treasure trove of terrible secrets; elevators that gush rivers of blood in slow-motion; Jack Torrance's immortality found via the hotel (akin to David Bowman's journey through the Space Gate); and some of the best use of pre-existing music ever assembled for a motion picture.

It would take a book to examine and defend the film's strong points and drawbacks. If you've never seen it, you owe it to yourself to watch it alone with the lights off, with no interruptions, and make sure that it's raining. This is a cinematic experience that changed my life at the age of 14. Makes a great double feature with Robert Wise's 1963 thriller THE HAUNTING.