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 | Colorado | Insanity

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 (scenes deleted)
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 | UK:18 (video rating) (1986) | Argentina:18 | Australia:MA (DVD rating) | Australia:M | Canada:18+ (Québec) | Denmark:15 | Finland:K-18 | France:U | 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:

Hawk Films

Trivia:

The scrapbook that Jack finds in the novel makes a brief appearance next to his typewriter in the scene when Jack tells Wendy never to bother him while he's working.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Danny has the tennis ball rolled to him in the Hotel, the carpet pattern on the floor changes between cuts.

Quotes:

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

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004)

Soundtrack:

Rocky Mountains

Amazing achievement in filmmaking and the art of terror.

Chilling, majestic piece of cinematic fright, this film combines all the great elements of an intellectual thriller, with the grand vision of a director who has the instinctual capacity to pace a moody horror flick within the realm of his filmmaking genius that includes an eye for the original shot, an ice-cold soundtrack and an overall sense of dehumanization. This movie cuts through all the typical horror movies like a red-poker through a human eye, as it allows the viewer to not only feel the violence and psychosis of its protagonist, but appreciate the seed from which the derangement stems. One of the scariest things for people to face is the unknown and this film presents its plotting with just that thought in mind. The setting is perfect, in a desolate winter hideaway. The quietness of the moment is a character in itself, as the fermenting aggressor in Jack Torrance's mind wallows in this idle time, and breeds the devil's new playground. I always felt like the presence of evil was dormant in all of our minds, with only the circumstances of the moment, and the reasons given therein, needed to wake its violent ass and pounce over its unsuspecting victims. This film is a perfect example of this very thought.

And it is within this film's subtle touches of the canvas, the clackity-clacks of the young boy's big wheel riding along the empty hallways of the hotel, the labyrinthian garden representing the mind's fine line between sane and insane, Kubrick's purposely transfixed editing inconsistencies, continuity errors and set mis-arrangements, that we discover a world guided by the righteous and tangible, but coaxed away by the powerful and unknown. I have never read the book upon which the film is based, but without that as a comparison point, I am proud to say that this is one of the most terrifying films that I have ever seen. I thought that the runtime of the film could've been cut by a little bit, but then again, I am not one of the most acclaimed directors in the history of film, so maybe I should keep my two-cent criticisms over a superb film, to myself. All in all, this movie captures your attention with its grand form and vision, ropes you in with some terror and eccentric direction, and ties you down and stabs you in the heart with its cold-eyed view of the man's mind gone overboard, creepy atmosphere and the loss of humanity.

Rating: 9/10