Wednesday 2 March 2011

Film 21 "The Shining" IMDB N0. 48

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy


1980 Stanley Kubrick

Maybe I was too young when I first watched this but the film is not as I remember, I thought there were more scenes in the city they lived in before the hotel and it was a lot more scarey. Maybe that was the book, one of the few I actually read as a teenager.
Jack Torrance, a frustrated writer, lands a job as a winter caretaker at The Overlook Hotel, that spends five months cut off by snow. He sees this as an opportunity to get on with his writing and takes his young family wife Wendy and son Tommy to the hotel. Tommy has a 'gift' and can see the past and future, Jack doesn't understand this gift Wendy humours it. At the hotel they meet Dick Hallorann who also has the gift and calls it 'The Shining', he knows that somefhing is going to happen and tells Tommy not to worry.
All is ok for a month or so, then cabin fever sets in for Jack and it all kicks off.
This is in the day of horror films before gratuitous violence gave the shocks, it's full of suspense and drama and filmed in a great location.
A horror classic 8/10

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