The Shining

Rating:
Summary: Heeeere's Johnny! A modern horror classic on DVD
Review: It's tough to believe that Stanley Kubrick received a Worst Director Razzie nomination for "The Shining." While "The Shining" may not be given the classic status of some of his other films like "Dr. Strangelove" and "2001", it's actually the least polarizing of this highly-praised and atypical filmmaker's work.

This atmospheric thriller is sure to creep you out with its pacing, eery editing and cinematography (those tracking shots are highly effective), and Jack Nicholson's powerful performance as Jack Torrance. Horror films often tend to divide audiences into genre fans who follow the gore and those who laugh in the face of so-called scares, insisting their own resiliancy to cheap thrills and lamebrain plotting.

Fortunately, "The Shining" doesn't make you take sides, because its chills come from plotting and character study as much as they do from odd sights that will make you jump. It may stray from Stephen King's book and not all of it may make sense, but "The Shining" has so much going for it that you won't mind. It's a gripping and satisfying film experience, and in my opinion, one of the best films of the '80s.

This Warner DVD re-release is definitely the version to get. The fullframe presentation comes at the wishes of Kubrick and the video and audio offer significant improvement over the drab initial release. (Unfortunately, the original Mono audio track has been dropped altogether in favor of an effective 5.1 remix. They could have included both with no problem.)

In the way of extras, there is an engaging half-hour on-set documentary, filmed by Kubrick's daughter Vivian. It provides a candid experience of the film's creation, and interviews with some of the actors. In addition, this DVD re-release includes an audio commentary on the documentary (sort of a "making-of the making-of") by Vivian Kubrick. There's also the spooky trailer, which shows how a movie preview can perfectly pique one's interest in a film, without spoiling (or even saying) much.

Rating:
Summary: Possibly the Best Horror Movie Ever
Review: This was a spectacular piece of work. It had a chilling soundtrack, and had some very good camera work. In the case of the Shining, a movie has finally exceeded the book upon which it was based. Things that would normally make a movie terrible have made the Shining a spellbinding movie. For example, the dialogue throughout the entire movie seems forced and unnatural. Another example is during an argument between Jack Nicholson (who performs incredibly well throughout the entire movie) and Shelley Duvall, after which Jack storms out of the room and glances at the camera as he goes by. If you're a horror fan, or just into movies, this is definetely one to see again and again and again.

Rating:
Summary: Heeeeer`s a great movie
Review: Best horror movie ever! Scary as hell! See this movie!

Rating:
Summary: WORST HORROR MOVIE EVER!
Review: This movie is very boring and is quite pointless. Why does he write 'All work and no play makes Johnny a dull boy'? It is very very slow moving and not many will get the whole plot, as they might forget most of what happened before the movie is over and will have to watch it again to 'get it'. Kids 11-15 will be bored out of their wits! This is definately a movie directed at older auidences, as they will understand the plot better. I was not scared at all! I've seen bunny masks scarier than this sad excuse for a movie.

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant Horror Art Movie
Review: Jack Nicholson's perfect manic performance and Kubrick's creepy insistence on the perfect shot mesh perfectly with Stephen King's popular schlock. As a huge fan of all three artists, this movie is fascinating. King's work almost always translates poorly to the screen unless its well acted and the director has the common sense not to interpret it literally. Not for every taste. Kubrick is very established shot and art housy and Nicholson and Duvall could fairly be accused of overacting. The atmosphere is oppressive and the dread builds and builds to an extremely effective climax. Creepy, smart, and exciting.

Rating:
Summary: Heeeere's Johnny! A modern horror classic on DVD
Review: It's tough to believe that Stanley Kubrick received a Worst Director Razzie nomination for "The Shining." While "The Shining" may not be given the classic status of some of his other films like "Dr. Strangelove" and "2001", it's actually the least polarizing of this highly-praised and atypical filmmaker's work.

This atmospheric thriller is sure to creep you out with its pacing, eery editing and cinematography (those tracking shots are highly effective), and Jack Nicholson's powerful performance as Jack Torrance. Horror films often tend to divide audiences into genre fans who follow the gore and those who laugh in the face of so-called scares, insisting their own resiliancy to cheap thrills and lamebrain plotting.

Fortunately, "The Shining" doesn't make you take sides, because its chills come from plotting and character study as much as they do from odd sights that will make you jump. It may stray from Stephen King's book and not all of it may make sense, but "The Shining" has so much going for it that you won't mind. It's a gripping and satisfying film experience, and in my opinion, one of the best films of the '80s.

This Warner DVD re-release is definitely the version to get. The fullframe presentation comes at the wishes of Kubrick and the video and audio offer significant improvement over the drab initial release. (Unfortunately, the original Mono audio track has been dropped altogether in favor of an effective 5.1 remix. They could have included both with no problem.)

In the way of extras, there is an engaging half-hour on-set documentary, filmed by Kubrick's daughter Vivian. It provides a candid experience of the film's creation, and interviews with some of the actors. In addition, this DVD re-release includes an audio commentary on the documentary (sort of a "making-of the making-of") by Vivian Kubrick. There's also the spooky trailer, which shows how a movie preview can perfectly pique one's interest in a film, without spoiling (or even saying) much.

Rating:
Summary: REDRUM!
Review: This might just as well be the scariest movie of ALL time. I watched this with a couple of friends at 11:00pm at a sleepover party. And lets just say, there was tons of screaming, swearing, and crying. In my opioion and I can say for my friends aswell, if anyone else took the place of Jack Nicholson in this movie, it would be a complete bore.

Upon arrival at the Overlook hotel, Jack Torrence and his family they are warmly welcomed by Dick Hollaran, the Kitchen Cook. Dick has a secret power, and little does Danny know, that he posseses the same power, the ability to know things before they happen. According to Mr. Holloran, this secret power is called The Shining. When Jack Torrence is tormented by the deceased spirits of the last caretakers of the hotel, did I mention that they are spending the winter at the hotel to look over it?, he slowly starts to transform from his fatherly ways of living, and turns into a crazed maniac who is determined to slaughter his family, as did Mr. Mcgrady, the previous caretaker. Inspite of Danny's secret message that he keeps speaking to his mother, REDRUM, Mrs. Torrence continues to try and help her husband in anyways possiable. But when she relizes what is happening, and what the true meaning of RedRum is, she will stop at nothing to save Danny, and get the hell out of The Overlook Hotel.

Rating:
Summary: Hidden messages of The Shining!
Review: The real horror of The Shining lies in the film's hidden messages. Knowing that Stanley Kubrick used film genres (e.g., terror) as a means to an end-to show audiences larger social, cultural, and even cosmic truths (e.g., 2001: A Space Odyssey)-one can see that this is more than a regular "horror flick." This is what separates this director from most, who simply direct movies for their entertainment value.

In The Shining, Kubrick shows us a horror larger than that of a writer (Jack Nicholson) who, one winter, disintegrates mentally and tries to kill his wife Wendy (Shelley Duvall) and son Danny (Danny Lloyd) with an ax at a deserted resort hotel in Colorado. Sure, this is part of the terror, and the fact that Jack actually murders Dick, the hotel chef (Scatman Crothers), at the end after the clairvoyant cook follows his instinct regarding the need for him to travel from Florida to Colorado to check up on the family.

But dehumanization, the flick's leitmotif, involves much more than that, and the other horrors that occur throughout the film are what contribute to the mayhem at the end. The truly terrifying aspect of this film is that these horrors affect us all day-to-day-at least, those who live in contemporary America. These horrors are too numerous to describe here. But the most serious involve separate, disparate elements of modern living, and yet, elements that are strangely interrelated. First, the genocide of Native Americans surfaces repeatedly in the film (e.g., Indian rugs everywhere, Indian pipettes on kitchen cans, Wendy's braids, Indian background music, a rushing river of blood gushing from elevator doors, etc.). The luxurious hotel is also called the Overlook, a literal name for a lavish America built on an Indian burial ground, which continues to "overlook" the fact that the United States was built at the expense of Native American blood-not to mention that of blacks. Second, the film's large, empty hotel both symbolizes and reifies the same isolation of the typical, suburban, middle-class American family-the nuclear family literally light years apart from neighbors and community (e.g., most neighbors don't even know one another's names). Furthermore, this real-life isolation is not just inside suburban homes-empty as the Overlook's interior-but outside on neighborhood streets and sidewalks, except for a car or two swooshing by. In turn, America's isolation from the world relates as well to the Overlook's isolation. Third, the film is about the illusion of middle-class ownership. In The Shining, Jack and Wendy appear to own the hotel-having it all to themselves, but in reality they are merely employees, owning nothing. Fourth, the movie is about the historical brutalization (not just genocide) of minorities-Wendy's victimhood representing the real-life equivalent of women, Dick's the equivalent of black Americans, and Danny's the equivalent of children.

The film isn't perfect, and one of its most disappointing aspects is the climax, when Jack-other than outside the bathroom-never really gets close to Wendy with the ax. Had this happened, the film would have REALLY had a suspenseful climax. Another serious disappointment is the lumping of homosexuality at the end (e.g., the bedroom's "gay" scene) with the other horrors of the hotel (e.g., the ghoulish man dripping with blood, the roomful of skeletons, etc.). Unfortunately, this lumping of homosexuality with creepy things is common, even nowadays, in film, TV, and writing, and the fact that this happens in a highly thought-out movie is an even bigger horror. Because people generally accept well-presented things uncritically (e.g., a visually flawless movie), it is imperative that incidents like Kubrick's depiction of gayness in The Shining be viewed and spoken about with critical eyes.

Most viewers who ask, "What was that movie about?" have simply failed to see the hidden meanings of this film, but once uncovered, this film makes perfect sense.

Other than that, The Shining is one of the best filmed and acted movies in the history of moviemaking (e.g, the Steadicam scenes, the meticulous camera shots, Nicholson's snarls and facial expressions, etc.). Highly recommended!

Rating:
Summary: Here's Johnny
Review: This is a good classic film that will really scare you.

Rating:
Summary: perception is everything
Review: understand, ye who walk into this theater, that without a clear awareness of the object absurdity of human existance, you will not be amused. this statment by one of few true masters in the art of film is a flawed masterpiece of black humor. if you have ever looked at life around you and for a moment thought about how ridiculous it all is then i highly suggest you expose yourself to this gloriously honest manipulation of the senses.