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The Shining

The Shining

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Midnight, and the Stars and You!
Review: Alright, so it's not the book.

The plot, which is about a recovering alcoholic who takes a job as a winter caretaker for a fabulous, out-of-the-way-but-oh-so-haunted hotel with a horrific history that plays out to be the caretakers present reality, is an amazing (not to mention Lovecraftian) but simple plot which director Stanley Kubrick brings to life in this 1980 masterpiece.

Buy it, it's cheap. :)

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Here be Johnny, Yo
Review: Homeboy be tryina bust some rhymes in a dumb-a** crib. But his skank-h* be all nappy. He be jonesing to get drunk but the crib is like, OE negative, knowwhamsayin? Though indeed presently a spectral caretaker does appear to him and supply him with spectral booze, yo. That's when Johnny really starts flakin and perpetratin. He appears to get high on his own supply. But to be a dope man well... he doesn't qualify. Johnny pretty much screws up royally and travels back in time to 1925, where he then begins attending football games with a paper bullhorn, a fur coat and a straw boater hat. And one of those pennants on a stick with a big letter Y.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A question of preference
Review: I'm constantly baffled when I read poor reviews of this film. I suppose I simply have to understand that even a strongly held opinion is still an opion; however, I think that this film is a perfect example of Kubrick at the top of his game.

This film, like all the great Kubrick films, is first and foremost a feast for the eyes. Film is a visual medium - still frames in rapid succession - essentially pictures. Kubrick's composition in this film is wonderful. Don't believe it, actively looking for symmetry in the film should make this apparent. How is it that Kubrick is able to train the eye to see images of symmetry (ie. twins, two elevator doors, matching lamps, and pictures on the walls, etc.) in a way that becomes creepy in the context of the film? And what is Kubrick implying with the shots that take us into the Alice in Wonderland looking glass images of the characters? Asking these questions makes the film much more interesting.

There is subtle leading of the eye and mind and the attempt to elicit a primal response of fear to the landscape of the film. Ultimately, it is a question of preference. If visually engaging films are your thing, this is one that will demand multiple viewings. In my experience, this film has the uncanny ability to imprint its imagery in your mind long after the film is over, much in the same way that a negative of a picture that you focus on intently remains after you close your eyes.

If you didn't like the film on an initial viewing, taking a second look may be worth your while. Regardless of your assessment of Nicholson, the acting in general, the plot or any of these other conventional discussion topics related to the film, this masterful painting of images deserves the viewer's attention.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Second scariest movie ever made
Review: The scariest is, of course, the original version of The Haunting. But The Shining comes very, very close.

Reading the reviews here is a clue to what makes The Shining so special. Most of the negative posters seem bored by the movie (as well as unable to spell or construct a complex sentence). It's not a movie for children or those with a child's attention span. One example: the scene where Jack and the hallucinated bartender have their first conversation lasts for over five minutes; we keep waiting for some sort of shocker (e.g. the bartender turns around and has no face, or something like that). Instead, Kubrick keeps the scene disturbingly normal, brilliantly allowing Jack's delusional paranoia to feed on itself, which of course is the real horror of the movie. This kind of patience and craft is lost on those used to more pedestrian gorefests, but for those who appreciate subtlety and humor along with sheer mounting terror, it's just one high spot in a movie filled with them.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Shining
Review: A great horror movie, and in my opinion the second best ever(second to Halloween). Filled with and thrills and plenty of chill, the Shining is sure to creep you out. I recommend it to anyone.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: UGH !!! TERRIBLE !!!
Review: I rented it 1 yr ago as a huge Stephen King fan I wanted to see it . It had very unattractive actors , bad acting I mean the whole movie is pointless.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One of the best Horrors ever
Review: I really like this film. It's an all round very good effort and it has many standout points.
What's so good about it? Well, the main point is the central performance from Jack Nicholson who does an amazing job of portraying a lunatic, driven made by the isolation of the hotel and being thoroughly believable. Other performances are good, Scatman Crothers doesn't have too much screen time but is a good character. Even the child performance is good.
The setting is unbeleivebly creepy and the isolation is so beleivable. It has one of the best atmosdpheres ever in a horror movie and the tension is brilliant.
But it's not perfect. I thought some of it was weird and doesn't make much sense, which seems a common complaint. Also some of it was over lavished i feel, and some of the characters i feel were too easily killed off.
But overall, it is very good. My VHS copy is almost DVD like in quality and add that to the perfect score and you've got horror gold.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: My favorite horror movie OF ALL TIME!!!
Review: What can I say, besides, this movie is awesome! Despite being over 2 and a half hours long, it never gets boring for a second. Jack Nicholson is awesome and plays the ultimate madman.

The only thing about this movie, if you want to compare it to the Stephen King book "The Shining" is that this movie is quite a bit different than the book, but that doesn't matter. I'm rating this as a movie, not as a comparison to the book.

Jack's madness seems to be attributed to cabin fever (although spending the winter alone with Shelley Duvall would be enough to drive me insane), and partially to the hotel's ghosts, which apparently can be blamed on the fact that the hotel was built on an indian burial ground.

The acting, by all involved in the movie, was superb. The score is incredibly eerie and fit perfectly in this movie? Special effects? There weren't many, but that just proves that a movie can be scary as heck without them! The hotel itself has a scary look to it too, and isn't the type of place I would feel comfortable being alone in on a dark, stormy night. Just an awesome atmosphere.

The t.v. version of The Shining is worth checking out and is much more faithful to the book, but Kubrick's version is far more effective and entertaining! Your girlfriend or wife will be clinging to you the whole movie! Guaranteed!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: great movie, bad dvd quality
Review: The movie is a classic, if you dont like it then watch your buddy Adam Sandler or Barney the dinosaur for entertainment. The only problem is that the movie is not digitally remastered and needs to be. I could easily tell of the low quality cause i have a LCD tv and it shows the cigarette burns in the film, which actually make it look like a real film in a movie theater. Still, it does need to be updated like most other films.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: "Danny! I'm comin' to get you Danny!"
Review: The title of my review once haunted my fragile childhood like no other phrase. I saw this movie for the first time when I was 13, and sharing the same name as the boy in the film, it is little wonder why this movie scared the life out of me! The style of the film, with its minimalistic use of music and the cinematographer's use of wide-angle shots to give a sense of open space, make for an interesting experience. Not to mention this movie has "Jack." I once heard that Stephen King hated this rendition of his popular novel, but I think that the story is more visceral and terrifying without the overdose of the supernatural that his novel is prone to. This film is a ghost story by film's end, but a journey into madness along the way. There are some over-the-top moments meant to invoke terror. Like the "Here's Johnny!" scene, or when Danny is riding through the halls on his big-wheel and turns a corner to find twin girls staring at him and chanting, "Come and play with us, Danny. You can play with us forever...and ever...and ever..." But some are simply too much to swallow. Like Shelley Duvall running through the hotel looking for her son and encountering all the hauntings. Of those scenes, only one works. It's the scene when the elevator opens in slow-motion and blood flows from the compartment filling the hallway. Anyway, if you love Jack, then this movie is essential viewing. An interesting side-note: I watched this film again recently and I found myself looking at the film from Jack's perspective instead of the little boy's. I found that to be equally unsettling. Overall, this is very creepy, and a worthy edition to any Horror film collection.


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