The Shining

[baumer]

Discuss

[Kvikk Lunsj]

Best horror film of all time. I love this movie, it is thrilling, suspenseful, Nicholson does a great job in my opinion it his best performance.  I can't say how much I love this film, it is in my top 10 of all time.

10/10 

[DAR]

Agreed just an awesome film. A

[Ozymandias]

Another Kubrick masterpiece. 

[IndustriousAngel]

As always with Kubrick, the production values are top-notch. The interior sets are simply incredible, and the light and camerawork are exceptional. This was one of the first productions making use of the then-new Steadicam, and it's used for many scenes where we follow the protagonists from behind (a recent example for a very similar kind of visuals would be "Black Swan").

Concerning genre, "Shining" plays mostly like a psychothriller, and I'm curious how some of today's audiences, grown up on splatter, gore and torture porn, would react if you'd try to sell them "Shining" as a horror movie. There would be a lot of walkouts I guess - the pace is slow. Very slow. And even slower in the longer cut which runs for about 2:20. And there's really not that much happening at all, and the body count is nearly the lowest of all Kubrick films.

As usual with psychothrillers, they live and die by the actors, and Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall do a decent job, even if Nicholson's performance is everything but subtle (he is capable of excellent acting, I really like "One flew over the Kuckoo's Nest" and "About Schmidt" for example). Many scenes work, but others are ridiculous - if you watch the scene where he's axing his way through the door to get at Wendy and she's sitting in the corner screaming her lungs out - you can't believe it took over 100 takes to shoot that. Danny Lloyd was six when he playd Danny and he had a good sombre or pensive look; his fear moments were not that good (it seems he didn't even know that it was a horror film or what it was about at all until years later). My favourite performance here is that of Scatman Crothers, otherwise completely unknown as an actor (apart from lending his voice to Swingy in one of my all-time favourites, "Aristocats").

 

A sidenote: This is an adaption, and author Stephen King was very unhappy with the result. I have to partially agree; as mentioned I also think this fails as a horror film. Kubrick seems to have been difficult to work with, as Brian Aldiss had to learn the hard way - here's a short overlook over the disagreements between them concerning A.I.

[vc2002]

As a pure horror this is a fantastic film and obviously one of the best of all time, but I do have one big complaint and that is it didnt focus enough on how Jack's wife's influence on Jack's going mad. I mean I never read the book, but from my understanding the key reason that Jack went mad was (and should be) that he could no more stand the mental presure caused by his wife. But the movie didnt focus enough on that, and as a result the ghosts played a much bigger role and it made it almost look like the ghosts were the ultimate reason of his madness. I think had that part done well, it would've been much deeper movie.

[luna]

As a pure horror this is a fantastic film and obviously one of the best of all time, but I do have one big complaint and that is it didnt focus enough on how Jack's wife's influence on Jack's going mad. I mean I never read the book, but from my understanding the key reason that Jack went mad was (and should be) that he could no more stand the mental presure caused by his wife. But the movie didnt focus enough on that, and as a result the ghosts played a much bigger role and it made it almost look like the ghosts were the ultimate reason of his madness. I think had that part done well, it would've been much deeper movie.

what ghosts? i saw the shorter international version...it was pretty good, though i've never been a fan of horror, partly because they're often a bit one-dimensional but mostly because i don't like being terrified. beautifully shot as expected and the pacing was perfect, but i feel it could have been much more in terms of depth of character and ultimately was just a very good scare film.

 

80/100, A-

Edited June 3, 2013 by lisa

[luna]

i do wonder what the american version is like though...anyone seen both that can comment?

[Jack Nevada]

One of those movies that have something iconic in every scene.

[vc2002]

what ghosts? i saw the shorter international version...

it was pretty good, though i've never been a fan of horror, partly because they're often a bit one-dimensional but mostly because i don't like being terrified. beautifully shot as expected and the pacing was perfect, but i feel it could have been much more in terms of depth of character and ultimately was just a very good scare film.

 

80/100, A-

 

WTH....

 

"Those long-dead people in the hotel' those were the ghosts.  What kind of shorter version did you see?

Edited July 25, 2014 by vc2002

[The Stingray]

Kubrick's finest, and the best horror movie of all time alongside Halloween.

Edited November 13, 2014 by The Stingray

[baumer]

I too think this is Kubrick's best.

[JohnnyGossamer]

Not Kubrick's best, but, well, it's Kubrick so that's not saying it's not something special. One of the best horror films of all-time, prefer The Thing and Rosemary's Baby.

Edited November 13, 2014 by JohnnyGossamer

[Jake Gittes]

I saw the longer American version for the first time a few months ago, and appreciated it even more because it really pushes the theme of alcoholism to the front. (In the international version it's basically subtext outside of the "I'd give my goddamn soul for a glass of beer" line). Kubrick adds just a couple of scenes in the beginning concerning Jack's prior history with a bottle, but when you keep them in mind watching the rest of the film unfold, it much more clearly becomes an unflinching depiction of how alcoholism can ruin a person and his family, dressed up as a terrifying horror film. I also found Wendy to be a bit more of a main character in the longer version - it's a story of a woman successfully escaping a bad marriage as much as it is a story of a man tragically ruining his life. It's not something that only just dawned on me, but the long version makes it less subtle and I actually think it's to the film's benefit. 

Edited November 13, 2014 by Jake Gittes

[redfirebird2008]

This is another Kubrick movie that shows how versatile he was. One of the two scariest movies I've ever seen along with the original Halloween.

 

A (9.5/10)

[Dark 33Legend of the Sith]

Kubrick's best and also my favorite Jack performance.

 

A

[The Stingray]

Not Kubrick's best, but, well, it's Kubrick so that's not saying it's not something special. One of the best horror films of all-time, prefer The Thing and Rosemary's Baby.

 

RB is good but slightly overrated, imo. It's a great psychological drama, but does not function as well as a horror movie. The Thing, on the other hand, is bad ass, and in my Top 20 of all time. And I'm not just talking horror.

[Thrylos 7]

Horrible film that is a disgrace to a great book. Nicholson is awful, he seems like a madman before they even arrive at the mansion , as opposite with how the book describes the main character, and his transformation in the mansion goes unnoticed . Shelley Duvall is just..there with her ugly face adding nothing to the film . The tv mini series is much better . Of course this is a Kubrick , the most overrated director of all times , so we all must bow down to its and his greatness , but in reality he took a fantastic psychological horror/thriller book and made a cartoon out of it . Mind you I have seen the "big" version of the film .

[rukaio101]

Horrible film that is a disgrace to a great book. Nicholson is awful, he seems like a madman before they even arrive at the mansion , as opposite with how the book describes the main character, and his transformation in the mansion goes unnoticed . Shelley Duvall is just..there with her ugly face adding nothing to the film . The tv mini series is much better . Of course this is a Kubrick , the most overrated director of all times , so we all must bow down to its and his greatness , but in reality he took a fantastic psychological horror/thriller book and made a cartoon out of it . Mind you I have seen the "big" version of the film .

[Dark Jedi Master 007]

I loved the ideas, the cinematography, and the storytelling, but I never felt frightened. I don't really know why that is, to be honest.



B+

Edited November 14, 2014 by Dark Jedi Master 007