The Shining Review

The Shining is in my opinion the best Horror movie ever, narrowly ahead of Silence of the Lambs and The Exorcist. The Shining is about recovering alcoholic Jack Torrance (Nicholson) and his stay as the caretaker of the secluded Overlook Hotel, with his wife Wendy (Shelley DuVall) and son Danny (Danny Lloyd). A supernatural force within the hotel known to be ‘the shining’ begins to affect Jack and Danny who encounter former inhabitants of the hotel. Danny is attacked by an inhabitant leading Wendy to believe Jack, who formerly broke Danny’s arm, had started drinking again and abused Danny. This, along with suggestions from Lloyd an apparition of the hotel’s bartender, leads Jack to turn on his family.

I have seen this movie twice, once when I was twelve and then again when I was seventeen and surprisingly I found it a lot scarier upon second viewing. What makes Stephen King’s stories so terrifying are his ability to turn men into monsters and his ability to create such claustrophobic situations. Jack Nicholson is impeccable in what is an extremely difficult role, that to be honest I can’t imagine any other actor embodying so perfectly. What makes Jack Torrance so terrifying is that he is such a believable character. His conflicted character is often shown at the beginning to be a loving, yet slightly erratic, father concerned for the wellbeing of his family. While his opposite side is a cold blooded psychopath determined to kill his family. However under the circumstances it is perfectly imaginable that this could happen to many men, which is terrifying to me. As a character he is extremely unpredictable and eerie, shown all to perfectly in the scene where he sits with Danny and strokes his head as well as the scene in which he first attacks his wife. The casting of the much maligned Shelley DuVall as Wendy Torrance is often debated to be a massive mistake and flaw within the movie. However I disagree as I think that DuVall does a pretty good job of representing the frailty of the character. Wendy is not entirely a likeable character and is generally considered to be very irritating but I think in some ways this works well for the movie, as it makes you in a sense relate more with Jack as a character and feel his frustrations towards his family on a larger scale. In a very difficult role for such a young child, Danny Lloyd does a great job portraying the role of Danny the son of Jack Torrance who suffers from a split personality disorder. Danny has telekinetic powers which allow him to interact with the hotel’s cook as well as predict some of the future’s events, such as the murder Jack is planning for the family. The actor does a good job of evoking sympathy for the character and is able to steer away from making the unusual character absurd and unrealistic.
Kubrick provides another masterclass with his unique style of direction, including iconic scenes such as the bloody elevator and his three minute long Steadishot of Danny driving a toy car through the hotel. Kubrick creates an eerie isolated tone within the hotel through his constant use of low level sound and striking long distance shots. If their is one fault it is perhaps the lack of fluidity present from some shots to others.

This film is masterclass and is one of my favourites of Kubrick’s work. The Shining divides opinions even amongst the most well respected critics I can understand why people do not like it. But not many movies have made me feel so uncomfortable and truly terrified which is a testament to the masterclass that is The Shining.