The Shining (1980)

Perhaps it is human nature to worry about the evil that lurks in each of us. Do we have the capacity to kill? Could something happen to us to cause us to swing at ax at our loved ones? Or are we afraid our loved ones might be one episode away from coming at us with an ax? These are the sort of unsettling questions that came to our minds when first we saw Stanley Kubrick’s masterful “The Shining.” It is a must-see and a never-to-be-forgotten addition to the Ultimate Horror Movie Collection list. In fact, it may be Socreepy’s all-time favorite.

Plot summary for The Shining:
Aspiring novelist Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) has just accepted a job as winter caretaker for the remote Overlook Hotel. Joined by his wife Wendy (Shelly Duvall) and son, Danny (Danny Lloyd), Torrance settles into the isolated, snow-bound hotel. Danny is the first to sense danger. He has an ability to see things before they happen - he has “the shine”. He sees dead twin girls. He sees things in room 237. He sees bad things happening to his family at the Overlook. He’s right. Slowly, Jack loses his handle on reality and becomes increasingly belligerent and violent toward his family. Soon the family is locked in a life-and-death struggle in the immense, haunted hotel.

Memorable scene from The Shining (**SPOILER WARNING):
Ax in hand, Jack chases Danny into the hotel’s immense outdoor maze. Danny outruns the old man and, in a move that saves his life, retraces his steps in the snow and manages to elude his murderous father. Jack then freezes to death outside while Danny and his mother escape on through the snow on a snowcat.

Memorable quote from The Shining:
“Darling. Light of my life. I’m not gonna hurt ya. You didn’t let me finish my sentence. I said, I’m not gonna hurt ya. I’m just gonna bash your brains in. I’m gonna bash ‘em right the fuck in.”

Why we love The Shining:
We were hooked from the opening sequence with the aerial view of the road to the Overlook (with VERY ominous music) to the final shot of Jack in an old photo at the hotel. Kubrick’s masterful telling of the story makes it a must-see part of our Ultimate Horror Movie list. One of the most frightening movie going experiences available. Why? Because it really could happen . . .

Frightening Fact:
Managers at The Timberline Lodge in Oregon, where exteriors of The Shining were shot, requested that Shining Director Stanley Kubrick not use room 217 (as specified in Stephen King’s book, The Shining). The hotel managers feared that nobody would want to stay in that room afer the film’s release. Kubrick agreed to change the script to feature room 237, a room that did not exist at the hotel.

This entry was posted on Monday, July 11th, 2005 at 7:05 pm and is filed under Horror Movies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.