The Shining 1980
This is yet another incredibly famous movie that I somehow never watched. I bought the blu-ray a while back and still didn’t watch it, but lately I got a couple of more horror movies and thought I should watch a few for Halloween. At some point I remember watching the last 20 or 30 minutes of the movie, so I knew how things were going to end, plus the movie is so iconic that it would be hard not to be familiar with a lot of it. The movie looks really great, though I noticed some stuff that was off, like a tennis ball that absolutely should have been yellow, but somehow was pink. The movie is based on a Stephen King book, which is a good start, but also got a great director in Stanley Kubrick, and a great star in Jack Nicholson, who maybe overplays the part, but still does it brilliantly. Shelley Duvall as his wife also does a great job of looking scared and horrified, helped by already having really big eyes. The kid is also good and creepy. You also have a great setting in this snowed in empty mountain hotel and some great camera work involving a lot of steadicam tracking shots through the corridors and the hedge maze. All of those elements come together very nicely for a great movie. There are things I could nitpick that I wasn’t crazy about. I hoped for more from Scatman Crothers, and I thought the famous “redrum” scene seemed out of place and ultimately inconsequential. It isn’t real clear what the past has to do with the present, but sometimes ambiguity is more powerful and it is a nice touch. While the blu-ray is pretty old and there is a newer 4k version of the movie available, it is still loaded with extras, which don’t involve much from Kubrick himself, but feature some good interviews with the cast.
Written: 28 Oct 2020
Owned on: Blu-ray, Digital