Stanley Kubricks The Shining
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy
Rating: 9/10
Running Time: 119 minutes
UK Certificate: 18
On DVD
More than twenty years after we first saw Jack Nicholson hack his way through the toilet door without even checking whether or not the occupant was in mid-business, The Shining continues to put the browners on viewers old and new. Ive watched this film more times than I can remember, and even though I now know exactly whats coming and where, it still sends an uneasy chill up my spine. Its downright disturbing, is what it is.
This timeless creepfest stars Nicholson as a struggling novelist who, along with his lank-haired missus Wendy (Shelley Duvall) and their dribble-mouthed son Danny (Danny Lloyd), takes a job as winter caretaker in an apparently empty hotel. The fact thats its the scene of a previous grisly murder and built on an Indian burial ground should set alarm bells ringing, but it seems theres only one person willing to point out how bad an idea the whole thing is. And thats Tony, the gruff-voiced imaginary friend who talks through Dannys finger. Suffice to say, they should all have listened to the kids finger.
Nicholsons display in this is quite simply superb. His gradual descent into outright madness seems unfounded, but theres a strange credibility to his performance that makes such logic seem almost irrelevant. Hes the only Hollywood star I know of who can completely over-act, yet remain totally believable.
Director Stanley Kubrick tends to stray from the original Stephen King novel, but brings to the story his own brand of visual perfection. Long shots down endless corridors underline the sheer size of the hotel, whilst rapid cuts to an increasing array of ghostly apparitions are unnerving in a way few films have been able to match since.
If Kubricks intention is to unsettle the viewer, then his films got its objective down to a tee but the downside is a plot that often doesnt make sense, particularly if youre unfamiliar with the book. The film is riddled with perplexities and even, dare I say it, gaping plot holes yet taking your eyes off it is virtually impossible. Thats just Kubrick though. His painstaking attention to minor detail is well-documented (to the point that our Jack apparently threw more than one wobbler on the set of this one) yet he leaves loose ends all over the place. His treatment of the overall story would seem almost sloppy, if it wasnt completely brilliant.
It's Got: A scary kid with an even scarier bowl-cut hairdo who was seeing dead people when Haley Joel Osment was just a glint in the milkmans eye.
It Needs: A lock on room 237.
DVD Extras Making The Shining, a documentary with choice of commentary from director Vivien Kubrick (thats Stanleys daughter, in case youre wondering). DVD Extras Rating: 3/10
Summary
One of the horror genres finest, this isnt a film to watch if youre about to spend the winter alone. In a hotel. Full of ghosts. And axes.