The Shining (1980)
You know, if I saw this poster without knowing anything about the movie, I'd think it was about aliens or something. That face is kind of creepy, but it's not in the film.
Anyway, yes, I know I already talked about this one in my last list. In fact, I plan to do a longer essay on the film sometime. Not today though. It's late, I'm doing this off the top of my head, and I'm burnt out on horror films for the immediate future. That being said, there's a reason it's on both lists. It's a fantastic film, one that is very fun to study and to analyze. It still effects me after all those viewings I've had of it. I wouldn't say it scares me exactly; it doesn't make me lose any sleep. But the images stay in your head. Kubrick is very good at making his films memorable in that way. The furry dressed as a warthog giving oral pleasure to his... butler or whatever, Jack Torrance leering at his playful wife and son as they play in the snow, the two girls at the end of the hallway dressed identically taunting Danny, Jack sticking his head into the broken door he's destroyed with his axe (ad libbed by the way), the elevator opening to spill blood all over the lobby, the door with the word "Redrum" written in lipstick across it... So many memorable images.
I said a lot in my last essay on the film and will say a lot more when I do my long essay in a few months, so this one will be short. This one is to push the film as a great horror film. And that's controversial. Many people hate this movie. I was surprised to find this out, but a lot of people find the film downright boring. I must say, I've never found the film boring, even after having viewed it over 20 times in the past 10 years. The movie is set up and filmed very off-kilter. At times it's almost just a series of strung together chapters. The film is separated into days and times, with white-on-black title cards telling us how much time has passed between scenes. There are plot points that were in the novel that are here, but are not explained or obviously shown. In the book, Jack Torrance finds a scrapbook of the odd things that have taken place in the hotel over the years down in the boiler room of the hotel. It's a major plot point in the book and in the 1997 tv miniseries. People have complained about it not being in the Kubrick film. Well, they aren't completely right. The scrapbook is there for all to see. However, we don't know where Jack got it from, it's not focused on in the frame, and it's not mentioned. But it is there. See?
The film is one big mood piece. It's cold (which is why Stephen King dislikes the film), it's odd, it doesn't make sense right up front. You have to put things together in your head after the film is over. People are STILL discovering things about the film, which is extraordinary! And with each discovery, the movie becomes creepier and creepier. That's the word I would use for this movie. Creepy. It works on that level. Not everything is spelled out for you. In fact, next to nothing is, and that makes the film creepy as hell. The rules of film-making are sometimes disregarded as well. Over-the-shoulder shots are not done in the correct way, the 30 degree rule is broken, there are scenes which most would have left on the cutting room floor because they don't tell us anything or move the story... It gives us a sense of unease. People say sometimes that the devil was in the celluloid for The Exorcist. I'd say there's more a chance that something got into the negative of this film.
I'm not sure if Jack Nicholson's out there portrayal of Jack Torrance is a good thing or a bad thing. It's over the top so much that it's very entertaining and sometimes funny, but at the same time, it does distract from the straight horror of the picture. That's something I'll have to delve into when I do my essay on the film. EVERYTHING is over the top in the movie. Perhaps the hotel makes people over the top? I mean, the hotel itself is, isn't it?
*More to come on this film in a few months. Sorry this one was so short, but since I already talked about it a month ago, I don't have much more to say right now.
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