The Shining (1980)

This eerie, disturbing picture from director Stanley Kubrick practically throws away its Stephen King source material and becomes an exceedingly controlled tale of family horror and psychic powers. Jack Nicholson is a former schoolteacher hoping to find the solitude necessary to write a novel, so he accepts a position as the off-season caretaker of a Colorado resort, the Overlook Hotel. Because the winter storms are so violent, the hotel, situated in an isolated mountain region, often is cut off from the rest of civilization.

When he accepts the job Nicholson is warned that the isolation can be devastating (some years earlier the caretaker axed to death his wife and two daughters). Nicholson and his wife, Shelley Duvall, and their son, Danny Lloyd, eventually arrive at the Overlook. Lloyd, who can "shine" (can see things that have happened in other times and placest), senses something evil about the hotel. While riding his bike through its labyrinthine halls, "sees" the carnage of past murders. As Danny takes refuge in his imaginary friend, Tony, and repeatedly growls the word "redrum" ("murder" spelled backward), the mentally vulnerable Jack succumbs to the hotel's supernatural forces and becomes possessed by thoughts of chopping his wife and son into pieces.

Kubrick sustains a disturbing atmosphere from the opening shot to the close, never letting the viewer relax in the safety of a "normal" scene. In its plot, themes, and performances, The Shining is full of the same kind of ambiguity and uncertainty that characterize paranormal experience. At the same time the film presents an intriguing father-son relationship. Jack, a novelist, struggles to create, while Danny is blessed (or cursed) with the gift of seeing tales unfold uncontrollably in his head. The film met with much negative criticism (especially from King fans who felt betrayed), but taken on its own, the film is rich with suspense and thematic possibilities.

Cast:

Performer, Character

Jack Nicholson, Jack Torrance

Shelley Duvall, Wendy Torrance

Danny Lloyd, Danny

Scatman Crothers, Halloran

Barry Nelson, Ullman

Philip Stone, Grady

Joseph Turkel, Lloyd

Anne Jackson, Doctor

Tony Burton,

David Baxt, Forest Ranger Manning

Redwood Forest Ranger, Lisa Burns

Grady Girls, Louise Burns andl Robin Pappas

Production Credits:

Producer, Stanley Kubrick

Executive Producer, Jan Harlan

Director, Stanley Kubrick

Screenwritesr, Stanley Kubrick and Diane Johnson (based on the novel by Stephen King)

Cinematographer, John Alcott

Editor, Ray Lovejoy

Composers, Bela Bartok. Wendy Carlos and Rachel Elkind