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The Shining (1980)

A review by Damian Cannon.
Copyright © Movie Reviews UK 1997
Eerie psychological horror as the spirits of The Overlook Hotel rise and cause a little trouble for the winter caretaker and his family. Isolated in the Rocky Mountains, the resort closes for five long months in the winter (when show cuts it off from civilisation). To keep everything in order during this hibernation an off-season caretaker is required, and Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) seems like an ideal candidate. The enforced peace is perfect for an extended writing project which he's eager to commence while his wife Wendy (Shelley Duvall) and young son Danny (Danny Lloyd) are more than happy with the idea. However, Danny has an imaginary chum (Tony) who's less than keen. As Jack is being interviewed and told the tale of a caretaker who, many years ago, flipped and murdered his family, Danny's vision is filled with torrents of blood and gore. Already a psychic link has been established with the hotel's past, although Danny tells no one; thus the family are soon on their way to Colorado.

At the Overlook Hotel the staff are scurrying around as they pack everything up for the season, although the manager has time to show the Torrance family around. This is a huge and beautiful building, full of echoing passageways and enormous, wood-panelled halls. Outside lie the mountains and a convoluted topiary maze. As Jack and Wendy are shown the boilers and other essential equipment, Danny is taken aside by the head cook, Halloran (Scatman Crothers), and fed chocolate ice-cream. The reason for this diversion becomes apparent when Halloran starts talking about people who "shine", a type of paranormal power which allows you to see things that no one else can. Danny has this ability, channeled through Tony, which explains his brief but mortifying visions of murder and dismemberment. Halloran recognises this and kindly warns Danny away from Room 237; this hotel has an evil past and it's best to let it lie.

A month later the family have settled into a rhythm, although Jack is still suffering from acute writers block. Day after day Jack sits at his typewriter, in the centre of the hotel's main hall, while Wendy busies herself with looking after the complex and Danny whizzes around on his little trike. Tony shows the little kid strange premonitions occasionally, from the past and future, which encourages the suspicion that Jack might hurt his wife and child. True, Jack is a little touchy when Wendy disturbs his typing (when he finally starts) but apart from this everything seems normal. Soon the first snow falls and really cuts off the hotel, along with which Jack plummets helplessly into mania. Something bad is going to happen and Halloran, through Danny, knows it.

Stanley Kubrick once again demonstrates his mastery of the technical aspects of cinema, utilising cameras, locations and sound to great effect in The Shining. An atmosphere of deep foreboding emanates from the Overlook Hotel, hinting at past misery and echoing the chaos to come. Unfortunately his handling of the characters is flimsy, content instead to use them as symbols of eternal evil rather than as people in their own right. Jack's descent into insanity happens so quickly its both difficult to believe (since we've missed the precursor clues) and breathtaking. However, Nicholson does madness so well that it's pure entertainment to simply watch him rampage and curse. Duvall is equally good, but in a different way. Her heavy-lidded gaze takes an age to wake to the problem in hand; afterwards she resists the flow of terror and rarely makes a stupid move. Ultimately Kubrick leaves us short-changed, wrapping events up too rapidly and leaving deeper motivations unexplored, while the concluding ambiguous note is intriguing.

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