OK so its time for a bit of blog revisitation as I've decided to do a rewrite of one of my older posts on this blog and this is actually one of the oldest (back from 2012!) so its high time it got expanded and redone. And this post in question was based on Stanley Kubrick's horror classic: The Shining.
So with that let's grab that axe, slam the door down and say "Here's Johnny!". Or....let's just take a look at the film!
And the usual warning applies: SPOILERS WILL BE AHEAD!!!
STORY
So the story begins with Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson), who has an interview for the position of the caretaker of the Overlook hotel, over the winter months when the hotel staff are away for the season. The hotel manager Stuart Ullman (Barry Nelson) who is impressed with Jack at the interview, feels obligated to warn Jack that there was an incident in the past involving a previous caretaker, Delbert Grady (Philip Stone) who after time at the hotel, went insane and killed his family and himself. Jack however is not deterred and insists that he would love the job and the soltitude so that he can get on with his writing project. Once Jack arrives with his wife Wendy (Shelley Duvall) and his son Danny (Danny Lloyd) they are shown around the hotel by Ullman, who also tells them that the hotel was built on an ancident Indian burial ground and that hotel can be heavily snowed in during the winters (as it is based up in Denver). During the tour of the hotel, Danny meets the head chef, Dick Hallorann (Scatman Crothers) who actually shares something in common with Danny, a gift he calls "shining" which basically means they are both telepathic, as they talk, Danny asks if something bad happened at the hotel, and he reads Hallorann's mind, and asks about a hotel room "237", which Hallorann responds angrily to stay out of the room.
As the days pass, Jack and his family grow accustomed to staying in the massive hotel, but its not long before the effects of isolation to start set in on Jack, as he becomes more restless and his writing project goes nowhere. Jack soon becomes more angry, distant and slowly but surely starts to lose grip of his own insanity, while in the meantime Danny is haunted by visions of the unpleasant events that happened at the hotel, with images of a river of blood flooding the corridors, and Grady's two dead daughters who ask Danny to play with them. Danny also one day becomes eager to find out what is in room 237 and he finds the door ajar and enters. Meanwhile Jack awakens from a terrifying nightmare in which he killed Wendy and Danny and he sobbingly confesses this to Wendy. Danny enters the room in a state of shock, with a wound on his neck, and sucking his thumb, Wendy accuses Jack of hurting him, who denies it. Later Jack goes into the main ballroom and sits at the bar and is welcomed by the ghost of a bartender, Lloyd (Joe Turkel) who pours him a drink, and Jack confesses while he never touched Danny, he did once hurt him a while ago, and that he is also a former alcoholic. Wendy enters in a panic urgently asking Jack to check out Room 237, in which she claims Danny saw a woman in the bathtub, who tried to strangle him. Jack goes to check out the room and finds a beautiful young naked woman in the bathtub, they embrace, but then the woman turns into an old hag with rotting skin, Jack terrified backs out of the room and locks it.
On returning to Wendy he says that he didn't see anything and the two of them argue about taking Danny back home, which leads Jack back to the gold ballroom, where he meets Lloyd again. This time Jack also bumps into a waiter, who spills drinks over him, on going to the bathroom, the waiter reveals himself to be Delbert Grady. Jack challenges Grady on what happened to his family, but Grady denies any knowledge, but insists that he deal with his son and his wife, as he tells him Danny is trying to contact Hallorann telepahtically, to come to the hotel. By now Jack's madness has overtaken him and he gives into Grady's advice, as he confronts Wendy and threatens to bash her brains in, but Wendy knocks Jack unconscious with a baseball bat.
Wendy locks Jack up in the kitchen store room, who pleads with Wendy to let him go, but then says that he has got a surprise for her as he has sabotaged the radio and the snowcat, so they cannot escape. By now Wendy is alone with Danny, who is still in a catatonic state, and his imaginary friend, Tony, has taken over his personality, as he uses lipstick to write the word "REDRUM" on the door in lipstick, which he repeats. Danny yells the word until Wendy wakes up, who looks in the mirror and reads the word "MURDER", at this point Jack has managed to escape the store room, and starts to chop down the door with a fire axe. And its from here that Wendy and Danny must try and find a way to escape from the Overlook hotel and from the crazed and psychotic Jack.......
THOUGHTS
The Shining must easily rank as one of the best horror films in recent years, based on the Stephen King novel, Stanely Kubrick brilliantly adapted the film for the screen here. Although apparently King himself wasn't too happy with Kubrick's interpretation of his book and he himself preferred the TV mini series version remade about 15 years later although the mini series pales in comparison.
King's main criticism was in the depiction of Jack as he felt that Kubrick had strayed from the original character in the book, and potrayed him in a less sympathetic light. As in the mini TV series, Jack is depicted as a more well meaning man who was troubled by his alcoholic past, but only started to go mad once the supernatural forces of the hotel overcame him, and in Kubrick's film, Jack is instantly far more cynical and weary of his family. Also a key difference is that Jack in the book helps his family escape as he sets the hotel on fire and stays behind, whereas in the film Jack instead tries to kill them.
However I think Kubrick's take on Jack makes for him being more sinister and effective than in the TV mini series version, and he and Diane Johnson, who co-wrote the screenplay did a great job here. The film's narrative is also very clever as Kubrick uses captions to show the days go by such as "MONDAY" and "WEDNESDAY" in that they are showing the passage of time itself and how it time passes it slowly works on diminishing Jack's sanity and also the safety of Wendy and Danny.
PERFORMANCES AND NOTABLE SCENES
Performance wise, The Shining is top notch and its cast all give fine performances.
And to start the film's main star Jack Nicholson gives a wonderfully over the top performance, as he begins the film as a cool composed guy, but as things progress he loses his mind, and before we know it he is dementedly limping around with that axe, with wide rolling eyes.
Jack has several highlights in the film such as the scene where he has his interview with Mr Ullman for the caretaker position at the hotel and Ullman tells Jack the story about Grady killing his family. And Jack reassure Ullman that he is not put off by the story and says "Well you can rest assured, Mr. Ullman, that's not going to happen with me. And as for my wife she will be fascinated when I tell her about it as she's a confirmed ghost story and horror film addict!".
Then there is the scene where Jack begins to grow frustrated with Wendy as she interrupts while he is typing. And as Wendy politely says she could come back later with a sandwich and maybe he could then let her read some of his work, Jack wearily says to her "Wendy, let me explain something to you. Whenever you come in here and interrupt me, you're breaking my concentration. You're distracting me! And it will then take me time to get back to where I was! You understand?!". And this leaves Wendy quietly stunned and she quietly says yes and Jack then says to her "Now, we're going to make a new rule. When you come in here and you hear me typing....(clacks a few keys on the typewriter) or whether you DON'T hear me typing, or whatever the FUCK you hear me doing; when I'm IN here, it means that I am working, THAT means don't come in! Now, do you think you can handle that?!". And Wendy again stunned say yes and Jack coldly says "Good. Now why don't you start right now and get the fuck out of here? Hm?!" and Wendy quietly says "OK" and leaves.
Then there is the chilling scene where Jack sits on his bed in a catatonic state, as Danny slowly creeps into the room to get one of his toys, and Jack asks his son to come over and sit on his knee, which he does, and drowsily asks him if he is enjoying the hotel. Its easily the most disturbing scene in the whole film, because we see in that moment Jack's madness slowly set in, and there is already the impending threat that he will hurt his family. However Jack nicely offsets the threat when Danny asks him if he would ever hurt him or Wendy and Jack suspicously says "Is that what your mother said? That I would hurt you?" and Danny says "No, dad". And Jack looks at Danny for a moment then smiles and says "I love you, Danny. I love you more than anything else in the whole world and I would never do anything to hurt you. Never! You know that, don't you? Hmmm?" and Danny says "Yes, dad" and Jack warmly jiggles Danny on his lap and says "Good".
Another good scene is when Jack checks out Room 237 and he finds a beautiful young naked woman in the bathroom and he embraces her but then she turns into the rotten old hag, terrified he thens backs out the room and locks the door but when he returns to Wendy he says he saw nothing. And in the scene Wendy suggests they just leave the hotel with Danny and this angers Jack as he shouts at Wendy "This is so FUCKING typical of you to create a problem like this when I finally have a chance to accomplish something! When I'm really into my work! I could really write my ticket back to Bolder now couldn't I?! Washing cars and washing out driveways. Any of that appeal to you?!". And then Jack get's up and angrily points his finger at her saying "Wendy, I have let you fuck up my life so far but I'm NOT gonna let you fuck this up!" and he storms out.
Then there is the classic scene where Wendy finds his pages and pages of typing with the words "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" written on them and Jack quietly walks into the room unaware to Wendy and he says "How do you like it?" making Wendy scream and jump. And as the two of them discuss what should be done with Danny, Jack angrily says to Wendy "Have you ever had a single moment's THOUGHT about my responsibilities?!! Have you ever thought, for a single solitary moment about my responsibilities to my employers?! Has it ever occurred to you that I have agreed to look after the Overlook Hotel until May the first! Do you have the slightest idea what a "moral and ethical principal" is?!! Do you?!! Has it ever occurred to you what would happen to my future, if I were to fail to live up to my responsibilities? Has it ever occurred to you?! HAS IT?!!".
And as Wendy grows more terrified of Jack she tells him to stay away from him and she needs a chance to think things over, prompting Jack to spit back at her "You've had your whole FUCKING LIFE to think things over! What good is a few more minutes gonna do you now?!". And Jack tells Wendy to stop swinging the bat at him as she backs her way up the stairs and Jack says to her "Wendy? Darling? Light, of my life. I'm not gonna hurt ya. You didn't let me finish my sentence. I said, I'm not gonna hurt ya. I'm just going to bash your brains in! I'm gonna bash them right the fuck in!!".
And last of all we have the most memorable scene from Nicholson in the film when Jack breaks down the door of Wendy's bedroom with the fireaxe and he breaks a hole through the bedroom door and he says through the door "Wendy, I'm home!" and he unlocks the door in goes in. And as Jack approaches the bathroom door, where Wendy and Danny locked inside, Jack delivers his immortal lines "Little pigs, little pigs, let me come in. Not by the hair of your chiny-chin-chin? Well then I'll huff and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house in!". And as Jack smashes a hole big enough in the door to get his hand he sticks his face up to the door and grins madly at his terrified wife and says "Here's Johnny!!".
Moving onto Shelley Duvall although her performance is often rated as one of the most annoying in top 10 film lists, she is nonetheless excellent as Jack's long suffering wife, and she proves to be quite a strong resilient character, despite her going into an almost full traumatic meltdown as the film goes on. Duvall's performance isn't quite as over the top or as flamboyant of course as Nicholson's but she still has some good moments in the film.
And as a few examples there is the scene which features in the US theatrical release where Wendy brings a doctor around to look at Danny after he has visions of the Overlook hotel that cause him to faint. And Wendy explains to the Doctor about their family life and how Jack is a recovering alcoholic and she says to him how Jack one night accidentally hurt Danny when he came home drinking. And in the scene Wendy says to the Doctor "Anyway, something good did come out of it all, because he
said "Wendy, I'm never gonna touch another drop. And if I do, you can
leave me." And he didn't, and he hasn't had any alcohol in five
months".
Then there is the scene where finds Jack on the floor just waking up from his nightmare and as she helps him up, Danny walks into the room with a bruise on his neck and he is sucking his thumb. And as Wendy asks "Danny what happened to your neck?!" she sees he is in shock and she hugs him and then look toward Jack and accuses him of hurting Danny "You did this to him, didn't you?! You son of a bitch! YOU did this to him! How could you?! How could you?!" and she leaves the room carrying Danny and leaving Jack in a confused state.
Another good scene for Duvall comes during Jack's confrontation with Wendy after she finds his typing of pages that say nothing but "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy". And in the scene as Wendy backs away from Jack, carrying a baseball bat she starts swinging at him as he becomes more angry and deranged and she says to him "Stay away from me!". And as Jack asks why, Wendy sobs "I just want to go back to my room" and Jack asks why and she says "Well I'm very confused. I just need a chance to think things over!". And as Jack tries to take the bat off Wendy she hits him in the head and falls back down the stairs and later Wendy drags Jack into a food storage room and locks him in. And as Jack makes an attempt to reason with Wendy, she backs away from the door sobbing she says "I'm gonna try and get Danny down to Sidewinder in the Snow Cat. I'll send back a doctor...". But Jack then tells her that he has sabotaged the radio and the snow cat and she goes off to check it out to find he has done just that.
And lastly there is the classic scene where Jack breaks down the bathroom door using a fire axe and as he does it Shelley provides probably her most effective moment in the whole film as Wendy screams her head off in a state of pure terror. It works really well and no doubt it stands as one of Duvall's most memorable, if not the most memorable moments of her career.
Danny Lloyd is also excellent as Danny (funny how Kubrick chose actors who share the first name of their character!) Jack and Wendy's son who has the special telepathic power known as "shining" which he shares with Mr O'Hallorann and causes him to see the horrible things that happened at the hotel.
Lloyd also has some good scenes such as the one where Danny sits with O'Hallorann having some ice cream, O'Hallorann shares his talent of "shining" with Danny. And as O'Hallorrann asks why he doesn't talked about it, Danny says "I'm not supposed to" and O'Hallorann asks "What ain't you supposed" and Danny says "Tony" and O'Hallorann asks "Who's Tony?" and Danny says "He's the little boy that lives in his mouth". And O'Hallorann asks Danny is Tony the one who tells him things and asks how he does it and Danny says "Its like I go to sleep and he shows me things but when I wake up I can't remember everything".
Then there is the scene where Danny rides his toy pedal bike round the hotel and he stops when he sees the image of Grady's two daughters in front of him and they say to him "Come and play with us, Danny forever and ever and ever" and we cut to an image of their dead bloody bodies and Danny terrified puts his hands over his eyes. And when Danny takes his hands away the image has gone and he holds his finger (he uses to talk to Tony) and says to him "Tony, I'm scared" and in his Tony voice says "Remember what Mr. Hallorann said. It's just like pictures in a book, Danny. It isn't real".
And lastly there are the scenes of course where Danny who after his encounter in Room 237 has gone into shock and Tony has taken over his personality (which was left out of the UK cut of the film!) and Wendy asks to speak to Danny who says in his Tony voice "
Danny isn't here, Mrs. Torrance". And later we see Danny wander around the bedroom carrying a knife and in Tony's voice saying "Redrum" over and over again and he writes the word in lipstick on the door. And Danny says the word louder and louder as Tony but then he snaps out of it and starts to shout it in his own voice and as Wendy tells him to stop she looks in the mirror and sees that Danny has written "MURDER" backwards just before Jack starts to break down the bedroom door with the axe!
Crothers also has some good scenes in the film such as the one where Mr O'Hallorann shows Wendy and Danny around the kitchens and he takes them into the food storage room. And while he lists off the food stored in the room he turns to Danny and telepathically talks with him and asks him "How'd you like some ice cream, Doc?" which Danny looks surprised at. And after he finishes his spiel to Wendy he asks Danny "You like lamb, Doc?" and Danny says "No" and O'Hallorann asks "What do you like?" and Danny says "French fries and ketchup" and O'Hallorann laughs saying "Well I think we could manage that aswell, Doc!". And Wendy asks how O'Hallorann knew that they called him "Doc" as a nickname and she says she was sure they didn't mention it before and O'Hallorann says "Well he looks like a Doc to me" and he does a Bugs Bunny impression "Eh... what's up Doc?!".
And the next scene is Crother's main one where O'Hallorann asks Danny "Do you know how I knew your name was Doc?" and Danny stays quiet and O'Hallorann says "You know what I'm talking about don't you?" and Danny shrugs. And O'Hallorran tells Danny "You know I can remember when I was a little boy my grandmother and I could have entire conversations without ever opening our mouths. She called it "shining". And as Danny tells O'Hallorann about Tony, Danny asks "Is there something bad here?" and O'Hallorann suddenly looks and tells him that something bad can leave a trace of itself behind that only "people that shine can see!". And Danny suddenly asks "What about room 237?" and O'Hallorrann looks anxious saying "Room 237?" and Danny "You're scared of Room 237 ain't you?" and O'Hallorann says "No, I ain't". And as Danny asks "Mr O'Hallorann, what is in Room 237?" O'Hallorann snapy back saying "Nothin! There ain't nothing in room 237 so stay out, you understand?! Stay OUT!".
Philip Stone is also excellent as Delbert Grady, the ghost of the man who was the former caretaker of the Overlook hotel who talks to Jack.
And Stone's best scene comes when Grady accidentally bumps into Jack, spilling a drink over him he tells him to go to the bathroom and he dries off the stain from Jack's jacket and Jack questions Grady of his past and that he was once the caretaker here and how he killed his family. And this leaves Grady looking puzzled and he says "That's strange, sir. I don't have any recollection of that at all". And as Jack says to Grady "Mr Grady, you WERE the caretaker here" Grady says to him "I'm sorry to differ with you sir, but you are the caretaker. You've always been the caretaker. I should know sir. I've always been here" which leaves Jack puzzled.
And Grady then asks Jack "Did you know, Mr. Torrance, that your son is attempting to bring an outside party into this situation? Did you know that?". This leaves Jack stunned and he simply says "no" and Grady says "He is, Mr Torrance" and Jack asks "Who?" and Grady says "A nigger. A nigger cook!". And Jack asks "How?" and Grady says "Your son has a very great talent. I don't think you are aware how great it is. That he is attempting to use that very talent against your will". And as Jack smiles and says "He is a very wilful boy" Grady says "Indeed he is, Mr. Torrance. A very willful boy. A rather naughty boy, if I may be so bold, sir". And Grady goes on to explain about his own family that he took drastic measures to "correct" them "My girls, sir, they didn't care for the Overlook at first. One of them actually stole a pack of matches, and tried to burn it down. But I "corrected" them sir. And when my wife tried to prevent me from doing my duty, I "corrected" her".
Joe Turkel is also excellent as the ghost of the bartender, Lloyd, who has some good moments in the film aswell. And this includes his first scene where Jack goes into the ballroom and sits at the bar and rubs his face and then looks up and sees Lloyd and says "Hi, Lloyd. Bit slow tonight isn't it?" and he laughs maniacally and we see Lloyd smartly dressed as the bartender who says "Yes it is, Mr Torrance. What will it be?". And then Jack goes on to moan about Wendy and Lloyd says "Women, can't live with them, can't live without em" and Jack smiles and says "Words of wisdom, Lloyd, my man, words of wisdom!".
Then later on is the scene when Jack comes back to the ballroom and finds it filled with people as a party is underway (ghosts again) and he walks up to the bar and greets Lloyd again saying Hi, Lloyd. I've been away but now I'm back!". And as Lloyd pours him a drink, Jack get's his money out his wallet, Lloyd says "No charge here, Mr Torrance" and Jack puzzled says "No charge?" and Lloyd says "Your money is no good here. Orders from the house". And Jack looks a bit irked and says "I'm the kind of man who likes to know who's buyin his drinks, Lloyd" and Lloyd smoothly says "Its not a matter that concerns you, Mr Torrance. At least not at this point" leaving Jack a little puzzled but then he smiles and says "Anything you say, Lloyd! Anything you say".
And last of all is Barry Nelson who is also excellent as Mr Ullman, the manager of the Overlook hotel who interviews Jack for the job. And Nelson's most noteworthy scene is when Ullman tells Jack about Grady's breakdown and subsequent murder of his family. And Ullman tells Jack about Grady "And he had a good employment record, good references, and from what I've been told he seemed like a completely normal individual. But at some point during the winter, he must have suffered some kind of a complete mental breakdown. He ran amuck and.....killed his family with an axe. Stacked them neatly in one of the rooms in the West wing and then he, he put both barrels of a shot gun in his mouth. The police thought that it was what the old-timers used to call cabin fever. A kind of claustrophobic reaction which can occur when people are shut in together over long periods of time".
And this leaves Jack a bit stunned and he says "That is quite a story" and Ullman laughs saying "Yeah it is. It's still hard for me to believe it happened here. It did, and I think you can appreciate why I wanted to tell you about it". But Jack reassures Ullman that won't happen with him and...well we all know how that one turns out!
DIRECTOR, PRODUCTION AND MUSIC
Moving onto the director, Stanley Kubrick does a superb job here and he utilises all his skills to create a cinematic masterclass in how to make a horror film, and his signature shots and visual sense as evident here as they ever are. And here we get his usual brilliant use of symmetrical shots (which he usually uses in scenes involving walking in long corridors), long slow pan outs, and also worthy of note is the steadycam shots of young Danny pedalling on his pedal bike through the halls of the hotel, which were filmed by the steadicam creator, Garrett Brown, who deserves alot of credit for his great work here.
And technically speaking, Kubrick pretty much does everything to perfection here and there is precious little to fault in his stunning visual presentation of the film. The sets are also truly remarkable, designed by Roy Walker, the Overlook Hotel at that time was the largest set ever built, and they look stunning on film. There was also a fire on one of the sets during the film's production which actually took place on a set while The Empire Strikes Back was being filmed also at Elstree studios.
And it is also worth noting the cinemaphotography by the late John Alcott which is also outstanding as he produces some amazing rich images in the film, particularly the opening vista shots. These were aerial shots taken at Saint Mary lake in Montana and if you look closely you can even see the reflection of the helicopter blades in one shot (the footage was later re-used in the "happy ending" theatrical version of Blade Runner).
As for the film's music, Kubrick expertly chose his music tracks very carefully, and they do nothing but add to the intense dread and atmosphere of the film. Some of the tracks Kubrick chose included works by the composer's Gyorgy Ligeti, Bela Bartok and Kyrzsztov Penderecki, and they are terrific and quite often they will send shivers down your spine, they certainly had the hairs standing up on my neck for sure.
Some of my favourites are used in the scenes where Danny looks in Room 237, and where Jack goes mad and chops down the door with an axe (followed by the mad montage of the river of blood, and Wendy seeing the bizarre image of someone in a teddy bear costume giving a party guest a blow job!).
Wendy Carlos also created one or two original pieces of electronic music for the film and they also add well to the atmosphere of the film, although more in a spatially atmospheric way (to do with the vista shots I mean). Wendy's most notable piece of music is of course in the opening shot where she does a cover of Berlioz's "Dies Irae".
So overall the score for The Shining is superb and makes for a real chilling and spine tingling experience you most likely won't forget in a hurry!
FLAWS
As for the film's flaws.....well there isn't a great deal here to complain about as it is largely a film that has no real flaws but yeah there are still one or two here and there.
And to start off I think a fair criticism levelled at the film was in its unsympathetic depiction of Jack's character as in the book he is portrayed as a flawed but essentially decent man who has a troubled past and is taken over by the supernatural forces of the hotel. But in the film, Jack is a far more cynical character and even early on he is seen being somewhat wary and tired of his family as early as the scene where Jack drives Wendy and Danny up to the hotel and he is quite sarcastic to his son after he tells him about the Donner party who resorted to cannibalism. And as Wendy shows her concern for talking about such a thing, Danny says "Don't worry I know all about it. I saw it on the television" and Jack says "See there you go! He saw it on the television!". And this is later compounded when Jack starts to being really unruly and somewhat verablly abusive to Wendy when he tells her she is breaking his concentration. However I still think the depiction of Jack works better for the film regardless of his cynicism.
Then there are one or two silly shock inclusions in the film such as the image of the party guest being given a blow job by someone dressed in a bear costume. It makes for a rather silly and perverted moment in the film that just feels like it doesn't quite belong and its more like Kubrick's obssession to put in peverse details after he made A Clockwork Orange. Not to mention in the extended version of the film there is the moment where Wendy enters the ballroom and sees an image of skeletons sitting at the tables covered in cobwebs. At that point it feels like a cheap shock that Kubrick has thrown in and doesn't really quite work as well and that he is going for every horror cliche he could find at that point.
You could also argue that the film itself isn't necessarily all that scary even though it does succeed in being very creepy but it doesn't have much in the way of actual jump scares or making you feel really frightened. And this perhaps comes down to Kubrick's calculated way of film making in that everything feels measured and any scary scenes that are supposed to be here don't feel incidental they feel very much like they are planned and as such the film lacks a natural feel of a horror movie. But that's not to take away from the film in any way as its still an effective film horror wise.
Another issue I had with the film is not so much plot or narrative but its more to do with the differenr versions of the film as there is a US and European cut. And the US version runs at 146 minutes, but for the European version, Kubrick reduced the running time by 24 minutes, cutting out various scenes.
Now you could argue that either version of the film works well, but my preference is the original US release as it features several interesting scenes, which also reveal a bit more about the characters, especially the scene where Wendy explains to the doctor that comes to their house after Danny takes a funny turn, about her son and a bit about Jack's background and his alcoholism. And with the extra scenes put in, one or two other scenes make more sense, especially when Wendy asks Danny to stop speaking in Tony's voice, and Danny explains in Tony's voice that "Danny has gone away, Mrs Torrance", which helps explain why he mumbles "REDRUM" in the scene when Jack takes the axe to the door.
And without these scenes I feel the European version of the film makes a bit less sense especially the scene where we suddenly see Danny speaking as Tony and saying "Redrum" but the scenes left out explain why he talks in Tony's voice in the first place. So the edited version certainly has its problems in regards to continuity.
Anyway that's it for the flaws.
SUM UP
Soooo that's it for my look at The Shining which to this day remains one of the great modern horror classics in cinema and its very creepy and intense throughout, even if it isn't necessarily a scary experience. And as a film it is technically flawless as Kubrick's visual sense is once again stunning, the sets are beautiful as is the photography by John Alcott and the music score is quite chilling and features many carefully chosen tracks. And lastly the performances are all great especially Jack Nicholson as he is great at playing an over the top psychopath. And even after 36 years the film has aged very well and is still worth revisiting time after time.
And that's it for now and I will be back with another post sometime soon.
Until then its bye for now.
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