Review : The Shining

THE SHINING

Let the scare fest begin! A family heads to an isolated hotel for the winter, where an evil and spiritual presence influences the father into becoming a bizarrely violent man, while his psychic son sees horrific forebodings from the past and of the future.

Hey Guys

Welcome to my 100th Blog! I can't believe I've reviewed 100 films in the space of seven months. It is crazy. I knew for my 100th, I had to review a film which is highly regarded as being a good on.

All this week on the blog, to celebrate the coming of Halloween on Thursday. I thought I would review some spine chilling thrillers, which are grippling tense and oozing with passion in their story lines. Stories of which done so well, drive fear and terror into the hearts of the viewers watching them.

And what a better one to start off with than 'The Shining', a film which brings chills down my spine whenever I watch it.

Director Stanly Kubrick, adapts the words from the novel by Stephen King and essentially brings his words to life. Every little quirk, and imagery description is interpreted into a 146 minute production. It was released in cinemas in 1980. So this film came out way before my time, I would of loved to have been around to see this in the cinema, sadly I hadn't been born yet.

The Storyline for those of you, who haven't seen 'The Shining' yet goes like this: A man, his Wife and son become the winter caretakers of an isolated hotel where Danny, the son, sees disturbing visions of the hotel's past using a telepathic gift known as "The Shining".

The father, Jack Torrance, is underway in a writing a new project, when he slowly slips into insanity as a result of cabin fever and former guests of the hotel's ghosts. After being convinced by a waiter's ghost to "correct" the family, Jack goes completely insane, and starts going on a killing spree.

Here is a clip.

I think one of the best talents Stanly Kubrick has a director is his communication with the audience, he has a certainty of guessing correctly, what to expect from his audience.

And it is that communication that I think sells the film, and makes the story believable. For instance Shelley Duvall, she was superb at acting scared. This is what Kubrick says 'This is peril, It's meant to be scary" and we as the audience go 'oh, I get it AHHH!'. It has that sort of effect, so the frighten factor of this story is easily communicated.

I thought the music adds an eeriness to the mix, again all to do with the communication thing I was on about.

And I do symphonie with Kubrick in taking on the challenge of directing 'The Shining'. It isn't easy to put your stamp on it, the decisions one would have to make are essential to the success of story-telling. You got a choice to make on, do I stick to the basics and stay true to the story and make it as accurate to the book as I possibly can. Or do I dare to go off the wall, and adapt it so it can be rateable to the time of the present? could you answer that question?




         
In the end, it's all about 'The Shining'. As it's 'The Shining' that saves Wendy and Danny Torrance from being brutally murdered. It's insightful things such as 'The Shining' that are really spooky or give off a chilling feel, because it recalls on seeing into the future, or one of many possible futures. But then again, it grasp the audience's attention because they want to see what happens.

Another highlight for me, in which I have to point out is Jack Torrance turning insane, how he went from being in normal state to then being driven insane. It adds to the emphasise of how frightening it is to change, and it's about identity.

Rounding everything up as a whole, I recommend you go out of your way, to try and track this film down. It's a more or less screen accurate representation of the book. And you won't be disappointed with the ending. 8/10!

That concludes my 100th Review!

TOMORROW : I will continue reviewing my Halloween goodies. Stay tuned to find out what my next spine chiller is going to be.