DVD Review: The Shining | All Work and No Play Makes Jack a Dull Boy

Halloween season is the time for spooks and thrills. I kicked off the month by watching The Shining (directed by Stanley Kubrick), a rated-R horror film released in 1980. The Shining is a film adaptation from one of Stephen King’s most popular novels by the same title. The movie is about a small family volunteering to maintain the Overlook Hotel for the harsh winter months. The father, Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson), is a struggling writer using the empty hotel as time to overcome his writer’s block. His wife, Wendy (Shelley Duvall), just wants to make sure her family is healthy and happy for the time they are staying at the hotel. Their son, Danny (Danny Lloyd), is a shy kid with a peculiar trait. He has “The Shine” —as the Hotel’s cook, Dick Hallorann (Scatman Crothers) calls it—in the form of his imaginary friend, Tony, who tells him things about the past, as well as the future. Danny and Mr. Hallorann get along quickly because they both have The Shine, which a person can get when they have been victims of abuse.

The stay at the Hotel begins as a fun vacation, but quickly turns bitter. Jack seems to get severe cabin fever, as he gets extremely tense when he can’t get working. As the movie progresses, the Hotel and characters descend into madness, although none more than Jack, whose verbal abuse to his family turns him into an attempted murderer.

I think that movie is amazing. It is the movie that got me into watching—and loving—scary movies. It’s very intricate, as Stephen King tends to be, and it has many behind the scenes quirks. The protagonists are so clever. They have common sense and good survival skills. Once the dad has gone completely mad, Wendy and Danny don’t hesitate to try and escape. The Shining has a lot of amazing creepy/scary moments. The iconic Room 237 is a very effective moment.

I give The Shining a 10/10 for being spine-chillingly scary and having a riveting plot. I would recommend this movie to someone with an appetite for positively eerie movies.