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The Shining Customer Reviews (118 - 120 of 131 Reviews)

Hidden messages of The Shining!
The real horror of The Shining lies in the film's hidden messages. Knowing that Stanley Kubrick used film genres (e.g., terror) as a means to an end-to show audiences larger social, cultural, and even cosmic truths (e.g., 2001: A Space Odyssey)-one can see that this is more than a regular "horror flick." This is what separates this director from most, who simply direct movies for their entertainment value.

In The Shining, Kubrick shows us a horror larger than that of a writer (Jack Nicholson) who, one winter, disintegrates mentally and tries to kill his wife Wendy (Shelley Duvall) and son Danny (Danny Lloyd) with an ax at a deserted resort hotel in Colorado. Sure, this is part of the terror, and the fact that Jack actually murders Dick, the hotel chef (Scatman Crothers), at the end after the clairvoyant cook follows his instinct regarding the need for him to travel from Florida to Colorado to check up on the family.

But dehumanization, the flick's leitmotif, involves much more than that, and the other horrors that occur throughout the film are what contribute to the mayhem at the end. The truly terrifying aspect of this film is that these horrors affect us all day-to-day-at least, those who live in contemporary America. These horrors are too numerous to describe here. But the most serious involve separate, disparate elements of modern living, and yet, elements that are strangely interrelated. First, the genocide of Native Americans surfaces repeatedly in the film (e.g., Indian rugs everywhere, Indian pipettes on kitchen cans, Wendy's braids, Indian background music, a rushing river of blood gushing from elevator doors, etc.). The luxurious hotel is also called the Overlook, a literal name for a lavish America built on an Indian burial ground, which continues to "overlook" the fact that the United States was built at the expense of Native American blood-not to mention that of blacks. Second, the film's large, empty hotel both symbolizes and reifies the same isolation of the typical, suburban, middle-class American family-the nuclear family literally light years apart from neighbors and community (e.g., most neighbors don't even know one another's names). Furthermore, this real-life isolation is not just inside suburban homes-empty as the Overlook's interior-but outside on neighborhood streets and sidewalks, except for a car or two swooshing by. In turn, America's isolation from the world relates as well to the Overlook's isolation. Third, the film is about the illusion of middle-class ownership. In The Shining, Jack and Wendy appear to own the hotel-having it all to themselves, but in reality they are merely employees, owning nothing. Fourth, the movie is about the historical brutalization (not just genocide) of minorities-Wendy's victimhood representing the real-life equivalent of women, Dick's the equivalent of black Americans, and Danny's the equivalent of children.

The film isn't perfect, and one of its most disappointing aspects is the climax, when Jack-other than outside the bathroom-never really gets close to Wendy with the ax. Had this happened, the film would have REALLY had a suspenseful climax. Another serious disappointment is the lumping of homosexuality at the end (e.g., the bedroom's "gay" scene) with the other horrors of the hotel (e.g., the ghoulish man dripping with blood, the roomful of skeletons, etc.). Unfortunately, this lumping of homosexuality with creepy things is common, even nowadays, in film, TV, and writing, and the fact that this happens in a highly thought-out movie is an even bigger horror. Because people generally accept well-presented things uncritically (e.g., a visually flawless movie), it is imperative that incidents like Kubrick's depiction of gayness in The Shining be viewed and spoken about with critical eyes.

Most viewers who ask, "What was that movie about?" have simply failed to see the hidden meanings of this film, but once uncovered, this film makes perfect sense.

Other than that, The Shining is one of the best filmed and acted movies in the history of moviemaking (e.g, the Steadicam scenes, the meticulous camera shots, Nicholson's snarls and facial expressions, etc.). Highly recommended!

perception is everything
understand, ye who walk into this theater, that without a clear awareness of the object absurdity of human existance, you will not be amused. this statment by one of few true masters in the art of film is a flawed masterpiece of black humor. if you have ever looked at life around you and for a moment thought about how ridiculous it all is then i highly suggest you expose yourself to this gloriously honest manipulation of the senses.

Brilliant Horror Art Movie
Jack Nicholson's perfect manic performance and Kubrick's creepy insistence on the perfect shot mesh perfectly with Stephen King's popular schlock. As a huge fan of all three artists, this movie is fascinating. King's work almost always translates poorly to the screen unless its well acted and the director has the common sense not to interpret it literally. Not for every taste. Kubrick is very established shot and art housy and Nicholson and Duvall could fairly be accused of overacting. The atmosphere is oppressive and the dread builds and builds to an extremely effective climax. Creepy, smart, and exciting.

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