The Shining (1980) *****

Stephen King hates this movie. Hates it with a passion. He hated it so much he had it re-made for TV. King felt that it was butchered, mis-cast, and a total abomination to the original novel. You must also remember that Stephen King directed Maximum Overdrive and Stanley Kubrick directed 2001. Need I say more.

It's hard to say what exactly The Shining is about. I can throw out the basics: A man, his wife, and their son travel to an isolated Colorado hotel so that the father can act as caretaker through the harsh winter months. While there he slowly cracks and goes nuts while weird things appear to be going on. That's the basic plot, but what IS The Shining exactly. Is it a ghost story about an old, haunted hotel? Is it a family's breakdown from being cooped up alone together for so many months? Is it about a gift that apparently the father, son, and cook share? Is it an abusive father finally going totally ape shit? What Stanley Kubrick does with The Shining is weave all of these together to the point that we don't know what's really going on... and we do know what's going on.

You can take so many things from The Shining. Depending on what road you traveled will depend on how you see The Shining. Kubrick seems to intentionally not call it a ghost story, yet lays the possibility right there before you. Honestly, does anything really supernatural actually happen in the hotel that couldn't be explained by the occupants going nuts one by one?

Jack Nicholson once again plays the perfect psycho almost too well. He looks crazy even on the ride up to the hotel, which could be an allusion to what's coming up. Danny Loyd plays the son, acting like your typical little boy. Curious and scared all at the same time. The only real weak link in the cast is possibly Shelly Duvall. I say possibly because her performance could have been exactly as Kubrick wanted.

Kubrick directs the film with relish, giving us a nice open feeling in this cooped up hotel. He throws visions throughout the film, doing it before it was the cool thing to do. He has created a modern masterpiece, though it's hard to call it horror. Yeah there's an elevator of blood and one axe murder, but can we really call it a horror film. It's more like a psychology project. Just like 2001, when you get right down to it The Shining presents us with more questions than answers- classic Kubrick.

So what's my opinion on The Shining? I see it as the ultimate dysfunctional family. Dad is an abusive, ex-drunk who combined with cabin fever, writer's block, and his son's over imagination is driven to snap. Everything else falls like dominoes. But don't take my opinion for the concrete truth. It's up to you to answer your questions. In the end Kubrick is like a great professor that makes you crave more.