One of the best horror films ever!

Some people didn't like the film because it deviated from the book by Steven King.  I saw the film before I read the book so I didn't know 'what was supposed to happen'.

If you're looking for a true adaptation of the book, this is not it.   For that film, see The Shining (1997) TV Mini-series starring Courtland Mead.  Which is a great film in and of itself.

But if you're looking for an unsettling-eerie-claustrophobic-scary film, then this is it.

The restructuring of the story, the excellent acting, and the amazing 'tricks' that Stanley Kubrick used making the film are absolutely amazingly scary.

What's more scary than your dad going mad and trying to kill you with an axe.

Best viewed up on the big screen.



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bowser wrote on 27. Sep 2014 at 02:55:


At the end when Jack is shown frozen to death, Nicholson said having to hold that face for about 30 seconds was a lot more difficult than it looked!

Cinefan wrote on 27. Sep 2014 at 17:45:


I agree, that was one of the best openings of any film.  It was shot on the Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park.
As spectacular as the opening scene is, photographs cannot capture the almost mystical beauty of Glacier National Park.
Highly recommend visiting if you ever get the chance.  Bring your camera, don't go in the winter.

Most people thought Jack Nicholson went 'over the top' in his acting.  I didn't think so, but I do think that Kubrick wanted Jack to be 'over the top' crazy. 
Kubrick would shoot 40, 50, even 60 takes of each scene.  By the end of the takes the actors would be improvising and 'mugging' their lines.

The scene where Jack is breaking the door down with an axe was one of the late takes in that scene.
Jack Nicholson improvised the line, "Little pigs, little pigs, let me come it!" and it made it into the film.

Yes, in an interview, Danny Lloyd said that he did not know this was a horror film, he thought it was a family drama.  He said that he did not get to see the actual film until he was fourteen years old.  Kubrick went to great measures to protect Danny as is the case with most films with minors.  As an example, in the scene where Wendy and Jack are in the Colorado Lounge and Jack has had the nightmare that he killed Wendy and Danny, Danny comes walking into the room after he has been attacked.  Wendy runs over and picks Danny up.  In order to insulate Danny Lloyd from the remainder of the scene where Wendy accuses Jack of hurting Danny, Kubrick had Wendy hold a life size doll of Danny.  Wendy is actually carrying a doll out of the room.   


This is one my favorite films of all time.

Danny Lloyd then and now


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boyactorzrule wrote on 26. Oct 2014 at 00:15:

Thanks for the cap boyactorzrule! that's my next avatar!