The Shining poster & wallpaper

Barry Nelson, Danny Lloyd, Jack Nicholson

Frustrated writer Jack Torrance takes a job as the winter caretaker at the ominous, mountain-locked Overlook Hotel so that he can write in peace. When he arrives there with his wife and son, they lear...( read more  read more... )n that the previous caretaker had gone mad. Slowly Jack becomes possessed by the evil, demonic presence in the hotel.

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87% liked it

47 critics

R, 1 hr. 59 min.

Directed by: Stanley Kubrick

Release Date: May 23, 1980

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DVD Release Date: June 29, 1999

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"Here's Johnny" The Shining The Shining Bloody Hallway! The Shining The Shining Poster designed by Saul Bass REDRUM REDRUM REDRUM The Shining All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. The Shining - Polish poster The Shining The Shining Jack Nicholson The Shining My next vacation.... Here's Johnny! The Shining
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Flixster Reviews (32,592)

  • AgentLexi2132
    November 10, 2009
    AgentLexi2132
    ''Darling. Light, of my life. I'm not gonna hurt ya. You didn't let me finish my sentence. I said, I'm not gonna hurt ya. I'm just gonna bash your brains in. I'm gonna bash 'em right the fuck in. Ha, ha.''

    A family heads to an isolated hotel for the winter where an evil a...( read more)nd spiritual presence influences the father into violence, while his psychic son sees horrific forebodings from the past and of the future.

    Jack Nicholson: Jack Torrance

    Shelley Duvall: Wendy Torrance

    The Shining as soon as it begins, as soon as the music eerily plays and the landscape zooms in and past, you instantly know this is a piece by Kubrick. I mean it's so blindingly obvious.

    The film is based on Stephen King's novel and the combination of Stanley Kubrick bringing it to life on the big screen, we have before us gold.
    We get a boy who right from the off is made apparent he has a psychic gift and visions of things best not seen.
    Danny Lloyd plays Danny Torrance with remarkable skill for a boy so young which is a wonder to behold.
    Shelley Duvall who portrays Wendy really annoyed the hell out of me. I mean here we have this strange looking woman who delivers her lines in such a flimsy fashion, and I mean some of the clothes she wears are so distasteful it makes The Shining in areas a horror movie for all the wrong reasons. Her scared disposition is believable in parts though and she doesn't do a totally bad job.
    Moving on to the main attraction of Shining and yes you have guessed it, it's Jack Nicholson as Jack Torrance who steals the limelight and ultimately the show. He's so insanely nuts and off the chain, my humour called for me to laugh every single time he went psychopathic. I mean he totally captures and freezes onto frame the sheer madness of Jack's character. Whether it be visions from his mind perhaps of figures from the past or real supernatural influences from the Hotel, we are treated to his mind and left to make up our own conclusions. Are the figures real or merely part of his sub conscious being drawn out? It's definitely an excuse for discussion and Jack going completely ape is an excuse to re-watch this horror masterpiece.

    ''Little pigs, little pigs, let me come in. Not by the hair of your chiny-chin-chin? Well then I'll huff and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house in.''

    The Shining features some of the most warped music which reminded me of the other greats of Kubrick like 2001 and Orange. The Cinematography especially the last scene in the dizzying maze and the start with the countryside being shown is virtually faultless.

    Be it the creepy visions the boy has of past occurrences, rooms splashing with blood, or a pair of twins who were blatantly murdered by a previous caretaker. Be it Jack's spiraling maddened journey into the dark side, or his conversations with a surreal bar man who appears to be from the past and part of Jack's weathered conscience. Shining really shines as a masterful piece in the horror stakes and will remain a shining performance for Jack Nicholson and a directorial achievement for the late Kubrick.
    The REDRUM and ''HERE'S JOHNNY!'' has become iconic and it's not hard to see why.

    Overall I felt Shining is a work of genius that obviously will be replicated and copied by many more horror films trying to achieve the same shocking outcome but alas they all pale in comparison. The ending wasn't as bloodthirsty as I would of hoped, and the closing part with him in the picture wasn't totally understood by me. But the more I think about it, the cleverer it appears to be, like The Shining is telling me Jack has been consumed and become one with a Hotel and place that has buried an ancient angry foreboding embodiment of anger.

    The shining grand achievement of Kubrick.

    ''Heeere's Johnny!''
  • irisheyes686
    November 6, 2009
    irisheyes686
    Pretty creepy...but it was really slow until the last half an hour. Nicholson is amazing as a crazy person though.
  • SirPant
    September 4, 2009
    SirPant
    Stephen King quite famously condemned this film which I?ve always thought was unfair. This is probably the best film to be made based on one of his books, it's certainly one of the greatest Horror/Thriller films ever made and Kubrick's rewritten ending is far superior to King's. ...( read more)Nicholson is at the top of his game and Duvall and Crothers are great in supporting roles.
  • sononothing
    April 27, 2009
    sononothing
    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 ...( read more)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.
  • MalumMosIncrebresco
    April 19, 2009
    MalumMosIncrebresco
    "Overlook/
    Inner sense of Pain/
    Eyes of the Insane/
    Bleeding Evil's might./

    Shades of Black and Grey/
    Lock the human Prey/
    In Dark, Demented Fright./

    Through Psychosis dwells/
    Death's Defying Spells/
    That shine the Ancient Rite./

    Lontano/
    Reaps Tormented souls/
    With sounds of ...( read more)rising Ghouls/
    And Morbid Howls of night./

    Fear seeking the past/
    Screams that everlast/
    And Whispers in delight./

    Noises from the Deep/
    Embrace the Cold, Dead Sleep/
    And Overshadow light./

    Madness/
    Prowls in hollow flesh/
    Born of Flaming Ash/
    Bleeding Evil's might./

    Final Anguished Maze/
    Leads the wanderer's gaze/
    In Dark, Demented Fright./

    Man's Scavenging Mind/
    Facing Shadows Blind/
    That shine the Ancient Rite./

    RedruM/
    Feeding Darkened skies/
    Polymorphic eyes/
    And Morbid Howls of Night./

    Fear becoming Freedom/
    Breeds the Inner Kingdom/
    And Whispers in delight./

    Through the Ripping Blade/
    Ghostly orbs Invade/
    And Overshadow light./


    Only Death is true/
    "Midnight,/
    With the Stars and You.    ""
  • Liloh
    November 23, 2009
    Liloh
    OH I LUB MY MUM. I only enjoy watchin Shining wif her believe me watching Shining without her is like eh cannt compare its just cannt imagine to watch Shining without her. Shining is one of the greatest Horror Classics ever. It is of one the Movies I watch like every 5 years...( read more)? Frankly the last time I watched it was 10 years ago. And the first time when during my modeling days in a Hotel room. I was how old? It scared a crap outta me, but my Mum was luckily there. Kept holding her hand so tight. OH MUM LUB U SOMUCH.
  • patriotfan613
    November 21, 2009
    patriotfan613
    awsome..but the book was better
  • ilovemiguel12
    November 20, 2009
    ilovemiguel12
    I think I'm the only person on earth who hasn't loved this movie. REDRUM!!
  • julietast11
    November 20, 2009
    julietast11
    i need more horror than this but is a classic and this is ok
  • Ladiva4
    November 19, 2009
    Ladiva4
    Kubricks adaptation is a far cry from Stephen Kings novel. He takes it in a whole different direction which is equally brilliant and unnerving, comparatively. Its the right mixture of fear, insanity, and superior acting that will never make your mind wander, even while watching i...( read more)t for the 20th time or 50th

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Critic Reviews

May 8, 2007
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

The movie is not about ghosts but about madness and the energies it sets loose in an isolated situation primed to magnify them. full review

View more The Shining reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

Comments

  • pooglywoogly
    July 15, 2008
    pooglywoogly
    all work and no play makes jack a dull boy
    all work and no play makes jack a dull boy
    all work and no play makes jack a dull boy
    all work and no play makes jack a dull boy
    all work and no play makes jack a dull boy
    all work and no play makes jack a dull boy




    all work and no play makes jack a dull boy
    all work and no play makes jack a dull boy
    all work and no play makes jack a dull boy
    all work and no play makes jack a dull boy



    all work and no play makes jack a dull boy
    all work and no play makes jack a dull boy
    all work and no play makes jack a dull boy
    all work and no play makes jack a dull boy
    all work and no play makes jack a dull boy
    all work and no play makes jack a dull boy



    all work and no play makes jack a dull boy
    all work and no play makes jack a dull boy
    all work and no play makes jack a dull boy
    all work and no play makes jack a dull boy
    all work and no play makes jack a dull boy
    all work and no play makes jack a dull boy








  • RufusXRagTime
    June 28, 2008
    RufusXRagTime
    could some-body please explain the ending of this to me ........what was the deal with him being in the photograph ??????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!?????????????????
  • zlap1
    June 15, 2008
    zlap1
    REDRUM REDRUM. (People have gotten jack nicholsons face from the movie poster tattooed on them.Thats how good this movie is)
  • harrycaul
    March 17, 2008
    harrycaul
    I see that the short version of this film has just been reissued on DVD in the UK again. What a wasted opportunity. And who cares what Stephen King thinks or doesn't think about Kubrick's "The Shining"? As far as I'm concerned, he forfeited the right to complain about lousy adaptations of his work when he directed one of the worst: "Maximum Overdrive".
  • tmoney007nc
    February 2, 2008
    tmoney007nc
    Kubrick. King. Nicholson.

    'Nuff said.
  • MorpheusOne
    January 24, 2008
    MorpheusOne
    Stephen King may be a talented writer, but he is an IDIOT for saying that his version of The Shinning, which aired on I believe it was the Sci-Fi Channel, is scarier than the original. He probably felt chaffed that he didn't have the artistic control over the movie, which I heard he didn't want & gave up willingly when he signed the rights to the book over to the studio, but he grew disenfranchised with it over time.

    This is a MUCH scarier and better version than the thing that aired on the Sci-Fi Channel!
  • cutiepie20072008
    January 11, 2008
    cutiepie20072008
    i love this movie! couldn't take a bath again for a while. I was really young when i watched this film.
  • elfabo78
    November 4, 2007
    elfabo78
    Well,its one of my favorite movies,but just if you dont relate it with Stephen Kings book,Kubrick changed almost everything!!! the characters are great,but if you read the book at first and you are a King´s fan...you can hate the movie.
  • lillted
    September 5, 2007
    lillted
    if you like the shining have a look at this - it's very funny and the guy doing jack is amazing.
    http://youtube.com/watch?v=bZVhXxzzG58
  • VilaVila
    August 16, 2007
    VilaVila
    Amazing. Along with Clockwork Orange And 2001: Oddisey... The best of Kubrick. Different from the book, a lot. But I'm not comparing, I'm saying that, as a movie, is simply a classic, and one of the best. With Misery and It, the best movies bassed on King's movies.
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The Shining Trivia

  • What is the name of the hotel Jack Torrence is hired to take care of during the winter in The Shining?  Answer »
  • In Finding Nemo, the scene where Bruce the Shark is trying to eat the fish and says "Here's Brucie" is alluding to a Jack Nicholson's movie where he says "Here's Johnny!" What movie was it?  Answer »
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