Directed by:
Stanley KubrickCinematography:
John AlcottCast:
Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd, Scatman Crothers, Barry Nelson, Philip Stone, Joe Turkel, Anne Jackson, Tony Burton, Lia Beldam, Vivian Kubrick (more)VOD (5)
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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 learn that the previous caretaker had gone mad. Slowly Jack becomes possessed by the evil, demonic presence in the hotel. (official distributor synopsis)
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Reviews (13)
A classic of the horror genre that hasn't aged and is an example of the director's creative approach to the literary source material. Kubrick had an exceptional talent for creating impressive visuals and working with actors, which, in combination with the screenplay, created a disturbing work with an atmosphere that is rarely seen in the genre today. Scenes such as the wildly moving toy car on the red carpet or the chase in the garden maze are etched in my memory forever. This was one of Jack Nicholson's best roles, perfectly portraying the gradual breakdown of the main character's personality. His loss of self-confidence as the family provider is gradually replaced by increasingly aggressive dominance, culminating in a horrifying finale. The final camera shot of the framed photograph on the wall is a clever touch that will please horror fans. The scenery of the monumental hotel complex set in an isolated mountain environment also plays an irreplaceable role. Overall impression: 95%. Interestingly, the author of the book, Stephen King, was not completely satisfied with the tone of this film, despite it being one of the best adaptations of his work. It seems that he was disappointed that he did not receive his usual minor role.
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The excellent minimalist soundtrack couldn't be better, and some scenes, especially the bathroom scene and the boy's vision of dismembered children in the hotel corridor, are truly horrifying, but I still have some reservations. Jack Nicholson, as excellent as he is, overacts disgustingly in some scenes; if that's the director's intention, I didn't quite get it. And Shelley Duvall, as she runs around the hotel with a knife in her hand, tries to play scared, but you can see in her face that she's not very good at it. But these are just tiny blemishes on the beauty of the whole.
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Redrum. Redrum. Redrum. The main asset of this movie is neither Nicholson, nor Kubrick’s precise directing, but the flawless atmosphere in the mountain top hotel. Kubrick’s loose adaptation of King’s novel is attractive due to it being actually only very loosely based on the motifs in one of King’s best stories and is not a mere idealess “one to one" adaptation (however much I may think that Torrance’s fall was far too sudden in comparison with the gradual descent in the book). redruM!
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I'm sure I'd have liked it a lot more if I didn't have to watch it in two parts (after about an hour of watching it, my roommate couldn't take it and we had to turn it off and put on HIMYM); the next day the atmosphere was gone, so I kind of thought about it, rolled my eyes, and gave it 5 stars. But maybe it wasn't really there after all, it just ended in kind of a lackluster way, and at the exact moment the black guy called, I told myself he was going to go there and get slaughtered. Yup, and that’s exactly how it turned out... I would have given it the 4 stars for the psycho music, for Jack, who at the beginning looked like he was from the Bohnice Insane Asylum, and for that bloody hallway, but as I mentioned I closed one eye (and plugged up one nostril, but you don't need to know that) and was giving it the damn 5 stars. I guess it's because I live over a cat cemetery. Nah – I opened my eyes, looked again, and it's still just 4 stars.
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This is quite nice. However, I don't feel like Jack has done his best here. Something missing from his highlights from The Witches of Eastwick or Wolf. On the other hand, King adaptations can be absolute hell. And this one got a great Simpsons parody, and it's got the name of the anointed one inscribed in the crest.
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