Stephen King Month: The Shining (1980)

5 Stars - Terrific

At long last Stephen King Month is come to a close, do I regret it? A little... Will I ever attempt another theme month? Probably... though not Stephen King again, as there aren't enough films and miniseries left. So to finish let's look at The Shining again, this time the film, that has been brought out at the cinema for a limited period of time, restored to it's original cut that has not previously been available in the UK at all.

I've already described the plot of the book in my review of the miniseries, so I needn't do it again. But basically, family trapped in haunted hotel by snow, father goes crazy.

This film is wonderful, it has haunting imagery, wonderful cinematography that really captures the isolated, empty feel of the hotel. Most of all, though, this film is loud, everything echoes and the music never really let's you rest always unnerving you and making you not sure of what might happen next. Strangely though, I prefer the cut I had previously seen without the extra 24 minutes of footage, it felt somewhat tighter and more menacing, that's not to say this version isn't also great, probably just when you're used to something it can be weird to see it another way, I'm sure the more times I saw this cut the more I would like it.

As an adaptation it hits and it misses. Many elements of the book have been left out or changed, but a few scenes are word for word the same dialogue out of the book. Ultimately though this is more of an example of the book being a diving board for the director to take his own meanings from it and put them on the screen. You ask most people about the Shining and this is what they'll talk about, and that's fine, it's a very good film.

Never Overlook The Past

In short, a great book and a great film. Well worth a watch and read.