The Shining DVD > Reviews

Advantages: Jack Nicholson at his very best...and worst!!!
Disadvantages: Just a tiny bit slow to start with

...bit creepy and unstable at the best of times. Even in comedy roles he always gives the impression that the characters he plays could always "FREAKOUT!!!" at the flick of a switch. I truly believe that there is this little bit of madness that resides in our old friend Jack and I believe that Stanley Kubrick detected this when he cast Nicholson for the role of Jack Torrence, the unstable and ever maddening caretaker of the Overlook Hotel. Its a pity ... Read review

Advantages: one of the best horror films ever
Disadvantages: None

...made, scripted and acted and the only motivation I ever have to go and see them is to see what film they ripped off this time. The only truly original horror films are the old Dracula and Frankenstein movies of the thirties, they set the template and since then every other scary film has been a copy or a copy of a copy(which is even worse), whilst the original stalk n slash is a 60s film called Peeping Tom. Then we come to the totally insane, blood ... Read review

Advantages: Jack, Kubrick, scary, chilling
Disadvantages: The little twin girls are too creepy

This could well be the greatest horror film ever made: chilling, visually stunning and featuring some excellent acting, it can hardly fail to scare. The Shining is a rare event in horror, it doesn't follow the usual format of b-grade acting, poor effects and predictable plot. Instead we are treated to a masterpiece with superb direction from Kubrick, incredible acting (especially from Nicholson) and a strangely original plot which is thankfully not ... Read review

Advantages: Superb acting and strength of character, superb directing, the Original And Best!
Disadvantages: Some people may be a bit too scared!

The Shining is one of my all time favourite films. It combines breathtaking suspense with sheer terror, with an ingenious plot and superb characters. The film is based on a family of three who go to live in a hotel as caretakers during the winter. The father, played by Jack Nicholson, is trying to write a book, his wife played by Shelley Duval and son Danny. The family meet another caretaker, who realises that Danny is telepathic like himself. ... Read review

Advantages: Jack, the atmosphere, everything else
Disadvantages: None

...lesson to us all - the man was a writer like we folk at this here site - and just as we can get to be quite obsessive and addictive, then Torrance was a case in point - taking on a winter job as caretaker at an isolated old hotel so that he could have five months of peace to work on his latest project ... Beware Op Writers everywhere ... for this can happen to you ... imagine in a year's time cutting your way in through the door to your wife and ... Read review

Advantages: Great film. Suspence throught the film
Disadvantages: None!

The Shining is famous for being one the scariest horror films around. When I began to watch it a few days back, I expected to be frightened by the film. But surprisingly I wasn’t, but this doesn’t take any of the excitement from it. The film was produced in 1980 so is quite an old flick but I feel this adds more tension to the film, making it a true classic and just as exciting today as it was 20-odd years ago. Based on the novel written by Stephen ... Read review

Advantages: Manic Nicholson performance counterbalanced by Kubrick's funereal direction
Disadvantages: Maybe should be a little more outright scary?

...vision, but ended up in the same DTV hell as the majority of Stephen King adaptations. That'll teach you - keep knocking out books in your lunch time, and leave the movie making to the professionals. You might gain from this that I'm not the greatest Stephen King fan in the world. Well, you'd be right - his earlier stuff was great, and 'The Shining' was a masterpiece. Over the past ten years or so, though, he's fallen into that clique of sloppy, ... Read review

Advantages: see review
Disadvantages: see review

...all having a hand in the same movie? It could only ever have been a classic then couldn't it. But this isn't just a classic of the horror genre, it is also one of the few movies which will truly disturb you both during its showing and for a long time afterwards. It is psychological horror at its finest, one of the most difficult types of movie to actually get right, but here Kubrik manages to hit it right on the head. The original Stephen King ... Read review

Advantages: Great viewing
Disadvantages: None

...I do give some of the plot away, though nothing to really spoil the story should you wish to watch it! Shining according to this horror film is: when two people talk to each without using their mouths, - telepathy! That out the way, this film is fairly old (1980 I think), but remains as enthralling today as when it was first released! Overlook hotel is set to close for the winter months, and re-open on 1st May. However during those long ... Read review

Advantages: It's a classic nad it plays with ur mind
Disadvantages: can play with ur mind to much and send you mad

...his father's writing career. However, the Haunted past of the hotel catches up with them and ghostly visions of the previous occupants terrify Danny (Danny Lloyd) and his father becomes possessed by the evil within the walls (Jack Nicholson). Can they escape this creepy place before they become the latest victims of the overlook hotel? My review: This film recently won a channel 4 poll to find the scariest film of all time. The poll was based ... Read review

Advantages: Nicholson's realism, cinematography, scary in places
Disadvantages: slipshod pace & character development, Duvall, disjointed script

...he tries his hand at the horror/suspense genre. I've read Steven King's novel and to some extent it is far better than the movie. But why King and his die-hard followers keep on banging on about how "totally different" the movie is to the book should realize that Kubrick ADAPTED the book into a working screenplay. Perhaps people should look the word up in the dictionary before firing off loose cannon. What we are left with is a decent psychological/haunted ... Read review

Advantages: Atmosphere, performances, setpieces, story.
Disadvantages: A slow starter {which is good for me but not for some}

SYNOPSIS : The Torrances are planning to move to the Overlook Hotel deep in the mountains to maintain it over a long winter. This is Jacks first stable job in years so he and his wife are thrilled to be involved in the project. Danny their son however is less optimistic and is beginning to see images of the Overlook which scare and disturn him. On arriving at the Hotel Jack begins to write his novel while Wendy and Danny explore the place. Jack however ... Read review