A shining example of a stonking good film

Jack Torrance is a writer, who takes a job as caretaker at the Overlook Hotel during the winter months, when no-one can holiday there because of the weather conditions. He takes his wife, Wendy, and son, Danny, with him, despite the hotel manager's warnings that a caretaker had gone mad from loneliness one winter, murdering his wife and children before killing himself. The first few weeks are spent quite happily, although Danny has hallucinations of the past and the future, none of which end well. Then when the snows begin, Jack starts to behave strangely, bullying Wendy even more than usual. Danny is injured one day, but tells Wendy it wasn't his father, it was the woman in room 237, although Jack claims that there is no-one in the room. As Jack's behaviour becomes more and more aggressive, Wendy begins to fear for her life and that of her son. Will any of them get out alive?

This is the film that I always think of when Jack Nicholson's name is mentioned, although One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, which was made a few years before, is a close second. As Jack Torrance, he is a deeply unpleasant man, which is evident from the start. He is clearly a bully - we find out early on in the film that he dislocated Danny's shoulder trying to discipline him, and his wife, Wendy, is obviously under his thumb. Yet Nicholson is so in control of his performance that we only occasionly get a glimpse of this nastiness - most of the time he is outwardly pleasant enough. It is when he begins to lose his grip on reality that he really comes to the fore though. When he shouts at Wendy for disturbing him, he is truly chilling, and from then on, he really turns into a monster. This is the performance of a lifetime as far as I am concerned - I have certainly never seen Nicholson perform as well in any other film and quite why he didn't win an Oscar for this role, I don't know.

What stands out the most for me about this film are the visuals. Right from the start when we follow Jack's car from above, along the winding roads up to the Overlook Motel, I am hooked each time. It has to be said that the Timberline Lodge in Oregon was a superb choice for the exterior of the Overlook. Nestled in mountains, it looks incredibly austere, especially once the snow begins to cover it. I was suprised to find that the set for the interior of the hotel was actually built in the UK, at Pinewood and Elstree Studios. It is absolutely marvellous, all high ceilings, marble walls and native Indian carpets and wall-hangings. However, what I always remember about the film is watching Danny cycle around the corridors of the hotel, carpeted in reds and browns with a cube-shaped design. As the camera filming Danny is right behind him, we get a great perspective of the corridors, and Danny's cycle, which makes different noises depending on whether he is cycling on carpet or the bare floor, adds to the creepy nature.

This is a horror/thriller with a touch of the supernatural thrown in for good measure. As a thriller, it is excellent. The film starts off slowly, without ever being boring, with little hints that something strange is afoot in Danny's behaviour. When it starts gaining momentum though, it really races along, each moment throwing up something else to keep the viewer occupied - who is the woman in room 237, for example, and what significance does the room have? Is Jack hallucinating, or are there really other people in the hotel? The atmosphere is deeply foreboding; the first few times I watched it, I was genuinely scared, although of course, once you know what happens, it is hard to be frightened. So entranced am I each time that I see it that I barely notice it is well over two hours long. And the music complements the atmosphere perfectly. It is often very simple, just a single long note, almost like a distant alarm, that makes you very aware that it is there, without grating too much on the nerves and becoming distracting.

The DVD is available from play.com for £6.99.