Announcement
I am officially canceling the video games,due to inconsistencies on a site I already do reviews for,which I get comments on,on a style I believe more efficient to the medium. I will however have a link to each review I do on The Video Game Critic under the name of N64Dude.
Anyway for my last review and my Halloween special,I'm going to review one the worlds favorite horror movies,based off one of horror writer Stephen King's first books it is called The Shining,which is famous for the lines "HEEEEERE's JONNY" and "Redrum"all of which were written by director Stanley Kubrick and had no bearing in the original source anyway.
The Shining (1980)
Presentation: 2/20 (Honestly,if I didn't know the premise of the movie from the start,I would've left the classroom I was forced to watch this in,the analyze for homework.It would've made an A harder but initially it would've been worth it. Its starts off with writer Jack Torrance getting a job to oversee a remote hotel for the winter and driving his family through the mountains,unfortunately they aren't all that exciting looking,just a bring green and what's worse the credits take over a good amount of the screen and the camera focuses on the road from a birds eye view.That's not impressive at all nor was the interview itself.I hate spoiling,but it gets better,if you stomach this part)
Plot: 20/20 (Stephen King may not be my favorite writer at execution or genre,but he knows how to make an exciting premise.Basically stuck writer Jack Torrance gets a job at a secluded hotel for the winter in order to overcome writers block.Only the hotel is possessed and slowly screws just about anyone over.However only Jack's little son Danny seems to be wary,thanks to his imaginary friend Tony described as "The Boy who lives inside his mouth".Eventually Torrance is entirely corrupted)
Characters: 12.5/20 (Okay I like Jack Torrance as character,his backstory as father facing drinking problems and writers block okay that's mediocre,but how he resolves to solve both is amazing and he even from the start you know he's going downhill.Still the development is amazing.Arguably I can say the same for Danny who seems to be a creepy child,but becomes a little bit more likable as time goes on.Besides the idea of an imaginary guide,that's novel.Too bad Wendy [Jack's wife] is a screamy unhelpful damsel of a character,she just didn't do anything but scream.Then you have the badass,cool guy Dick Hollaran with similar abilities to Danny,a weird way of talking,and a creepy afro fetish,too bad he dies and ends up being unimportant,what a shame to.Then you have Delbert Grady who is racist ghost at hotel,but its implied he's part of the cursed hotel rather than real.True he unlocks a door,but that's more to add to horror]
Nicholson's Role: 18/20 (Maybe this is because I watched Batman first,but I found this particular work to be a little underwhelming. It seemed a bit stiff,restrained. But that's mostly when Jack Torrance is still mostly there at the beginning.He gets better and better as the movie goes on,really breaking it with the lines "It's always about Danny isn't it! Well what ABOUT WHAT I WANT!",then later there's a part where Jack literally prepares to swing an axe into a door,oh those facial expressions were priceless.The real kicker however is after he sticks his face through the hole and yells "HEEEEEEERE'S JOHNNNNNYYYYY!!!!!" with the most menacing face possible.It's genuinely frightening and entertaining_
Duvall's Role: 10/20 (Wendy was really just a backdrop between Danny and Jack overall,and honestly her acting was terrible when she was trying to be serious and confronting.I did however like her facial expressions which were by far the best part of the movie. For every truly menacing line and face by Nicholson came an attempted "frightened" reaction from Shelley Duvall.Honestly I could not stop laughing every time she made a reaction to the ax or how she was holding the baseball bat. It's enough to give her credit,but not enough to save the otherwise bad acting)
Lloyd's Role: 20/20 (Haley Joel Osment,meet your predessecor. Osment was good as Cole Sear,but he did all that in 1999,Lloyd managed a similar creepy performance in 1980.Anyway he managed to well perform both the role of Danny the creepy child with an eerie monotone and Tony. Crowning line,REDRUM. He always managed to pull of the perfect straight face and startled face when needed.Unlike Duvall)
Set: 20/20 (Great location,beautiful cinematography and you wouldn't expect all the horrors in such a mundane looking place. Nice hotel,it's just flat out beautiful)
Execution: 20/20 (It was well paced,starting off with mundane events that don't seem to add to much,then a random creepy scene like blood flowing out of any elevator,then another random scene,than a connection,and it gets creepier and creepier,until someone dies.It gets to the point that old Jack Torrance is chasing his family with ax in hand through a hedge maze,and he dies.But while it does seem to take a while,it's well built and not thrown out,the acting is alright,and it has a nice anti-climax)
Final:12/20 (Well acting and mostly well executed,but the characters really don't stand out that much,it really could be any bad dad in the same situation but Jack Nicholson was great,however I think Danny Lloyd stole the show. The real downside is the sometimes dragging scenes,the gratuitous amount of blood,and Shelley Duvalls work as Wendy which save the hilarious expressions was really just flat. For a horror fan it's a must have if you have a long attention span.Everyone else it's just watchable)
