Friday, June 1, 2012

the S H I N I N G

Where to begin.
This movie really pissed me off the first time I watched it, having just finished reading the novel.


I agreed with Stephen King - what a shitty adaptation of a brilliantly terrifying story. Who was this Stanley Kubrick, and what was he thinking?


A movie from a book is a weird thing. It inevitably draws the comparison, but the two are such different art forms, I have to look at them as works of art based on interpretation - both books and films.


This post'll be a work in progress...

2 comments:

Patrick said...

sounds cool, can't wait to see this one..

DaSnipe! said...

Wow...thought I literally the only one. I still list this as one of the worst horror films of all time. Shelley Duval screaming for 2/3 of the film, pathetic use of Scatman Caruthers as 'just another body to kill', shift of focus from the child's view in the book to the (yawn)'we've paid for him so we'd better use every minute with him' big star status of Nickolson are just some of the reasons to hate this film. Some visually striking moments but nothing to save the utter lack of initiative this film showed.

Whenever discussion of Kubrick comes up, I am always first to bring up this film as his WORST EVER. I've even watched it 3 times to desperately try and see what others have found so terrifying... with no success.

There is one positive I can give this waste of time... the soundtrack is one of the scariest pieces of music I have ever listened to. It's amazing, and I rushed out to buy it.

There was an early 2000's remake that was better but I think it was a made for TV special. You have brought me some comfort in relating that Mr. King shares some of our disappointment!