by Tracy Heck

Created on: April 15, 2009

With so many movies being made everyday in so many different genres, it is always hard to narrow them down to one favorite. However, when I sat down to choose my own favorite to most and which genres I tend to prefer. After answering these questions, I was able to definitively say that my favorite movie is Stanley Kubrick's 1980 horror classic The Shining.

When it comes to movies, televisions and books I have always preferred the horror genre. One of my favorite authors is Stephen King and The Shining

is my favorite book by him. The first time I read it I was drawn in by the characters and the crazy situation they found themselves in. The story of a family isolated as caretakers at a haunted hotel was fascinating. I have long been a fan of actor Jack Nicholson and after reading King's book I eagerly sat down to watch Nicholson in the movie adaptation. Like many of Kubrick's films The Shining
has moments where it is hard to understand what is going on and some key scenes from the book don't make it into the film but overall the movie does a good job of living up to the quality of the book.

The movie follows Jack Torrance (Nicholson) as he gets a Winter job working as a caretaker for the Overlook Hotel deep in the Colorado mountains. When interviewing for the job Jack is told that the previous caretaker got cabin fever and murdered his family. The news does not deter him from accepting the job. In fact, as soon as Jack sees the place he immediately feels right at home. Jack brings along his wife Wendy (Shelley Duvall) and his son Danny (Danny Lloyd) and they settle into the hotel for the Winter.

Before the move, things had been tough for the Torrances. Jack is a recovering alcoholic and a writer suffering from writer's block. His son Danny is an introvert and suffers from strange visions and his wife Wendy is meek and overprotective. At the hotel Danny meets the Chef Dick Hallorann (Scatman Crothers) who tells him that he also has visions and that something awful once happened at the hotel. Once the family is left alone in isolation for the long Winter, Jack begins to change. He becomes withdrawn and irritable and begins seeing things that aren't there including visions of the old caretaker Grady. Quickly, Wendy and Danny realize that they are trapped in with a madman. Danny reaches out to Hallorann for help but will he be able to get there in time?

Kubrick has a habit of leaving his audiences with more questions than answers and the same is true for The Shining. Throughout the film there are images that relate to Indians that seem to suggest Kubrick's views on how America was founded on bloodshed. At one point Wendy enters a room where "people" are dressed in strange costumes but the scene is never properly explained. Surprisingly, Kubrick does not use the animal topiary imagery that is so prevalent within King's book. Instead, he uses a large maze perhaps as a way to bring out the life as a maze metaphor. Indeed, the film's final chilling scene within the maze is a standout moment.

Duvall and Lloyd's acting leaves a lot to be desired but Crothers and Nicholson more than make up for it. Crothers doesn't have much screen time but he does a lot with what he has. However, it is Nicholson's film from start to finish. He does a great job of keeping Torrance teetering on the edge of insanity throughout the film and in it's final moments he is finally able to let loose. Even if you haven't seen the film, just about everyone knows of the "Here's Johnny" axe through the door scene. The moment is over the top but it works within the confines of the story. Nicholson's final scene will stay with you long after the film is over.

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