by TIMOTHY J. THOMPSON

Created on: May 25, 2009

Once in a long while, a movie will come along that keeps you on the edge of your seat as each and every scene builds to a momentous climax. Stanley Kubrick's 1980 horror masterpiece, The Shining, is a perfect example of this.

The scene is set in the beautiful Rocky Mountains of Colorado, at a plush, ritzy, elegant and haunted hotel called the, Overlook. The main characters in the film are the legendary Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall, who play husband and wife. They have a small seven year-old boy named Danny. Nicholson's character, Jack, who is a former school teacher and mystery writer, is hired to watch over the Overlook during the winter months. The manager of the hotel takes an immediate liking to Jack and tells him that there is not very much to the job, but feels inclined to tell him about a terrible tragedy that took place just about a decade earlier when a man and his family were also hired to watch the Overlook, and then the man went beserk and killed his wife, two twin daughters and himself in room 307. Jack is not bothered by the story one bit and assures the manager that it will not happen to him.

What is not immediately known until a short while later is that Jack has a bad history of violence and alcoholism. He even badly injured his little boy during one of his binges. Jack's abuse towards his family has an ill effect on his son Danny. He drifts in and out of a fantasy world in which he talks and listens to an imaginary friend named Tony.

Nicholson plays his character with such incredible brilliance, that you can actually feel, not only the tension under the surface between himself and Shelley Duvall's character, but you can actually get a real sense that the two of them are trying very hard to act like a normal loving couple for both Danny and the Overlook's manager. Such greatness is one of the hallmarks of Nicholson's acting ability.

Everything proceeds routinely for about five weeks, or so you think. They clean and heat various sections of the hotel and Jack pretends to write his novel. But, something horrifying is brewing under the surface. It all begins with Shelley Duvall interupting Jack to tell him that, "The radio says it is going to snow tommorrow". Nicholson's reaction is simply priceless. He first stares at her for several seconds, almost emotionless. Then, he clears his voice, and states in esoteric fashion, "What do you want me to do about it?" It is simply incredible! Things go progressively downhill from there. Jack begins imagining parties and seeing ghosts. Danny is repeatedly bothered by the recurring image of the two murdered twins. And, the movie climaxes with Nicholson chasing down his family with a huge axe. I won't tell you how it ends. I won't spoil it for you!

All I will say is that, The Shining, is a masterpiece of horror and drama. It is one of Nicholson's finest performances. It is clearly up there with, A Few Good Men. So, if you are in the mood to be frightened out of your gorde. Please go and rent this film. You might not be able to sleep at all that night. But, you will hardly regret it.

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