re: spooky times movie recommendations: The Shining [spoilers/trigger]

This is a response to nytpu's post[1] recommending some good scary movies -- specifically, The Shining. There will be spoilers in this post and possible trigger warning due to description of some scary scenes.

[1] spooky times movie recommendations

The Book

So -- I've been reading more lately. For the month of October, I decided I would take on my first Stephen King. I thought The Shining would be an excellent choice given that the movie was a classic, it is only 600ish pages (in comparision to It which is 1000+), and it didn't sound too scary.

Well, I actually really enjoyed the book. It was also perfectly scary, given the fact I have to walk into my dark bathroom in the middle of the night to pee and I was scared I might just see a decomposing woman in my bathtub.

What I really loved about the book was being able to read from everyone's perspective -- especially Danny's. He was this wholesome and innocent child that just happened to be blessed (or cursed?) with "the shining". Being able to experience parts of this book through that perspective was really interesting. Also, I think the very slow build up really added to the effect of the book. While reading, I thought it was dragging on forever, but I found that after finishing, the character development was so important. It adds a complex layer to the entire story, which I found the movie to be missing.

The Movie

Kubrick's "The Shining" is an excellent movie if you take it like you should -- a movie based on The Shining. I don't believe it is supposed to be this fully accurate representation of the book, and I think that's ok. It's a long movie, and I almost wish it was even longer. There are so many details from the book that the movie leaves out (understandably so; it's LONG) that I wish it had. But, I want to talk about what I liked.

Jack Nicholson was absolutely perfect for the role. He was full of rage, unsettling, and the back-and-forth between flat affect and animated personality was great. Also, the use of a hedge maze instead of the hedge animals was a really good choice. I actually think I like that better than the animals in the book.

The set was beautiful. I found the hotel to be more grandiose and modern in the movie than even in my own imagination while reading. Also, the cinematography was fantastic too. For instance, there was a scene where Danny enters the room to get his toy and Jack's sitting there on the bed[2]. My wife and I immediately started talking about how cool the shot was and she even referenced the two views of Jack as a Jekyll and Mr. Hyde kind of thing. She also noticed the parallels between his leg placement and the pants on the stool.

One thing that differs the most is the ending. I actually liked the ending in the book. I mean, it's about as happy of an ending as I feel you can get with a book like this. The movie, on the other hand, goes another direction and focuses more on Jack. I will say, the photo at the end was a fantastic way to end to end the movie.

[2] Photo of Jack on bed scene

Summary

Yes, as nytpu suggested, you should definitely watch this movie (and read the book). I personally would recommend reading the book first, as that will allow you to build your own mental image while reading, but undersatnd the movie will be different. Overall, I may read this book again come next October, but I'm even more certain I will watch the movie again. Also, nytpu, your description of The Lighthouse has me interested. I think I'll have to check it out!