Browser’s Magnificent Seven
The Shining 10.30pm beIN Movies Stars
AN EDGE-of-seat chiller of rare quality. A loose adaptation in 1980 of a Stephen King novel, widely regarded as one of the great psychological horror movies of all time.
Jack Nicholson mesmerises as alcoholic writer Torrance, winter caretaker of a spooky hotel who sees ghosts and visions of past murders as he descends into madness.
A famous and much quoted Nicholson ad lib is the demented cry of “Here’s Johnny”, as he lopes, axe in hand, in wild-eyed pursuit of his terrified wife and child. Director Stanley Kubrick brilliantly builds tension over two hours-plus to a heart-stopping climax in a snowbound maze. He keeps us guessing as to whether the ghosts are real or exist chiefly in Jack’s dementia. The menace of this haunted hotel is conveyed without cobwebs or shadows.
Good support acting from Shelley Duvall as the wimpish wife and young Danny Lloyd as their son who has the gift of second sight, known as “shining”. Today Danny is a science teacher.
The guide to 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die called it: “A masterpiece. Dark, disturbing and claustrophobic. A classic of modern horror cinema.”
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