October Horror 2013: 5 - The Shining

I really do enjoy Kubrick's The Shining.  I haven't read Stephen King's original story and I am aware of his dislike of this version.  I do have the King-approved version on my watch list but I haven't gotten around to it yet.  For now, I really like the unsettling atmosphere of this movie.  There's not a lot I can say about it since it is such a classic.  This was part of Stephen King week, as though I had watched it entirely my partner in crime hadn't watched the entire thing in one focused sitting.

The movie itself is legendary already, spawning other documentaries and countless homages and references.  Kubrick built sets using impossible geometry and drove his actors to their breaking points to create amazingly "off" performances.  Except Danny Lloyd.  I always thought his performance in the movie was strange, especially in the face of the often cited report that Kubrick made him think he was acting in a drama film and he didn't realize it was a horror movie until years later.  With the shots of him shaking in bed and frothing at the mouth, the various close up "horrified" faces he had to make, and all the Tony/"Redrum!!!" stuff, how could you hide the nature of the film?  Either way, maybe that's why his performance has always seemed not-entirely fitting.

Child actors tend to be a mixed bag and I feel like this one was a slight ding against the movie, and I really wish I knew what was up with the fursuit blowjob bit right near the end.  Freaky shit.

Anyway, it's up there as one of the few horror movies that is regarded as an amazing work of film in its own right and well worth checking out.  Also, the documentary "Room 237" is currently on Netflix, I haven't seen it yet but theories and observations for The Shining are generally pretty interesting.  There's a lot going on in most of Kubrick's movies, but this one seems especially dense.