In fact, I think that baseball bat scene alone highlights some of the major strengths and some of the major weaknesses of the film right there. This is most certainly a film that seems to grow better and better as it goes on. That scene where Jack stalks Wendy up the stairs swinging a baseball bat is astonishingly good (below). There are some great things in The Shining that I love: some beautiful impressions and symbolism, the nail biting tension, the surprisingly witty and amusing lines. Because I enjoyed the book, and then Kubrick rips it apart in such devastating fashion, I can certainly empathise with King’s initial reaction – which was to simply hate it. It’s a terrible idea, and probably ruined the whole experience for me. Don’t read the book and then watch the film. You knew there was some great potential for fantastic imagery. I was hoping the film would be able to fill a few of those holes.
Yet I was left a little underwhelmed by the supernatural events in the hotel. And it was great read – one I would recommend and thoroughly enjoyed. What’s different from this review and others above is that I’ve actually read the original book. Little do they know, the Overlook is full of sinister presences and a haunted past, and soon Jack’s sanity slowly begins to slip away from him… Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson), a writer and former alcoholic, gets the job of caretaker at the isolated Overlook Hotel, and takes his wife, Wendy (Shelley Duvall), and his psychic son, Danny (Danny Lloyd), with him. Maybe it’s just because they begin with M, but in order to try and break the funk, I’ve gone for another Stephen King adaptation – although ‘adaptation’ may not be quite the word… It’s been interesting that while writing all of these reviews, I’ve been surprised how many have been adapted from books: the likes of Misery, Marathon Man, M*A*S*H and Manhunter.
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