I have seen The Shining many times over the years since my first viewing of it in 1985. It has been reported in various publications as one of the most popular Horror movies of all time by Audiences. Even though it’s not that disturbing as far as the genre goes, I’d describe it as more of a ghost story than an out-and-out Horror. The strongest element, in my opinion, is the combination of performances by the Cast and the professionalism of a well crafted production by it’s Director, Stanley Kubrick.
The story comes from Stephen King’s novel of the same name, which I tried reading once. I say ‘tried reading’ because the layered, psychological writing of the book made me put it down. King wrote a brilliantly layered tale that has an alarming level of depth, leading the reader into a world that I can only describe as ‘freaky’. Suffice to say that if you want real Horror, go for King’s book or other films in the genre that truly horrify and scare. Whereas if you’re a film fan and not specifically into Horror that much but like a well told story, watch The Shining at least once.
Kubrick’s approach to filmmaking was so laborious, exacting and careful that each and every scene in most of his films have a certain level of nuance and detail that aims at, and usually strikes the target of, perfection. So when I discovered the Irish Film Institute were screening the American theatrical cut for the film’s 45th anniversary, I booked a seat in their cinema right away.
I had never seen the US version before. I do own a Blu Ray copy of the UK version, which is an edited version, cut back to a running time of approximately 2 hours to appease test screening audiences at the time. And the amount of material that was left out of the UK version is amazing. The US version is much longer, with so many shots and sequences I had never seen before, that I was quite unnerved by the experience of suddenly being thrust into unknown territory during a film I’d seen countless times before.
Some people may prefer the shorter UK version, I however find the longer version scarier, more engaging and a better told story in the US theatrical version. With scenes that include; a visit by the family Doctor to the Torrance household in Boulder after the son Danny starts acting strangely; plus sequences that are edited in a completely different way later in the film, it makes for a movie that’s much smoother, more satisfying and lifts the Cast’s performances in a way that the UK version doesn’t quite do justice to them. Shelley Duvall’s performance is especially good in the film and all the extra material in the 45th anniversary cut really gives us a greater sense of the angst and fear she goes through at the ill-fated Overlook Hotel.
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