The Shining (1980)

It is tragic how badly Shelley was treated. She was just scarred for life because of how badly she was treated on set, she was isolated, she had to do 137 or something takes with the baseball bat scene, they were just all really mean to her. It was just pretty sad watching it and knowing what went on with her behind the scenes. When you watch a movie you have the ability to think it’s not that bad because they’re just acting . . .but she was . . .well, she wasn’t getting axe murdered, but we were watching what happened to her in real life, not just her acting.

A lot of movies that people characterize as the greatest of all time are just two hours of women suffering, and it’s weird. 

Scary 3

Cause it was scary. The cinematography made it scary. The blood spilling out of the hallway. The red bathroom. The music was really good. It the atmosphere. It wasn’t scary in the sense that I felt something was going to sneak up on me in the middle of the night, but it was scary in the atmosphere that was created with the cinematography and the music combined. I didn’t find the plot scary, I found the atmosphere to be scary. 

Creepy 3

Because of the music. The music really held up the movie. 

Jack’s facial expressions were extravagant. I don’t really think his character was that creepy, because I think if he would have been a nicer person in the beginning, it would have been more creepy to see him spiral. They just kind of made him creepy in the beginning, so it wasn’t like a slow descent into madness. It would have been creepier to see this nice, friendly dad, instead of this douchey dad, descend into madness. When you have a character you can’t sympathize with, you can’t think “Oh what if that happened to my dad?”

First of all, everyone knows The Shining. Everyone knows he’s the villain. But even if no one ever told you, as soon as it started, you would have bene like “Yeah, he’s gonna be the villain.” If it had been a nice regular guy descending, it would have been the hammer to watch a character you can sympathize with descend into madness rather than a character that nobody really likes.

“Wendy, Darling, love of my life, I’m not going to hurt you.” That was creepy.

Disturbing 2

It could have been more disturbing if you were to sympathize with him from the beginning. There was that unprompted naked woman, very disturbing, especially when you’re watching it with your parents! Or when you saw the dead bodies of the little girls flashing, I found the cut to the final scene to be pretty disturbing. 

Suspenseful 4

Very suspenseful. See, that’s the thing. What it doesn’t have in the other categories, it really makes up for it in the suspense. When Shelly Duvall is swatting at him with that baseball bat and you’re like, “Dude, hit him in the head! Stop swinging it in the air!” It’s the kind of suspense that makes you scream at the screen. When he was chasing Danny through the maze, that was suspenseful. And oh god, when she couldn’t get out of the stupid bathroom window!

I would consider it more of a thriller than a horror, honestly. It’s really only considered horror because of the ghosts of the little girls, and the blood coming out of the hallway, and the slight paranormal stuff with the little boy. 

Good 4

It was good yeah it’s a classic. Some parts were a bit uncomfortable. Like the old lady uuuuuuh. But it was a good movie. Points taken away for the racist axe murderer bartender. It’s good because it’s the type of classic to watch and you don’t feel totally underwhelmed. I was a bit underwhelmed in the scare category, but I did feel my heartbeat build because of the atmosphere created by the music and the cinematography. 

I wrote these film reviews when I was 14. Hire me to draw. -Lillian Schrag