The Shining (1980)

Masterpiece or abomination? According to like, 90% of people, Stanley Kubrick's The Shining is a peerless magnum opus; however, according to Stephen King and a few of his cronies, it's uglier than a naked old lady rotting in a bathtub. Let's compare, shall we? Kubrick directed 2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange, and Full Metal Jacket. King directed Maximum Overdrive. Ahem... MOVING ON! This film has been embroiled in controversy and skepticism since its debut in 1980. There are theories that span from Kubrick being a secret Nazi fascist, to a free mason, to a man plagued with silent outrage after not being able to take credit for faking the moon landing, with ten 237 other theories in between! ...or was it 217? The film has a tremendous, albeit minimal cast. Jack Nicholson (Chinatown, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Little Shop of Horrors) kills it (pun intended) as recovering alcoholic and general louse, Jack Torrance. Torrance is the "caretaker" of the Overlook Hotel, who wants to be a part of "management," at the expense of his family and his sanity. Shelley Duvall (Popeye, Annie Hall, Rocketman) plays his long-suffering wife, Winifred- NOT Winnie or Freddy. Scatman Crothers (Aristocats, Twilight Zone: The Movie, Transformers: The Movie) is Dick Hallorann, who enacts one of the film's greatest variances from the book- which Jake loves and Bryan hates. This episode contrasts the book and movie, as we do with all of our King episodes. We talk the major differences, such as the Overlook Hotel exploding with Jack Torrance's hands melting to the broiler, to Jack Nicholson freezing in a hedge maze. We also talk some of the smaller variations like Tony, Danny's imaginary friend, either being a distant apparition or a chatty finger. Also, as you can imagine, there will almost definitely be a reboot, remake, re-whatever in the future. So, we talk about elements of the movies that could work, and those, like those damn topiary animals, that just won't... ever... seriously, Stephen- just drop it. We hope this episode will help you to prepare for Doctor Sleep, hitting theaters next month. We will be reviewing both the novel and film of that as well! This week's "Hidden Track" is Alex Cuervo, aka Espectrostatic, fittingly with his song Shiver. https://espectrostatic.bandcamp.com/ & http://alexcuervo.net/ If you ever have feedback or recommendations on future episodes, please let us know at [email protected]. You can always find us on our social media: Instagram, Twitter, Slasher App: @slasherspod Facebook: /slasherspod Reddit: u/slasherspod https://www.youtube.com/c/slasherspodcast come play with us danny, ghosts, haunted, here's johnny, all work and no play makes jack a dull boy, paranormal, redrum Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices