Stanley Kubrick’s film adaptation of Stephen King’s The Shining may not have the author’s love but it certainly remains atop a great many “Best of” horror lists. Personally, I believe this is for very good reason. It’s one of the few films that manages to terrify me pretty much every time I watch it, its slow burn approach to increasing madness handled spectacularly by the cast.
To celebrate Halloween, the BFI is bringing a new digital release based upon the US 144-minute version to select theaters (info here) and they’ve greeted this announcement with a fantastic new trailer for the film, which was released in 1980.
Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) becomes winter caretaker at the isolated Overlook Hotel in Colorado, hoping to cure his writer’s block. He settles in along with his wife, Wendy (Shelley Duvall), and his son, Danny (Danny Lloyd), who is plagued by psychic premonitions. As Jack’s writing goes nowhere and Danny’s visions become more disturbing, Jack discovers the hotel’s dark secrets and begins to unravel into a homicidal maniac hell-bent on terrorizing his family.
