With Halloween coming around the corner in two weeks, nothing will get anyone more into the spooky season spirit than watching a good horror movie.

When it comes to watching horror films, I find myself enjoying the ones that dive into psychological territory. Nothing is more terrifying than experiencing the situations the main characters are put through in these types of movies.

“The Shining,” released in 1980 and directed by Stanley Kubrick, stands the test of time as one of the greatest horror films ever put onto the screen.

When “The Shining” was initially released, it was met with a ton of backlash and divisive opinions from audiences and critics everywhere. One of the main criticisms people had about the film was its big deviation from the source material the film was based on.

The film is a loose adaptation of the Stephen King novel of the same name, released in 1977. For the longest time, King was known to despise the movie due to its major changes in comparison to his book. Eventually, he came around to appreciate the film for what it’s worth.

Another major criticism of the film was its somewhat slow and unorthodox approach to story-telling; audiences found the film to be dull and boring as a result of it.

However, I would argue that the film just didn’t fall within the conventions of the time it was released. Many horror films during this era of cinema were much more fast-paced and required less afterthought, while “The Shining” is the complete opposite.

For those who aren’t familiar with the story of “The Shining,” it is about a father and former teacher named Jack Torrence (played by Jack Nicholson) who signs up to become the caretaker at the Overlook Hotel located in the Rocky Mountains during the barren winter for the hotel’s off-season.

Staying with him at the hotel are his wife Wendy (played by Shelley Duvall), and their son Danny (played by Danny Lloyd.)

As time passes by at the isolated location, a sinister presence takes hold of Jack, making him become violent and a threat to his family.

It’s such a simple premise, but there are so many layers to peel back with this movie.

The performance from each actor is absolutely phenomenal. Nicholson’s performance as Jack throughout the movie is splendidly over-the-top and even comedic at certain times. 

Duvall as Wendy perfectly encapsulated the subtleties of being trapped in an abusive relationship. For being young as he was, Lloyd played the role of Danny so fluently from start to finish.

In 2012, a documentary that goes into depth about “The Shining” called “Room 237” was released. It compiles wacky theories and outlandish conspiracies that range from Kubrick faking the Apollo 11 moon landing footage to connecting the murders at the hotel to Native American genocide.

If you haven’t seen “The Shining” yet, I highly recommend you do it before the spooky season ends. You can watch it here at UW-Eau Claire’s mytv10.

Davidsaver can be reached at [email protected].