‘The Shining’: An Illuminating Commentary on Stanley Kubrick’s Horror Classic (Part 2)

In Part 1 of our write-up on the DVD commentary on Stanley Kubrick‘s horror film The Shining, we heard from Steadicam inventor/operator Garrett Brown and film historian John Baxter about Kubrick’s general approach to Stephen King‘s source novel, and the motivation behind his shot composition in The Shining. Brown starts off the second half of the commentary with some filmmaking tips that might be useful to low-/no-budget filmmakers working today.

‘The Shining’: An Illuminating Commentary on Stanley Kubrick’s Horror Classic (Part 1)

(Spoiler alert! Although I doubt people would read a review of the commentary before seeing the movie itself, but just in case….)

A shining example of just how good horror films can be, Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining (1980) is as effective and horrifying as my puns. Loosely based on Stephen King’s book of the same name – and we’re talking hula-hoop-on-a-stickman loose – The Shining focuses on a family of three that spends the winter isolated in the massive Overlook Hotel deep in the Colorado mountains after Jack (Jack Nicholson), husband to Wendy (Shelley Duvall) and father to Danny (Danny Lloyd), takes a job as the off-season caretaker. Except they’re not alone. Not really. The Overlook, a presence in itself, is overbooked with malevolent ghosts that would be only too happy to find a room for the family.