The shining

Year of release : 1997

 

Run time : 1h26min, mini series, 3 episodes

 

Genre : Psychological Horror

 

Cast : Rebecca de Mornay , Steven Weber

 

 

The shining is an hour and 26 minutes, 3 episodes miniseries,based on Stephen King's 1977 novel 'The Shining'.

 

Jack Torrance is a recovering violent drunk who was fired from his teaching job after assaulting a student who slashed his tires. He finds a job as a caretaker for the Overlook hotel,built in a scenic place in the mountains with a haunting reputation among the ones who work there.

 

Jack has a son who is special, he knows things before they happen or as they happen. He has an imaginary friend,Tony,who warns him about certain things or events.

 

In October Jack takes his family to the secluded place for the live-in caretaker job. All this time,the little boy, Danny,keeps on having visions about the place as Tony keeps on telling him not to go there.

Once there, Danny befriends the caretaker Dick,who has the same gift too,and tells him his gift is called "the shining",and that things happening in this hotel are like pictures in a book,they can't harm him. He warns him,that if they do,he should call him mentally,and he would come to help.

 

Slowly,but surely,the place is waking up,to the point it drives the father mad,mind controlling him through his weaknesses,in order to get to Danny for a chance for the evil ghosts trapped in the hotel to become real.

 

I personally loved these mini-series,it's one of my favorites(I actually hated Kubrick's version),the acting in my opinion was top notch,I honestly liked Steven Weber as Jack,he reminded me of Christian Bale in American Psycho when he got crazy.

 

The visual effects weren't bad,the only ones which kinda look fake as in,you could tell they were animated,were the topiary coming to life.

Other than that,this is a great movie with a great build-up and a pay off at the end. It even has closure at the end,as the kid grows up and SPOILER he is Tony,so he was haunting himself,and his father's spirit is present,looking proud and loving,which means he managed to break through the mind control of the ghosts and cross over,escaping the magnetism of the hotel.

 

You can watch the miniseries on BetaSeries, or on YouTube,here :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSMoXxIkPLU

 

Rating : It's so money !