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The Shining (DVD)
by Jake Speed
After his 1975 film Barry Lyndon failed to find an audience, Stanley Kubrick decided to do something with more mass appeal and made his only foray into the horror genre with 1980's The Shining - an adaption of a 1977 Stephen King novel. Kubrick had perhaps noticed the huge success of films like The Exorcist and The Omen or maybe he just ... wanted to do something different. Like 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Shining met with a mixed reception but found its reputation increasing over time. It is now widely regarded to be one of the greatest horror films ever made. I wouldn't go this far myself. I think The Shining is a film of great moments rather than a great film. One person who didn't think much of the film was Stephen King. He was dissatisfied with the portrayal of his central character and later commented that Kubrick was brilliant but a man with no heart. Kubrick's films (in King's opinion) were technically brilliant but didn't move you. Is there anyone alive who doesn't know what The Shining is about by now? Former teacher and recovering alcoholic Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) takes his wife Wendy (Shelley Duvall) and son Danny (Danny Lloyd) to the lonely and remote Overlook Hotel in the Colorado Rockies to take up a position as the winter caretaker. It seems like the perfect place for budding writer Jack to get some work done and earn a little money in the process. Isolated, quiet, solitude, devoid of people. On arrival the manager warns Jack that a previous caretaker named Charles Grady was driven insane by the cabin fever of the Overlook in the winter and murdered his wife and twin daughters with an axe. Jack is not terribly worried about this (he jokes about how his wife will lap this story up because she's a horror junky) and the family do their best to settle in and get their bearings.
But Jack's son Danny has a psychic gift that enables him to see the past and the future. The hotel chef Dick Hallorann (Scatman Crothers) - about to leave for his Winter holiday in Florida - recognises the ability in Danny because he has it too. "I can remember when I was a little boy. My grandmother and I could hold conversations entirely without ever opening our mouths. She called it "shining". And for a long time, I thought it was just the two of us that had the shine to us. Just like you probably thought you was the only one. But there are other folks, though mostly they don't know it, or don't believe it. Well, you know, when something happens, it can leave a trace of itself behind. Say like, if someone burns toast. Well, maybe things that happen leave other kinds of traces behind. Not things that anyone can notice, but things that people who "shine" can see. Just like they can see things that haven't happened yet. Well, sometimes they can see things that happened a long time ago. I think a lot of things happened right here in this particular hotel over the years... and not all of 'em was good." Danny begins to see disturbing flashes of the past relating to the murders and is warned to stay away from a particular room. More troubling though is the mental deterioration of Jack. Suffering from severe writer's block and losing his grip on sanity in the alienating environment, he begins to see hallucinations/ghosts. One in particular, a butler named Delbert Grady (Phillip Stone) - presumably (and slightly confusingly) a manifestation of Charles Grady - tells Jack that he must "correct" his wife and son. Needless to say, wife and little Danny are soon in very big trouble indeed.
The Shining is incredibly rich in atmosphere with a foreboding sense of dread and Kubrick does a fantastic job in designing and creating the hotel. The exteriors at the beginning of the film (pilfered for the ending to the original theatrical cut of Blade Runner) were shot in Colorado - the wonderful opening image of the Torrance car winding its way around the mountain roads from high above. Exteriors were shot at Elstree in Britain and great care is taken to make the hotel as strange and labyrinth as possible. A place where you really could lose your mind if you were not careful. The outdoor maze and the maze puzzle like hexagonal patterns on the carpets that stretch across the endless hallways of the Overlook. I suppose most people will remember Danny riding his little bike around these halls (inventive use of steadicam throughout The Shining) and meeting the murdered twins in a flashback. Some very creepy images in the film that stay with you. It is for the most part a psychological horror rather than Michael Myers stalking and slashing although it does seem to become more conventional in the final act. Lot of red again in this hotel by the way, red a big Kubrick motif. One problem I do have with the film is that Jake Torrance goes bonkers so quickly its hard to even remember what he was like at the start of the film or if he was any different. Stephen King actually complained that Nicholson seemed mad from the off! The picture seems more obsessed with writer's block than the alcoholism of the character. It seems to be this that has driven him nuts as much as anything. "I'm gonna make a new rule: whenever I'm in here, and you hear me typing, whether you don't hear me typing, whatever the f*** you hear me doing in here, when I'm in here, that means that I am working. That means don't come in. Now, do you think you can handle that?"
Are there really ghosts in the hotel or is it all in his frazzled imagination? There seems to be a definite moment in the film where a supernatural explanation is the only conclusion but it would just about work the other way too. Probably not enough of Phillip Stone in this film and also good value is Joe Turkel as Lloyd the bartender, another ghost/hallucination who Jake meets and converses in a swanky period bar from the past. What about Jack Nicholson? This is arguably his most well known role but does it mark the slide from serious actor to someone who just turns up and does a nutty mad eyed Jack Nicholson turn? It maybe does. Nicholson is completely over the top here and for the first time becomes a caricature of himself. There is some sense of nuance in earlier portions of the film but Nicholson goes mad so quickly that one's memory of The Shining is the film where where he does his mad scenery chewing Jack Nicholson turn rather than give a measured performance. I think he was better in One Flew Over the Cuckoos' Nest and some of his earlier films. You can't imagine anyone else playing Randle McMurphy but you could take a leap of imagination and sort of imagine someone else playing Jake Torrance if Nicholson hadn't done it. James Woods or someone. Nicholson does though give the film its iconic status. That blank scary look and the relish with which he delivers the films most notable (and blackly comic) one liners when his character goes doolally.
The Overlook is rife with Native American imagery and this seems to form a subtext about genocide and racism. I like the fact that Kubrick films leave you with more questions than answers. There is much that is open to interpretation here right down to the final image. Mention must go to Scatman Crothers too (what a great voice!). He's not in the film much but I love the scene where he shows Danny the food stores. "We've got canned fruits and vegetables, canned fish and meats, hot and cold syrups, Post Toasties, Corn Flakes, Sugar Puffs, Rice Krispies, Oatmeal and Cream of Wheat. You got a dozen jugs of black molasses, we got sixty boxes of dried milk, thirty twelve-pound bags of sugar, now we got dried peaches, dried apricots, dried raisins and dried prunes..." That's a big kitchen. Overall, I think The Shining is compelling and has some amazing images and flourishes but I don't think it is quite as great as many believe it to be. You can buy this for under a fiver with a trailer and the documentary shot by Kubrick's daughter - who offers a commentary too. This is fascinating I think. You see what a difficult production it was with Shelly Duvall in particular almost on the verge of a nervous breakdown having to work with Kubrick and his meticulous take after take precise instructional methods. The Shining is a good solid horror film but quite the masterpiece that its reputation would suggest.
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The Blue Lagoon (DVD)
by mojomojo
When I was younger I watched this movie regularly and was very intrigued and hypnotised by it, I never got bored with watching it over again, found there was just something about this film that kept me hooked and I loved the simplicity of it, it was one of those films you just loved for it was, even though the movie and leading actress ... Brooke Shields endured huge criticism and were rubbished for being boring and too fake I remained on the side of appreciating it for what it was and really enjoyed watching it.
I had not seen The Blue Lagoon for many years but remembered it fondly so when I saw it online to buy at a bargain price tag I could hardly refuse, I looked forward to watching one of my favourite 80s movies again after so long, and was curious to find out if I still felt the same about it.
Film only review
THE MOVIE STORY
(NO SPOILERS)
The plot is an adaptation of a 1903 novel by Henry DeVere Stacpoole's and is basically a Victorian period coming of age teenage love story, Emmaline (Brooke Shields) and Richard (Christopher Atkins) are cousins who are thrown together after Emmaline's mother dies she is taken to live in San Francisco by Richard and her uncle, but tragedy strikes on the journey when the ship sinks in the pacific after an onboard fire, the two children are saved by the ship's cook Paddy (Leo Mckern) who throws the two children into a dinghy and rows them to the safety of a tropical seemingly deserted island.
Paddy is scruffy, drunken and abrupt but likeable character who warms to the children and becomes quite found of them, he takes on the responsibility of raising them the best way he knew how and he taught them all the survival skills they would need to survive until they were rescued.
Days become years and the children grow, paddy disappears after swimming to another island drunk and is found dead by the pair on the beach.
Emmaline and Richard learnt to survive on their own but struggle with the feelings that come with growing into teenagers and growing up, not having their questions answered about the changes their bodies go through they believe what very little they was told as children, they have no choice being isolated and marooned an a tropical paradise island all alone.
The pair fall in love but do not realise this and are confused about their feelings but they eventually accept it, Emmaline becomes pregnant but does not know it and does nt know what is happening to her body, they are shocked when inevitably the baby is born and they become parents.
The young family live happily raising the child they name paddy (after the cook) but on a trip in a boat to the other side of the island whilst Richard goes investigating on foot Emmaline stays in the boat and the boat starts to drift away, she calls for Richard who swims out to rescue her and their son but is confronted with a shark, Emmaline throws the oars at the shark and scares it away enabling Richard to reach the boat safely but this meant they were stranded and drifting in a small boat in the middle of the pacific.
Hours turn into days and the family become dehydrated, and tired as the realisation of never being saved hits them hard, at the same time Richards father is still after all the years sailing the sea's believing his son and niece are still alive and waiting to be found, in his ship he see's the boat containing Richard, Emmaline and their baby boy and upon reaching them he finds they huddled and cuddled in the bottom of the boat....
The credits roll.
Director- Randal Kleiser
Music Composer- Basil Poledouris
Cinematography- Nestor Almendros
Producer- Randal Kleiser
Screenplay- Douglas Day Stewart
Running time 104
Rated- 15
Availabile to buy from £2.99 from most online film supplying stores such as Amazon
Play.com
Ebay
I would recommend doing a comparison search to find best deal.
MY THOUGHTS
I still enjoyed this movie as much as i did when i was younger,although my understanding of it has matured considerably and i think it is a touching innocent love story told in a rather tender and caring mannor with beautiful breathtaking cinamatography, their is several scenes of captivating under water and ocean scenes as well as stunning shots of the island, i believe the island is Nonuya Levu of the Fuji Islands.
Nestor Almendros the film's cinematograher won an award in 1980 for his ability to capture the beauty of the scenery in the film and well deserved too as he does this well, i did not notice how amazing some of the shots were as a child but from a mutured point of view a lot of the scenes are truly captivating and very worthy of an award in the era of the 80's, i thought the accompanying music worked fantastically with the scenes and evoked appropriate emotions connecting you and drawing you into the film and the charachters feelings, in parts i found it extremely moving but also sensitive and quite raw in the way it portrayed a childs understanding of what happens to a maturing body when the child in question has a very basic 'fictional' view of where babies come from and sexuality, it is beautifully written and a pleasure to watch.
I understand that this film has had a lot of bad press over the years for it's leading actress Brooke Shields less than perfect acting skills but i think this adds to the timid innocence and shyness of the character she is portraying and overall i think does a good job portraying a coming of age teen who is curious but timid and confused about why her body is changing and her ever changing moods and feelings, the movie leaves a lot of things un-said which i think creates an atmosphere where you have the opportunity to add your own perception of what the feeling is from obsevation of body language and facial expression, making the experinence a personal one.
I do think that the film feels a bit like it has some missing links that tend not to make very much sense but i am unable to make a desision as to this being done on purpose or not by leaving the blanks to filled in by the viewers own imagination, like for instance their is a group of natives which live on the opposite side of the island and the film touches on this as slightly disturbing ritual evidence is discovered and tribal chanting is heard but we as veiwers never get to find out anything else about these natives or why the paths of the children and the natives never crossed on a relatively small island.
Overall i really enjoy watching this film and would recommend anyone who appriciates a good thought provoking endearing and captivating film with totally stunning scenery to watch it, it is very hard to forget such a beautiful tender film.
I have rated The Blue Lagoon a very good 4 out of 5
Thank you for reading
(May also be posted on Ciao by mojomojo)
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The Monster Club (DVD)
by karenuk
To celebrate New Year's Eve, my fiancé and I decided to watch a couple of films on DVD. One of these was The Monster Club, a 1980 film made by Amicus which follows the usual format of short horror tales linked by a continuing story. I enjoy these horror anthologies and this had the added attraction of a stellar cast including two ... veterans of this genre - Vincent Price (who was then around seventy) and John Carradine (who was 74).
The interlocking story features these two actors with Carradine playing the writer R. Chetwynd-Hayes (whose short stories form the basis of the movie) and Price as the jovial vampire Erasmus. They meet one night in the street and Erasmus offers to take the author to The Monster Club, where he may find inspiration for his next stories. The club is what you'd expect, a kind of social haunt for a variety of vampires, werewolves, ghosts, ghouls and assorted people in bad masks. For some reason, each club scene features a live music act which we lucky viewers get to watch perform a song and most of these are pretty awful. B.A. Robertson is one of these, who I remember from my childhood, but the others were unknown to me.
The three main stories are all suitably creepy and worth watching. The first one is The Shadmock, which stars James Laurenson, Barbara Kellerman and Simon Ward. The premise is that a man called Raven (Laurenson) advertises for someone to help him catalogue all the valuables in his huge house. A couple called Angela (Kellerman) and George (Ward) plot to rob him, with Angela taking up the post and befriending Raven. However, Raven is no ordinary man and has unnatural powers... This is an interesting and intriguing story, Laurenson is very good as Raven and there are a couple of gruesome bits in it too, as well as some plastic masks I found quite unsettling.
The second story is The Vampires, which stars Richard Johnson, Britt Ekland and Donald Pleasence. A young boy called Lintom lives with his parents, but has a slightly unusual kind of life. His father (Johnson) works at night and sleeps in the basement during the day, while his mother (Ekland) is a pretty blonde who goes out to do the shopping as normal. Lintom stands out at school as being somewhat unusual, so he gets bullied a lot and one day, a man called Pickering (Pleasence) approaches him in the playground... I always find Donald Pleasence a joy to watch and here again, he is excellent, as is Richard Johnson as the father. While the story appears to be heading down a predictable direction, it suddenly changes tack and becomes incredibly camp and funny, almost farcical, which makes it fun to watch and something a bit different. Sadly, Britt Ekland just proves over and over again that she can't act, but at least she's decorative.
The third and final story is called The Ghouls and stars Stuart Whitman, Lesley Dunlop and Patrick Magee. This was the segment that gave my fiancé nightmares when he watched it as a child. The story is that Sam (Whitman) is a movie director looking for a suitably eerie location for his next horror film. He finds the perfect place - a village called Loughville, which is decidedly creepy. As he enquires who he needs to talk to, he finds the inhabitants of the village are less than welcoming. The only helpful one is a girl called Luna (Dunlop) who advises him to hide in the church. While there, he discovers the legend surrounding the place and why the graveyard seems particularly empty... This does have a quite terrifying idea behind it, so I can see why my fiancé remembered it so well from his childhood. It is the bleakest of the three tales with very little humour but lots of atmosphere and some quite shocking images. This story alone is probably responsible for the 15 certificate!
Overall, it is a fun anthology and worth watching if you are into this kind of thing. Vincent Price and John Carradine both seem to relish their roles, which is good to see and although the main substance is in the three separate stories, their linking segments are nicely done and add to the general tone. The music acts in the club are overlong and rather annoying, but they do add a good dated feel to the club scenes - far more 1970s than 1980s - and make this feel slightly different to other Amicus productions.
I enjoyed it and rated it 8 out of 10.
The Monster Club is rated a 15, runs for 104 minutes and the DVD is currently available from Amazon UK for just £5.99.
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