Brian and I watched The Shining last night, after a dinner of pasta with turkey-basil meatballs and vodka marinara from Trader Joe’s. Mmmmm dinner.
Anyway, I hadn’t seen the film in its entirety in several years, but since childhood it has been branded in me as “scary.” However, as time has passed, I have developed a more critical eye for film, so upon this viewing, the much-discussed flaws in the movie became apparent: the wooden acting by the non-principal actors, the over-acting by the principal actors, the over-use of Scary Music, the gratuitous ghosty parts at the end, and the fact that it is slow, slow, slow. Looooooong beats between each line delivery, etc. Also a lot of the plot points in the movie happen with absolutely no explanation or build-up. You know, bad movie stuff.
The scariest scene for me when I was a kid was the one where the young naked woman turns into a grinning, laughing corpse. I mean, that shit scarred me, to the point where I would check the tub for jaundiced bodies every time I visited the bathroom at night. But seeing it again last night, it just seemed really hokey and over-the-top and fake-looking. Well, that childhood trauma has been erased at least.
In the end, I suppose the best parts of the film for me now are the amazing set decoration, the snow scenes, and the end sequence in the hedge maze — though that part was egregiously cut with totally unnecessary scenes of Shelley Duvall in hysterics over the spooooky haunted hotel. I liked the use of the steadicam in the cinematography, especially with the bigwheel scenes. I like the opening credits. Did you know that movie was filmed in northwestern Oregon, not Colorado? It is true.
Also, I love that this movie inspired one of the best episodes of “The Simpsons.”
So, I am now forced to revise my choice for Scariest Movie, and next in line is of course 1979’s Alien. Upon reflection, a far better film, and WAY scarier. And I think it stands the test of time far better than The Shining.
As you can see, I don’t watch a lot of horror films.
Psycho scared the shit out of me when I was younger. The music, the long pauses, the suspense.. I was a wreck afterwards.
REDRUM!!! REDRUM!!!!!!!
Alien is wicked scary. I saw Jeepers Creepers last year and it scared the crap out of me but it might have been the mood I was in or something.
Scary when I was 8, totally campy now.
scary
I think the scariest movie to me, as a kid, was the first Halloween. Maybe it was because we lived 30 minutes from a Psychiatric Hospital, where my mom worked as a secretary. I remember driving by the hospital and seeing the patients, the walking zombies, milling around the grounds. It reminded me of the scene in the movie where Michael Meyers releases the patients during the rain storm. Creepsville, daddy-o
I think “The Shining” is sort of underrated. The long silences work for me; they create a morbid, crazy-making pace.
But it’s far from the scariest movie ever. I’d have to say that’s still “The Exorcist”.
I just watched that last year for the first time.
It didn’t really scare me at all.
THAT’S RIGHT YOU HEARD ME
scariest movie EVER
the scariest movie from my childhood is amityville horror. partially because the house i lived in as a kid looked almost identical to the house in the movie. also, my stepfather (who was a total dickhead) looked just like the father in the movie.
the movie follows the same ‘house built on the gates of hell’ or ‘house built on native american burial ground’ theme as many late 70s/early to mid 80s movies (poltergeist, the shining, etc.). I guess it was mostly scary for me because of how closely it tied to my life at the time. … you know, with the way our house used to kill people and stuff.
Re: scariest movie EVER
That reflects people’s profound fear/worship of the low real estate prices of the ’70s and early ’80s.
Re: scariest movie EVER
This is why Brian and I are twins. The OTHER movie that traumatized me as a kid was “Amityville Horror.” The blood running down the walls, that creepy doll with the red eyes, etc. Stuff that would now be seen as kinda corny, but at the time freaked me out so bad. I had a blonde-haired doll that looked just like the one in the movie and after seeing that I tossed her in the closet. Which may not have been such a good idea because then: IT’S IN THE CLOSET.
Anyway, third place for childhood movie freakout was The Day After.
scary movie
The Exorcist scared the crap out of me as a kid. I think because it had a lot to do with scary religion, and being raised a Catholic, the devil and stuff was way scarier than some deranged psycho in a hockey mask terrifying teenagers at a summer camp.
I had a girlfriend once who was absolutely terrified by the movie West World. It had Yul Brynner (I think?) as a robot or something? I saw it once when I was little and thought it was cool, but it triggered something in her that scared her to the core. So much so that if she even saw the cover of the video at the video store, she’d have to leave the store from the memories it brought back.
Scary
The scariest movie I have seen as an adult was Scary Movie 2. It was frightening to realize that someone spent millions of dollars to make that turd.
the shining
All the inside shots were filmed in England at Elstree (sp?) studios. The outside shots were filmed at Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood. Little known fact: Timberline only agreed to Kubrick’s filming there if he’d change the room # from 217 to a non-existant 237 (because they were afraid no one would stay in the room again…)
colorado
yeah, those bigwheel scenes are top-notch. the hotel (exterior anyway) really _is_ in colorado–i’ve driven past it before.
nice to see more writing from the woman who inspired me to start a journal oh so long ago.
cheers,
metraboy
http://metraboy.diary-x.com