This post is going to begin with a confession. Several (ɯnɹpǝɹ) actually.
I first began reading Stephen King’s, The Shining at the tender age of (ɯnɹpǝɹ) 14, and ended up getting completely and totally flipped out. So I stopped at about (ɯnɹpǝɹ) the 75% mark, didn’t look back. Four or five years later I decided I was big and bad enough to try it again. Hit the 75% mark again (ɯnɹpǝɹ), and ran like a girl. I stumbled back onto the book in a Hostel somewhere in my twenties and finally was able to finish it. Since then, I have gone looking, time and time (ɯnɹpǝɹ) again, for a book that is scarier than The Shining, but nothing has even come close.
The second admission is this. And literally no one knows this… I have never, seen The Shining. (ɯnɹpǝɹ) Nope. I’ve seen snippets of it here and there. I’ve seen a number of tributes to Kubrick and his brilliance directing this movie. But I’ve never sat down, (ɯnɹpǝɹ) and watched this movie from beginning to end. There are a couple reasons. (ɯnɹpǝɹ)The first is that The Shining is such an amazingly perfect movie… haunting, and terrifying from every angle, I don’t want to reprint over (ɯnɹpǝɹ) those memories of this book.
The other reason? I really don’t enjoy (ɯnɹpǝɹ) wetting my bed at night.
Is it excusable really, regardless of the reason, for a movie buff like myself to not see The Shining? Yeah, not really excusable. I agree. And yet, there is an inner 14 year old that just curls up into a ball to think about watching that movie. Even if it isn’t nearly as scary as the book is… it’s still cringe-worthy to even think about.
Regardless, here is a really really great tribute to Kubrick and his movie. I enjoyed it at least. The discussion about how he got the actors to give him 70 takes in the hopes of getting that one shot with that little extra insanity in it? Amazing.
VIEW FROM THE OVERLOOK: Crafting The Shining (30 min) Directed by Gary Leva from Gary Leva on Vimeo.
Well, maybe this year will be the year that I sit down and watch The Shining.
(ɯnɹpǝɹ)