Director: Mick Garris
Writer: Stephen King (Screenplay) Stephen King (Story)
Starring: Steven Weber, Rebecca de Mornay, Courtland Mead, Wil Horneff, Melvin Van Peebles, Pat Hingle, Elliott Gould
Story: Recovering alcoholic Jack Torrance (Weber) has hit rock bottom after losing his job and even striking his child Daniel (Mead). After a year off the wagon he gets a chance to become a caretaker for the winter at a The Overview Hotel. Jack takes his family with him using it as a chance to rebuild and start his novel. In the hand over at the hotel Daniel meets Richard Hallorann (Van Peebles) who helps Daniel work on his powers his Shining. Being left alone in the hotel strange things start to unfold and with this happening can Jack hold it together or will he slip off the wagon before the end of winter.
Verdict: After Stephen King wasn’t a fan of the film he decided to make sure he was going to be more involved in the next production his work, this shows in how much more character development is done on Jack and Daniel. The build-up is very suspenseful but it isn’t just about the scares it also adds some human aspects to the going on tackle trust between married couple and that some things are not always as simple as they seem.
Horror: A good horror level filled with jumps and scares (9/10)
Thriller: Very thrilling tale which will keep you at the edge of your seat right up to its conclusion (9/10)
Special Effects: sadly some of the CGI effects have dated but some of the makeup effects are still very good (7/10)
Music: Music adds tensions throughout the story (9/10)
Settings: isolation is always perfect for horror (10/10)
Suggestion: All horror fans should give this a go, if you have read the book you will appreciate the telling of the story more than the film did, if you are only a fan of the film you may not get the same level of enjoyment as the film is more scares all the way through and less about Jack’s battle with alcoholism. (9/10)
Star Performance: Steven Weber – does a great job dealing with how his character deals with all the problems
Favourite Character: Richard – as he is the guide and shows great commitment to helping Daniel
Best Part: Each pieces of build-up but the stand out one for me is with the animal bushes with the music comes off very good
Worst Part: I would say it is a bit long for a casual fan to really enjoy
Trivia: Frank Darabont and Sam Raimi have cameos in the show.
Overall: This is a top show that lives up to all the hype of thrills and chills along with human problems, it shows how good an author Stephen King is and how he can mix supernatural with human issues. Top stuff with King’s tv show director Garris who also did The Stand and later Bag of Bones, sometimes you just need a good team to get the best out of everyone.
Rating 92%
