The Shining (1980) is creative director Stanley Kubrick's intense, epic, gothic horror film masterpiece - a beautiful, stylish work which distanced itself from the blood-letting and gore of most modern films in the horror genre.
The film's source material from science-fiction/horror author Stephen King's 1977 best-selling novel (his third novel under his own name) by the same name, bears little resemblance to Kubrick's creation.
With co-screenwriter Diane Johnson, Kubrick moved from the conventions of traditional horror film thrillers, displacing them with his own, much more subtle, rich, symbolic motifs. [The title of the film was inspired by the refrain in the Plastic Ono Band's song by John Lennon, "Instant Karma," from the chorus: "We all shine on."]
As in many of his films, director Kubrick explores the dimensions of the genre to create the ultimate horror film - he deliberately reduces the pace of the narrative and expands the rather simple plot of a domestic tragedy to over two hours in length, creates lush images within the ornate interior of the main set, adds a disturbing synthesized soundtrack (selecting musical works from Bela Bartok, Gyorgy Ligeti, and Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki), filmed most of the gothic horror in broad daylight or brightly-lit scenes, and built an unforgettable sensation of terror, ghosts, and the paranormal.
The principal, ghostly character in the film is the classic haunted house - a huge, isolated Colorado mountain resort hotel, the Overlook.
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