8/31/2008 - The Shining (with robots)

One of my favorite horror movies has to be The Shining. One time I visited an off-season hotel similar to the one in the movie, and I couldn't help but be reminded of the creepy feeling of when I first watched The Shining. Needless to say, I couldn't wait to get out of the hotel. I'm not a big fan of director Stanley Kubrick's slow methodical style, but he did make it work in the context of the horror/suspense genre. Really, there is no other way to convey the sense of cabin fever turned to madness that develops within the characters other than to draw out every scene to a degree where the audience is also feeling unrest and dread.

Just take one of the most famous scenes in the movie where the kid Danny rides around the hotel in his tricycle and encounters twin girls that used to stay at the hotel. The image of the twins by itself is really unsettling. Then the way they talk in unison sends chills up the spine. But then, out of nowhere, there is a subliminal image of the twins' bodies after they were butchered by an axe. The first time you see it, you will jump out of your seat. I thought it was funny when this scene was shown in the movie "Twister" playing in the drive-in theater. I was actually more interested in seeing this short clip of The Shining than the entire movie of Twister.

I don't want to show the actual scene in question in all its gruesomeness, so here it is presented in a G-Rated form... with robots!