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| New poster for The Shining |
Admittedly I'd only seen The Shining once before this US version, so I didn't expect to notice a lot of the extra scenes but I went for the picture quality and atmosphere more than anything else. The first time I watched the film it was in the middle of the day on TV, so it wasn't the best environment to watch a horror film (although it did stop me getting too scared) and I wanted to experience it on a big screen with it's incredibly creepy score playing loudly as well. This aspect really didn't disappoint as the opening seemed extended, dragging out the tension as the haunting score shrieks out over the picturesque imagery on screen.
As I had seen it before it meant that I wasn't occupied with looking for the scares and I could focus more attention on looking for the extra scenes, the 'hidden' details and the picture quality. The film has been re-mastered so well that the whole film looks like it was filmed this year, it's quite stunning just how clear the images looked. Especially as at the start of the film the first trailer that played was an original Gremlins trailer, which was a great surprise as it created a nice retro horror feel, though this didn't look re-mastered but this gave a good point of reference for The Shining. I thought that all of the trailers then would be classic horror ones, but unfortunately this retro mood didn't last as new trailers played after that. It was especially painful as the next one was for Twilight.
The most substantial addition that I could find was near the end where Wendy is trying to escape the Overlook Hotel. In this version she encounters a lot more shocks then in the European one, in particular skeletons in the lobby. Any more of The Shining is always a good thing, but I especially liked this section as Wendy's panic really esculates as the hotel seems to come alive, generating apparitions not just for Jack and Danny, but for her as well.
Before seeing this version as well I'd heard about the new documentary Room 237, which discusses some of the theories and meanings behind The Shining and I'd read a quick summary of some of the aspects and details to look out for in the film. For instance there's a lot of continuity mistakes, e.g. Danny's face becomes increasingly and decreasingly covered in ice cream during one conversation, and things switch from left to right e.g. Wendy opens a door with a handle to the right, but when she re-opens the door the handle is on the left. The mistakes though seem intentional as Kubrick was known for his meticulous approach to film-making and so they serve, for me at least, to make the film even creepier as the hotel seems to be alive and you start to wonder if what you are seeing is what is actually happening. It's a great effect.
One of the best things about this particular screening though was watching a woman just up the row from me, who obviously hadn't seen the film before, freak out towards the end. When Dick Hallorann gets hit by the axe, she actually flipped around in her seat and she did the same, flailing her arms around as well when you see him lying on the floor later. While this was distracting to Lucy, who was sat directly next to her, I found it hilarious. Based on this alone it was worth the ticket price, but The Shining looked stunning on a cinema screen, remastered. Despite the extended running time the film never drags and it still excels in it's drawn out tension, intersperced with quick, horrific shots and excruciating atmosphere. You don't want to overlook this film.
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