The Shining 1980

As Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson), a former teacher struggling to overcome his troubled past as a recovering alcoholic, faces the prospect of a long, isolating winter at the Overlook Hotel, he is drawn to the caretaker position as a means to revitalize his life and pursue his passion for writing. The hotel manager, Mr. Stuart Ullman (Barry Nelson), sounds a cautionary note about the potential perils of cabin fever, referencing a tragic incident in which the previous caretaker, Charles Grady, succumbed to madness, brutal violence, and ultimately self-destruction. Despite these warnings, Jack accepts the job, driven by his determination to rebuild his life.

Meanwhile, Jack’s young son Danny (Danny Lloyd) is plagued by vivid, unsettling visions of blood gushing from an elevator in the Overlook Hotel. These eerie images recur throughout the film, serving as a harbinger of the dark forces that will soon descend upon the Torrance family. Upon arriving at the hotel, Danny is befriended by head chef Dick Hallorann (Scatman Crothers), who recognizes his telepathic abilities and offers him mental communion over ice cream. Dick shares with Danny his own experiences with “shining,” a mystical connection that allows him to perceive hidden truths and warnings. He cautions Danny about the hotel’s troubled past, hinting at a traumatic event that left a lasting impact, like the faint scent of burnt toast, which only those attuned to its secrets can detect. As Danny explores the hotel, he becomes increasingly fixated on Room 237, an enigmatic space that seems to hold a dark power.

As the Torrances settle into their isolated life at the Overlook Hotel, Jack’s mental state begins to deteriorate rapidly. His writer’s block is compounded by chronic sleep deprivation and growing irritability, threatening to consume him entirely. Danny, meanwhile, continues to experience haunting visions of the two murdered Grady girls, which he keeps hidden from his family. Despite their efforts to make a game out of exploring the hotel’s labyrinthine hedges, Wendy (Shelley Duvall) and Danny are drawn into the heart of the mystery, unaware of the terrors that await them in the shadows of Room 237.

In a sudden turn of events, a stray ball careens into Danny’s playful domain, drawing him towards the ominous Room 237. As if summoned by some unseen force, Wendy rushes from the depths of the hotel’s basement, her pace quickening in response to the distant screams of terror emanating from the lounge area. Jack’s anguished cries still linger in the air as he frantically recounts his nightmare to a stunned Wendy - a vision so vivid, it left him reeling with a sense of profound dread. In this moment of high anxiety, Danny materializes at the opposite end of the room, his eyes glazed over and his thumb firmly planted in his mouth. The gravity of his situation becomes apparent as Wendy takes in the extent of the damage: his sweater torn, neck bruised, and an aura of vulnerability surrounding him like a shroud.

As Wendy’s ire grows, she accuses Jack of perpetrating some heinous act upon their child, prompting her to whisk Danny away from the perceived danger zone. Jack, seething with indignation, sets out on a quest for solace in the Gold Ballroom, where he finds an empty bar and a solitary stool waiting for him. With his head bowed in defeat, he makes a desperate declaration: he would willingly surrender his very soul for just one drink to quell the torment coursing through his veins.

In a most peculiar coincidence, the bartender materializes before Jack’s disbelieving eyes, introducing himself as Lloyd (Joe Turkel). As Jack confides in this enigmatic figure, he unwittingly reveals the details of an accident that befell Danny three years prior - an incident Wendy had previously mentioned to their pediatrician. However, a discrepancy emerges when compared to Wendy’s account: Jack claims to have been sober for only five months following the mishap, while Wendy had stated that he vowed to abstain from drinking immediately after the event.

Just as Jack begins to feel a sense of unease wash over him, Wendy bursts into the Gold Ballroom, her expression a picture of desperation. She implores Jack to investigate Danny’s claim that a “crazy woman” attacked him in Room 237 - a notion that sends shivers down Jack’s spine. Though he seems hesitant and slightly intoxicated, Jack grudgingly agrees to look into the matter.

Meanwhile, back in Florida, Dick stares wide-eyed at his television screen as he intercepts a distress signal emanating from Danny’s end. The implications of this event are far-reaching, setting the stage for a descent into chaos that will leave no one unscathed.

As Jack cautiously pushes open the door to Room 237, a sense of trepidation settles over him like a shroud. The bedroom lies empty, but his curiosity propels him toward the bathroom, where he’s met with a sight that defies explanation. A ravishing young woman, her porcelain skin glistening with dew, emerges from the shower curtain, her eyes locked onto Jack’s with an unmistakable intensity. Their lips meet in a passionate kiss, and for a fleeting moment, it seems as though time has stood still. However, as they draw closer to the mirror, Jack’s gaze is met with a ghastly revelation - the young woman has transformed into a decrepit corpse, her skin hanging like tattered curtains from a once-beautiful face. The elderly woman, now a reanimated cadaver, cackles maniacally as she stretches out a bony hand toward him. Horrified, Jack recoils in disgust and stumbles backward, slamming the door shut behind him.

When he returns to Wendy, Jack downplays the unsettling experience, but his partner’s concern for Danny’s well-being only serves to further enrage him. He laments their circumstances, blaming Wendy for everything that has gone awry in his life, before storming off to drown his sorrows in the Gold Room. The opulent space is now a whirlwind of revelry, as guests clad in 1920s finery mingle and laugh together. Lloyd’s warm smile greets Jack as he accepts a drink, and he becomes lost in the sea of faces. However, his reverie is short-lived, as a hapless butler, tray laden with advocaat, careens into him, drenching his jacket in the sweet, syrupy liquid.

The apologetic butler, Delbert Grady (Philip Stone), coaxes Jack into the bathroom to clean up the mess. As they stand before the mirror, Grady’s unsettling presence is punctuated by a cryptic warning - “You’re always the caretaker.” The words send a shiver down Jack’s spine as he struggles to reconcile this enigmatic statement with the disturbing events that have unfolded thus far.

Meanwhile, in the sweltering Florida heat, Dick Halloran grows increasingly anxious as his attempts to contact the Overlook Hotel prove futile. His concerns for Danny’s safety ultimately prompt him to book a flight to Colorado, driven by a growing sense of unease that threatens to consume him.

As Wendy (Wendy) navigates the eerie atmosphere of the Overlook’s lounge, she’s armed with a determination to escape the hotel alongside her son Danny, regardless of Jack’s reluctance to leave. Her gaze falls upon the typewriter, where she discovers Jack’s sprawling manuscript: hundreds of pages repeating the same haunting phrase, “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” The revelation that Jack has succumbed to madness sends Wendy into a state of alarm.

Meanwhile, Jack (Jack) emerges from the shadows, his voice laced with sarcasm as he inquires about her opinion on his literary endeavors. Wendy’s shriek of terror echoes through the room as she spins around to confront him, baseball bat at the ready. A tense standoff ensues, with Jack demanding to know her intentions regarding Danny, while Wendy retreats, brandishing her makeshift weapon. Her pleas for mercy fall on deaf ears, as Jack vows to eliminate her instead.

Wendy’s swift and decisive action sends Jack tumbling down the staircase, his ankle succumbing to injury. She drags his limp form to the pantry, locking him inside just as he regains consciousness. Jack’s parting shot is a chilling revelation: he has sabotaged both the radio and the snow cat, stranding them at the mercy of the hotel.

As Wendy tends to Jack’s wounds outside, she confirms the extent of his sabotage. Hours later, Jack’s slumber is interrupted by the disembodied voice of Delbert Grady (Delbert Grady), who expresses disappointment and lack of faith in Jack’s abilities. Jack reassures him that he can still deliver, if given one final chance.

The pantry door swings open once more, as if orchestrated by some malevolent force. Meanwhile, Wendy has succumbed to exhaustion in her room, while Danny (Danny) wanders the corridors in a trance-like state, knife in hand and “Redrum” echoing through his mind. The boy’s obsessive chanting awakens Wendy, who rushes to intervene.

As she shields Danny from harm, she gazes upon the bathroom door, where he has scrawled “REDRUM” with lipstick. In an instant of clarity, Wendy realizes that the reflection in the mirror spells out a chilling message: “MURDER.” The sound of banging on the hallway door grows louder, as Jack (Jack) wields his axe against the locked entrance. Desperate to escape, Wendy shoves Danny out the tiny window and into the safety of the snowy bank.

In her desperation to follow, Wendy becomes trapped in the same window, forced to instruct Danny to flee and hide as the sound of Jack’s relentless assault grows closer.

As Jack bursts into the hotel, he calls out in a playful tone, “Wendy, I’m home!” The door creaks under his axe blows as he politely knocks on the bathroom door, only to be met with the ominous sight of Wendy holding a knife. Her trembling hand is testament to her growing unease as Jack begins to hack away at the door panel by panel, finally shouting “Heeeere’s JOHNNY!” - a nod to the iconic TV host Johnny Carson. His persistence pays off when he manages to stick his head through the hole and scream out, but Wendy’s fear gives way to ferocity as she slashes at him with her knife, leaving Jack reeling in pain.

As the commotion subsides, the sound of an approaching snow cat engine grows louder, prompting Jack to stalk out of the hotel. His quarry is Dick, the driver, who enters the establishment only to receive no response. Seizing the opportunity, Jack springs into action, hiding behind a pillar before launching himself at Dick with his trusty axe. The attack proves fatal, and Dick’s lifeless body falls silent.

Meanwhile, Wendy’s search for Danny leads her down a dark and foreboding path. The hotel’s eerie atmosphere has awakened its ghosts, forcing her to confront the unsettling sights that haunt its corridors. As she navigates the labyrinthine passages, Jack dons his own cloak of darkness, venturing into the hedge maze in pursuit of Danny.

Danny, aware of the danger closing in around him, becomes increasingly cunning. He deliberately creates a trail of footprints in the snow for Jack to follow, only to carefully erase them and hide behind a hedge. When Jack arrives at the maze’s entrance, he finds himself faced with an abrupt ending to the trail, leaving him none the wiser as to Danny’s true whereabouts. Choosing a path at random, Jack lumbers deeper into the maze, oblivious to Danny’s clever tactics.

As Wendy finally emerges from the hotel, she is met with the relieved sight of Danny, who has been following his own footprints back to the safety of the maze’s entrance. United once more, they hasten away in the snow cat that Dick had used to reach the hotel, leaving Jack to his fate. Frozen and alone within the hedge maze, Jack becomes a tragic figure, a testament to the devastating consequences of his own actions.

In the end, it is not the monsters that lie within the hotel’s walls that prove deadly, but the unyielding determination of a man consumed by his own darkness.

As the credits begin to roll, the lens slowly and deliberately homed in on a weathered wall within the hotel’s labyrinthine corridors, where a veritable treasure trove of vintage photographs lay testament to the establishment’s storied past. The air was heavy with nostalgia as the faint strains of “Midnight, the Stars and You” wafted through the deserted hallway like a ghostly whisper, conjuring memories long forgotten. Amidst the faded Polaroids and yellowed prints, one image in particular caught the eye: a youthful Jack (Jack Nicholson), his countenance aglow with the promise of youth, posed with an air of nonchalant sophistication at the center of a jubilant gathering, captioned “Overlook Hotel, July 4th Ball, 1921.” The very fabric of time and space seemed to bend as the camera lingered on this snapshot from another era, beckoning the viewer to step into the world of yesteryear.