Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) is a recovering alcoholic who, at one time, was a schoolteacher and is now trying his hand at being a writer. Hoping for some peace and quiet to work on his writing Jack takes a job as the winter caretaker at a massive and extravagant mountain top inn called “The Overlook” in Colorado. Jack is married to Wendy (Shelley Duvall) and has a young son, Danny (Danny Lloyd). While preparing for the move to the inn, Danny has what appears to be a seizure. What he is experiencing is a premonition.
At the inn the family is shown around the facility and given basic instructions on how to handle the heating system and any general maintenance needed to keep things running until spring. While touring the hotel Danny meets the head chef, Dick Hallorann (Scatman Crothers). Hallorann is drawn to Danny and tells him that the two of them are both clairvoyants. It is something that Hallorann calls ‘Shining’. A term he leaned from his grandmother. He also tells Danny that the Overlook itself ‘shines’ because of some dark events that happened in it. He then tells Danny to stay out of room 237.
The family settles into their new normal. Danny begins seeing some of the ghosts that inhabit the hotel, especially twin girls. One day Danny is going past room 237 when he sees that the door is open. He enters and is attacked by a woman (Lia Beldam) in a bathtub. Wendy blames Jack but Danny tells her about the woman and that she was the one who attacked him. Wendy tells Jack. Jack goes to investigate. The naked woman in the tub approaches Jack and kisses him. He responds. The woman then turns into a hag (Billie Gibson) and attacks him.
By now Jack’s mind has snapped and he becomes fully immersed in the ghost events happening in the hotel. He begins having conversations with Delbert Grady (Philip Stone). Grady was the hotel’s former caretaker who went insane and slaughtered his wife and twin daughters (Lisa and Louise Burns). Grady tells Jack that Danny is a ‘willful’ boy and needs more than just a talking to. He says that Danny and Wendy need ‘correcting’ just like his wife and daughters did.
“The Shining” was released in 1980 and was directed by Stanley Kubrick. It is an American psychological horror film. The film was based on Stephen King's 1977 novel. The movie wasn’t popular with critics and film goers but has since been heralded as one of the best psychological thrillers ever made. The cult agrees. In 2018 the movie was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". A sequel titled “Doctor Sleep” was released in 2019, which was based on King's 2013 novel of the same name.
In the Stephen King universe "the Shine" means a powerful psychic ability or telepathy. It lets Danny have premonitions and see ghosts, and there are more ghosts than humans in the film. The art deco element of the hotel adds an exotic touch and makes the hotel itself a character in the film. The imagery is phenomenal. It’s a long movie and moves very slowly. The slow pace, however, adds to the feeling of isolation. The highlight of the film is, of course, Jack Nicholson. His smile is one of the creepiest in film history. It’s probably one of the reasons he plays so many crazy people roles.
Danny Lloyd, who played Danny Torrance, made a cameo appearance in the sequel, “Doctor Sleep”. The exterior shots of the hotel were of the Timberline Lodge in Mount Hood, Oregon.