'The Shining' Vs 'The Kill'

Jack Nicholson in 'The Shining'.

The Shining,originally a novel by Stephen King was released as a film in May 1980.The Plot line in short involves a family of three who  move during winter to an isolated hotel, so the Father (Jack Nicholson) can work as a writer. During their stay,an evil presence in the hotel possesses the father and provokes him to violence against his family. Meanwhile ,the psychic son (Danny) sees terrifying visions of the hotel and its people from the past and future.


Although it may not be a film for the light hearted, 'The Shining carries many subliminal messages throughout the film. These include: A naked woman in a bath tub who then turns old,a hallway exploding with a sea of blood,an old man wandering the corridors alone toasting with his wine glass,two twin daughters from the past,and a man in a bunny suit giving a butler head. This is just the start of some of the madness that goes down in the hotel.  

The twins.      

I really enjoyed watching Jack Nicholson and Danny Lloyd (the son) in this film,I mean you can't beat those stunner eyebrows of Nicholson's or the focus of 6 year old child actor Danny,who according to Stanley Kubrick (Director) was able to shoot all his scenes with out Lloyd even knowing he was in a horror movie. 


However when I first watched the film little then a month ago,my first impression was 'thriller' not 'horror', maybe the genre has somewhat changed over time due to all the new effects that can be applied now to the film industry. Take 'Saw' or 'Paranormal Activity'. There are a lot more new film techniques out there today. In saying that 'The Shining' is definitely one to watch and can easily be described as a 'Classic'.

Jared Leto in 'The Kill'

 'The Kill', a music video by American band '30 Seconds To Mars' was a single released in 2006 and mirrors 'The Shining.' frontman, Jared Leto describes the video,


 'It's really about a relationship with yourself. It's about confronting your fear and confronting the truth about who you are."


Many scenes are snippets from the movie: Tomo Milcevic (guitar) skateboards around the hotel echoing Danny on his trike, Shannon Leto (drums) entering room 6277 and finding a woman in the shower,Jared Leto (vocals,guitar) on the old typewriter forever writing 'This is who I really am' - a lyric from the song, also a reflection on Nicholson's 'All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.'

Scene from 'The Kill"

The song is set in the timing of 6/8 as in waltz to relate to the ballroom scenes through out the film.
Another reenactment is when Matt Wachter (bassist,no longer in band) is sitting a the bar alone (Nicholson). 
The video includes two of every person (good vs evil) to go with Leto's theme of identity and link to the two twins in the real film.
Tomo walks in on a man in a bunny suit giving another Tomo head...the weird and wonderful.

Jared Leto

Jack Nicholson

The way in which Stanley Kubrick sets up certain shots makes ordinary activities seem more sinister, and I think its the suspense of not knowing any leads in the film that makes "The Shinning' so effective.

Follow this link to awesome tracking shots of Danny on his trike:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSpbZiTx724

Follow this link to the '30 Seconds To Mars' Music Video of 'The Kill' :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yb-YnIjaz40

That's me.