Watching Jack Torrence Lose His Marbles

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Anything to do with Stephen King is a step into the macabre and the scary. In his novel “The Shining,' he takes the perhaps cozy situation of a family staying together for the winter in a luxury hotel and turns it into something so scary you cringe just watching. That makes for a good horror movie. In the 1980 film “The Shining," we find the Torrence family struggling financially and glad that Jack Torrence (Jack Nicholson) got the job of winter caretaker at the Overlook Hotel in the Colorado Mountains, where he, his wife Wendy (Shelly Duval), and their clairvoyant son Danny (Danny Lloyd) will be spending the winter season in total isolation. I can tell you I was totally mesmerized by this movie, and by the time Jack had lost most of his marbles and found the ax, I was on the edge of my seat. In between, their son Danny woke up all the spooks and assorted scary beings in the hotel. Seeing this movie is like taking a bumpy ride. Only one thing I personally would have liked to see was the ending the way it was in the novel, with the Overlook Hotel being blown sky high.