Another look at The Shining mini-series

I'm almost finished with the novel of The Shining. I think I have eigthy-five pages left to read. This past week, I suddenly decided to watch the mini-series of The Shining again and to see if I noticed any new things about it. I thing I also wanted to compare it to Stanley Kubrick's version of the book, too.

Like I said in an earlier posting, images from both movies have drifted in and out of my mind while reading Stephen King's classic novel. I was surprised at how closely the mini-series follows the novel when I watched it this time. I actually watched the whole thing without piddling around and doing other things while the movie was playing on the television. I have the three disc set. Another that surprised me was how good Steve Weber was in the role of Jack Torrance. I suppose my attention has always been more on Rebecca De Mornay whenever I've watched the mini-series because I've had the hots for her since seeing her in Risky Business with Tom Cruise so many years ago. This time, however, I focused my attention on both Steve Weber and Courtland Mead, who plays the little boy, Danny Torrance. I think in many ways Steve Weber actually out shines Jack Nicholson in this role. He had me laughing throughout the movie with his impersonations and comic overtones. That made his change into a frightful, killing monster more real for me and boy was he good at that.

Though I still prefer the Timberlane Loudge from the Kubrick film to the Stanley Hotel for sheer horror, there were a number of shots of the Stanley that were simply haunting in their appearance. The director, Mick Garris, really did a fantastic job on this movie and should be damn proud of his work. Yes, the movie isn't as scary as one would hope because it was done for television, it is intense as hell. There are also some good special effects in it like all the chairs in the ball room mysteriously falling off the tables. Cynthia Garris as the woman in Room 217 was hideous in her makeup. I think I would have a heart attack if she grabbed me from behind and jerked me back into the room.

What many of the viewers of the mini-series probably aren't aware of is that a lot celebrites were in the movie. Sam Raimi, director of the Spiderman films, was the gas station attendant who helps Hallorann get up to the Overlook Hotel. Frank Darabont, director of The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile, was one of the party ghost when Stephen King was leading his orchestra. Horror and crime authors, Christa Faust and David J Schow were also two of the party ghost with Christa screaming her lungs out at the end. Richard Christian Matheson (son of the great writer, Richard Matheson--I Am Legend, Hell House, Somewhere In Time) played one of the hitmen.

All in all, I found myself enjoying the mini-series tremendously. I think reading the novel at the same time helped with this. If you're never seen The Shining mini-series, you owe it to yourself to either rent it or to buy it on DVD. This is something to add to your horror film library.